Camille Thomas VOICE OF HOPE (extended)

 

VOICE OF HOPE

Hera Hyesang Park / Wiener Symphoniker / Bertrand de Billy I AM HERA

 

I AM HERA

 

Camille Thomas VOICE OF HOPE

VOICE OF HOPE

Maria Callas DRAMA QUEEN

DRAMA QUEEN

Angela Gheorghiu / Alexandra Dariescu PLAISIR D'AMOUR

Angela Gheorghiu returns to Decca to celebrate the 25th anniversary of her legendary La Traviata with Sir Georg Solti.

This is a 23-track album featuring rare and classic songs never before recorded by Gheorghiu. She is the winner of five Gramophone Awards, twice recipient of Female Artist of the Year from the Classic Brits and in 2018 she received the 'Victoire d'Honneur' award in France.

Accompanied by her compatriot Alexandra Dariescu, the recital opens with Romanian songs and includes such classics as Apres un reve, Tosti's ideale, Strauss' Morgen and the Chopin Tristesse.

Eunsie Hong / Kristin Okerlund THE FIRST

Praised as one of South Korea’s greatest soprano of the generation, Eunsie Hong carries incredible amounts of performance experience in orchestral concert and opera. Her exceptional dynamic control in her voice sways her audience in happiness and tears. 

Highlights of her 2018 season starts with a concert tour as a soloist for the Mozart Requiem at the world-renowned Musikverein Golden Hall in Vienna, Mozarteum Salzburg in Austria and Music Institute of Zagreb in Croatia. 

She also performed with orchestra Sinfonia Rotterdam at Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, singing arias of Strauss and Gounod. She performed with many orchestras including Hradec Králové Orchestra at Smetana Hall of Municipal House in Prague, Ukraine Symphony Orchestra, Kiev Radio Symphony Orchestra and Prime Philharmonic Orchestra, Korail Symphony Orchestra. 

She launched her career appearing in the leading roles; Violetta in La Traviata at Sejong M-Theater, and Adina of L'elisir d'amore. 

Marina Rebeka SPIRITO

After Mozart and Rossini, the Latvian soprano Marina Rebeka here presents a selection of meaty bel canto scenes on her own label, Prima Classic. It’s a bold venture but one backed up by a formidable voice and plenty of artistry, not to mention musicological research: a charming picture in the booklet shows a white-gloved Rebeka, magnifying glass at hand, poring over the manuscript of Anna Bolena in a Milan archive.

She dives straight in at the bel canto deep end with a ‘Casta diva’ that’s firm and focused, and certainly not lacking in nobility. And immediately one notices the plumminess of the voice, placed – along with her Italian consonants – far back in the throat. This is a big, dark instrument, and one that, as I noted when reviewing her Rossini, seems to nudge into the lirico-spinto category. It’s sturdy and rich across the range and has a formidable top, but also a certain weight that needs to be steered around tight coloratura corners.

As before, Rebeka scores big points for the nobility and grandezza of her performances; she’s at her best when called on to convey determination and steely strength. Her scene from Maria Stuarda is terrific, then, the prayer building up impressively and movingly. She reacts well to the more stately dramaturgy of La vestale’s finale scene, too. And the artistry on display in the Anna Bolena excerpt is moving on its own terms.

It’s when it comes to really tugging the heartstrings that I find myself wishing for a little more variety; and Rebeka doesn’t always let the flesh-and-blood characters behind the impeccably turned notes shine through. A quick comparison with Montserrat Caballé’s account of the Pirata scene or Joyce DiDonato in the Maria Stuarda preghiera (on her ‘Stella di Napoli’ album) shows what a more flexible voice and interpretative approach can bring. (Hugo Shirley / Gramophone)

Venera Gimadieva / The Hallé / Gianluca Marcianò MOMENTO IMMOBILE

Bel canto opera is a plethora of paradoxes and these are most powerfully embodied by the prima donna herself. Pure and passionate, alluring and alarming, desirable and dangerous, she is a woman who, driven by uncontainable desire or righteousness, defies or disregards social convention in her search for what might be deemed a more modern form of self-expression and freedom. She articulates a luxurious femininity which sonically embodies the female form and is both emancipatory and intimidating. Undeniably powerfully sensual, she was – and is – subject to patriarchal and social control; innocent, spiritual and soulful, she suffers, is sick and must be destroyed. The melismatic madness of the heroine speaks of a ‘mania’ that is not alien to contemporary notions of a neurosis afflicting modern woman. Does her vocal intensity make us idealise her, or crave and command her sacrifice? At the start of the 21st century, do we recognise her voice as our own? Or is it, as Michel Poizat argues, ‘the angel’s cry’, an inarticulate expression of the soul at both the pinnacle of its power and the moment of death: a momento immobile. (Claire Seymour)

Anna Netrebko DIVA

It is rare for an artist to break through the boundaries of classical music stardom and achieve recognition in the wider world, but Anna Netrebko has achieved that and more. In a recording career spanning less than fifteen years so far, she has not only seduced the classical scene with the beauty of her voice, her superb vocal control and supreme musicality, she has also become an international icon. More than an operatic diva, Anna Netrebko is an enormously charismatic individual whose style and stage presence are as celebrated as her musicianship. A passionate advocate for children’s causes, she supports a number of charitable organisations, including SOS-Kinderdorf International and the Russian Children’s Welfare Society. She is a global ambassador for Chopard jewellery.

Born in 1971 in Krasnodar, Russia, Netrebko studied vocal performance at the St Petersburg Conservatory. When she auditioned for the Mariinsky Theatre, she was spotted by Valery Gergiev, who became her vocal mentor. She made her operatic stage debut at the Mariinsky, aged 22, singing Susanna in Le nozze di Figaro. One year later she made her US debut at the San Francisco Opera. She really started pulses racing in the international opera world with a triumphant Salzburg Festival debut in 2002 as Donna Anna in Mozart’s Don Giovanni. Since then she has gone on to perform with nearly all the world’s great opera companies, displaying consummate skill and naturalness as she inhabits each new role, including Mozart’s Susanna (Le nozze di Figaro), Puccini’s Mimì (La bohème) and Manon Lescaut; Verdi’s Violetta (La traviata), Gilda, Leonora, Lady Macbeth and Giovanna d’Arco; Bellini’s Giulietta (I Capuleti e i Montecchi), Elvira (I puritani) and Amina (La sonnambula); Donizetti’s Norina (Don Pasquale), Adina (L’elisir d’amore), Lucia di Lammermoor and Anna Bolena; Massenet’s Manon; Gounod’s Juliette; Tchaikovsky’s Tatiana (Eugene Onegin) and Iolanta; Wagner’s Elsa (Lohengrin); and, most recently, Cilea’s Adriana Lecouvreur.

Her debut at New York’s Metropolitan Opera also came in 2002, and she has returned every season since, becoming the only soprano to have opened the season in three consecutive years (2011–13), as well as captivating audiences worldwide thanks to the Met’s “Live in HD” cinecasts. Anna Netrebko appears every season at the Vienna State Opera – she has lived in Vienna for many years and obtained Austrian citizenship in 2006. Having made her La Scala debut in 2011 as Donna Anna, she returned to Milan in 2012, giving performances as Mimì that won praise from critics and audiences alike. She made her role debut as Verdi’s Lady Macbeth at the Bavarian State Opera in 2014 and was invited back to La Scala to open the 2015-16 season in a production of the same composer’s Giovanna d’Arco, the work’s first performance there for over 150 years and Netrebko’s first stage appearance in its title role.

Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte-Carlo / Brad Cohen / Emma Matthews IN MONTE CARLO

Bel Canto Emma Matthews is the brightest star out of Australia, the most anticipated since Dame Joan Sutherland. A co-production between ABC Classics and Universal Music in Australia, this CD combines jewels from French and Italian operatic repertoire, as well as music by Bernstein and 2 Australian composers Richard Mills and Calvin Bowman.

Emma made her Covent Garden debut in March/April 2010 in the title role of Cunning Little Vixen at the Royal Opera House, conducted by Sir Charles Mackerras and her European concert debut with Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte-Carlo in Mahler’s Fourth Symphony and also her debut with conductor Vladimir Ashkenazy as soloist in Mahler’s 4.

This release highlights Romantic opera heroines the Doll Song from Tales of Hoffmann, the Bell Song from Lakme, as well as fearless and thrilling coloratura moments in Proch’s Theme and Variations and Bernstein’s Glitter and Be Gay. There are two world premiere recordings on the disc both from Australian composers - The Nightingale’s Song at the close of Richard Mills opera The Love of the Nightingale and Calvin Bowman’s song Now touch the air softly. (Presto Classical)

Antoine Tamestit / Cédric Tiberghien BEL CANTO

Going well beyond mere historical interest, this album unveils the charms of a repertoire that delighted Parisian concert halls and salons throughout the 19th century. It demonstrates how the viola finally emerged from the violin’s shadow thanks to virtuoso playing, now resuscitated by the talent of Antoine Tamestit and Cédric Tiberghien in pieces which offer much more than the exquisite languors of bel canto. Italian for 'beautiful singing' or 'beautiful song', the term remains vague and ambiguous but is commonly used to evoke a lost singing tradition; in this case the famed singing tone of Antoine Tamestit's viola, a 1672 Stradivarius, loaned by the Habisreutinger Foundation.

Born in Paris, Antoine Tamestit studied with Jesse Levine at Yale University and with Tabea Zimmermann. He has won several coveted prizes including the William Primrose Competition, first prize at the Young Concert Artists (YCAT) international auditions, a place on BBC Radio 3’s New Generation Artists Scheme and a Borletti-Buitoni Trust Award.

Antoine Tamestit’s distinguished discography includes Berlioz’s 'Harold en Italie', which was recorded with the London Symphony Orchestra and Valery Gergiev and released in 2015 by LSO Live. For Naïve he has recorded three of the Bach Suites, Hindemith solo and concertante works recorded with the Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra and Paavo Järvi, and an earlier recording of 'Harold' with Marc Minkowski and Les Musicians du Louvre.

This particular diva is the viola; its servant is Antoine Tamestit, here making his first solo recording for harmonia mundi. (Presto Classical)

Anna Netrebko / Yusif Eyvazov ROMANZA

Romantic roles have long been part of Anna Netrebko’s professional life, but the idea of romance must have acquired a new resonance for her since she met Azerbaijani tenor Yusif Eyvazov. In her two latest Deutsche Grammophon releases, she shines as she joins forces with her husband to perform a collection of contemporary love songs written especially for them by the renowned Russian songwriter Igor Krutoy, and is equally radiant as Elsa of Brabant in Wagner’s most Romantic opera Lohengrin. Romance and Romanticism – two glittering facets of the soprano’s life and career.  

Fanfare trumpets, rousing choruses and a plot steeped in Grail legend helped propel Lohengrin to the status of Wagner’s most popular opera. For all its enduring appeal, the work is among the composer’s least understood. Christian Thielemann and a dream cast, headed by Piotr Beczała as Lohengrin and Anna Netrebko as Elsa, both new to the roles and to Wagner, gathered at Dresden’s Semperoper in May 2016 to probe the opera’s psychological depths and bring fresh light to its dark tragedy. Lohengrin emerged here as a work of revolutionary freshness. It did so by paying full attention to the score’s rich details, exchanging the usual Wagnerian default setting of loud and louder still for a bel canto interpretation shot through with spine-tingling dynamic contrasts and expressive subtlety.

This was a Lohengrin of our time and for all times, hailed by critics as a landmark event. Opera News concluded that it was “a ridiculously good performance”, a view supported by a stream of five-star reviews and rapturous news headlines. UNITEL, which celebrated its 50^th anniversary last year, was there to document Wagner history in the making. The company’s film catalogue includes Patrice Chéreau’s ground-breaking “Jahrhundertring” (“Centenary Ring”) from the 1976 Bayreuth Festival and the recent Ring cycle staged by La Fura dels Baus in Valencia. The DVD of Thielemann’s Lohengrin, set for international release by Deutsche Grammophon on 7 July 2017, marks the yellow label’s first adventure in Ultra HD video. Its high-definition images and sound capture the intense drama and emotional power generated by one of those rare Wagner ensembles in which all the participants – from Beczała and Netrebko to the Sächsischer Staatsopernchor and Staatskapelle Dresden – combined to produce the perfect instrument. The central characters were richly supported by the implacable, unstoppable Ortrud of Evelyn Herlitzius, Tomasz Konieczny’s resounding Telramund and the utterly majestic King Heinrich of Georg Zeppenfeld.

Conductor Christian Thielemann’s choice of lead singers ideally suited a work that owes much to the influence of bel canto opera. Wagner, he explains, knew the music of Bellini and Donizetti and heard the great Italian singers in Paris in the early 1840s. “Wagner’s orchestration in Lohengrin supports the voice,” he adds. “The orchestra is not there to compete with the singers – or at least it shouldn’t be.”

“Wagner is one of my favourite composers,” observes Anna Netrebko. “But I never thought I’d ever sing anything by him. Elsa is the one and only Wagner role for me. Maestro Thielemann helped me learn the style and I also gained so many insights from my wonderful colleagues involved in this production. I must admit that it was very hard for me to learn the text. I can memorise any English text; I can learn anything in French or Italian, but German is really difficult for me. Elsa’s ‘Einsam in trüben Tagen’ was okay, until … silenzio … I couldn’t remember how it ends! Christian Thielemann helped me connect with the words. He said he wanted to hear ‘Tttexssssttt! Vowels! Consonants!’ That was the key for me. It opened the door to Elsa’s all-too-human psychology.”

Like Netrebko, Piotr Beczała is in high demand at the world’s most prestigious opera companies and as soloist with the finest international orchestras. The Polish tenor, described by Opera magazine as “one of the most truly exciting male voices of the present day”, made his name with eloquent interpretations of roles such as the Duke in Rigoletto, Rodolfo in La bohème and Des Grieux in Manon, parts that call for sustained lyricism and the vocal weight required to project dramatic climaxes. Christian Thielemann convinced him that he was ready for the Wagner challenge. “Lohengrin is no more dramatic than my other roles,” says Beczała. “But it does involve aspects of the voice that I would not normally use in the French, Italian or Slavic repertoire.”

Thielemann delivers unconditional praise for Lohengrin’s stars. “The quality of Anna Netrebko’s artistry, the light and shade of her voice, its endless range of colours, are ideal for this role,” he says. He was equally delighted by Beczała’s Lohengrin. “His performance combines brightness with warmth, heroism with tenderness, compelling musicianship with searing emotional honesty. With such a fine cast working so hard and with such eloquence, I feel this was a special Lohengrin. I am delighted that, thanks to Deutsche Grammophon, audiences worldwide can now share that experience.”

Romanza, meanwhile, is not only Anna Netrebko’s first album of duets with husband Yusif Eyvazov, but also her debut crossover release. Perhaps the most famous and vocally prodigious couple in the opera world, Netrebko and Eyvazov met in early 2014 during rehearsals for Manon Lescaut at the Rome Opera, became engaged shortly afterwards, and married in Vienna in December 2015 amid a whirl of publicity. Now Romanza will appear on Deutsche Grammophon’s crossover label PANORAMA, celebrating their intense emotional connection and the radiant power of love.

With their lush instrumentation, rich palette of harmonic colour and unforgettable melodies, Igor Krutoy’s songs celebrate the many aspects of a love affair between two people. They take in every emotional nuance, from tender devotion to pulsating passion and tormented yearning, all brought vividly and thrillingly to life by the heartfelt performances of Netrebko and Eyvazov. (Deutsche Grammophon)

Olga Peretyatko / NDR Sinfonieorchester / Enrique Mazzola ARABESQUE

Russian soprano Olga Peretyatko is the latest in a group of young performers championed by the revived Sony Classical label. She's got personality to spare, and, from the looks of the pictures, charisma, too. Arabesque seems to be an album designed to showcase her suitability for a wide variety of roles; the program runs from Mozart forward through the 19th century and includes the Italian, French, and German languages. She's certainly versatile and seems to have fun with most of the music, and she bears watching as a rising star. This said, there's just one type of aria in which Peretyatko really stands out, and that's the vigorous diva number that lets her voice bloom effortlessly into its upper range in rapid, churning material. The Mozart concert aria Ah se in ciel, K. 538, that opens the program is a fine example, as is Verdi's Mercè, dilette amiche from I Vespri siciliani. In this kind of material the voice simply doesn't reveal any weak points, and it's tremendously exciting. It seems almost to become unmoored from the key in climactic passages without ever getting out of control, and the effect of that is uncanny. Slow things down in something like the Villanelle of Belgian soprano-composer Eva Dell'Acqua, and Peretyatko is competent, but not as riveting and not as powerful. There is nevertheless a sufficient number of really brilliant flashes here to make the voice-seekers sit up and take notice. (James Manheim)

Lena Belkina / Münchner Rundfunkorchester / Alessandro de Marchi DOLCI MOMENTI / BELCANTO ARIAS

The press has already taken her to their heart: “fulminant, brilliant, beautiful voice” (Das Opernglas), “a touching mezzo” (Süddeutsche Zeitung), “…a treat for the ears and the eyes…” (WAZ). The young mezzo-soprano Lena Belkina is already in demand all over the world.

She sang her way into the international limelight back in 2012 with her Angelina in Rossini’s La Cenerentola (Carlo Verdone/Gianluigi Gelmetti). The live video recording made by Mondovision was awarded the 64º PRIX ITALIA and the Warsaw Music Gardens Festival audience prize. What entranced the Oscar-winning director about his star performer was her extraordinary charisma: “…una fotogenia straordinaria, e la giusta dolcezza malinconica e sognante nei suoi grandi occhi neri…” (“extraordinarily photogenic, with the ideal melancholy and the dreamy sweetness of her big dark eyes”) (Verdone in Cultura). Since then, this film version produced by Andrea Andermann has been shown in more than 150 countries. Lena recorded her first solo album together with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, which will already be released this year by Sony Classical.

There are currently three new productions planned: At the moment, Lena sings the Dorabella part in Cosi Fan Tutte in the Munich Cuvilliés Theatre. Subsequently, the singer can be experienced as Olga in Eugen Onegin at the Malmö Opera and as Angelina in La Cenerentola in the Prague Estates Theatre.
Apart from that, opera lovers may look forward to listening to Lena in several solo evening recitals with orchestra in Germany and Israel.

In summer 2014, the Ukrainian singer was engaged by the Rossini Opera Festival. Lena Belkina delighted with the major role of Arsace in a newly revised edition of the opera Aureliano in Palmira. It was the first performance of the opera at the festival and was directed by Mario Martone. A special highlight was that Lena was allowed to sing Giovanni Battista Velluti’s great cadenzas: a particular honour that no one else has been granted since the great castrato’s death. The opera published by Unitel Classica. The great success was brought by the 2015 re-invitation, where Lena will sing the Pippo part in Gazza Ladra.

Marija Vidovic ANMUT My Favorite Arias

“I am especially pleased to introduce to you a young singer, Marija Vidovic. In describing her voice, the words that come spontaneously to me are qualities like grace, sweetness and mellowness, and when it comes to her personality, I think of authenticity, charisma and above all elegance. All of those qualities amount to something special, something which anyone who loves music and the vocal art is always looking for but seldom finds: magic. I have often been witness to the spell she casts on her audience when performing. Allow yourself to be enchanted!” Francisco Araiza 

Marija Vidovic has performed regularly in concerts and song recitals in Germany, Austria, Liechtenstein, Switzerland, Croatia, Italy, China and Mexico. Her Opera Arias CD will premiere in September 2015, with the Baden-Baden Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of Francisco Araiza.

Anna Netrebko / Elina Garanča / Ramón Vargas / Ludovic Tézier THE OPERA GALA Live from Baden-Baden

. . . their voices blending beautifully . . . all done with spirited fervor and admirable vocalism. Tenor Ramón Vargas is a positive presence, giving us the bel canto gem "Una furtive lagrima" from Donizetti's "L'elisir d'amore" in a flawlessly idiomatic interpretation that includes stunning diminuendos and a melting mezza-voce. Ludovic Tézier's rich baritone scores with a subtle rendition of Riccardo's death scene from Verdi's "Don Carlo" and, in yet another highlight in an evening full of them, joins Vargas in the great duet "Dio, che nell'alma infondere" from that opera . . . her [Garanca's] showpiece aria from Rossini's "La Cenerentola" sparkles, with impressive coloratura fireworks. Netrebko is among the most brilliant stars of today's operatic firmament . . . She brings the house down with the first of the concert's many encores, a performance of Lehar's "Meine Lippen" from the operetta, "Giuditta", that includes seductive singing and acting, sexual flirtations, and energetic dancing. Her enthusiasm is infectious, sparking her colleagues as well as the audience. All four singers join in the quartet from "Rigoletto" that ends the formal portion of the concert, and in the final encore, they trade verses in an arrangement of the "Drinking Song" from "La Traviata". Conductor Marco Armiliato, whose supportive accompaniments help make the concert a rousing success, directs the capable orchestra. So this two-hour singfest provides joys for vocal buffs . . . (Record Review / Dan Davis)

Ophélie Gaillard / Royal Philharmonic Orchestra DREAMS

Swiss-French cellist Ophélie Gaillard, who has made a name for herself recording some of the most challenging repertoire for her instrument, including the suites of Bach and Britten, turns her considerable talents to lighter fare in this album of transcriptions of short Romantic classics. She is accompanied by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, led by Timothy Redmond, in arrangements made by composer and producer Craig Leon, who had created a similar album for violinist Joshua Bell. The pieces include opera arias (from Rusalka, La sonnambula, L'elisir d'amore, and Gianni Schicchi), piano works by Debussy, Satie, and Chopin, and other vocal, instrumental, and orchestral music by Fauré, Rachmaninov, and Tchaikovsky. Almost all are close to the top of charts of the most familiar and broadly popular classical pieces. Gaillard brings a warm, generous tone and creamy legato to this lyrical repertoire. Redmond's thoughtful accompaniments are imaginative and creative in pieces where it would have been easy just to haul out the tried and true, predictable approaches. Leon's arrangements are wonderfully inventive and colorful; he really knows how to make the soloist shine, and the little details of orchestration, particularly in the transcriptions of the piano pieces, add layers of depth that makes his work outstanding. The sound is full-bodied and nicely present, with ideal balance. The album would be a great place to start for listeners just dipping their toes into classical music for the first time and should also appeal to fans of fine cello playing. (Stephen Eddins)

Elīna Garanča ELINA

Elīna Garanča’s personal choice of her greatest tracks, released to coincide with her receiving an Echo Award (6 October) & the publication of her memoirs in December

Ten years ago she made her sensational début at the Salzburg Festival, singing the role of Annio in Mozart’s Clemenza di Tito. Since then Elīna Garanča has become one of the greatest, most sought-after mezzo-sopranos in the world. As an exclusive Deutsche Grammophon artist, she has made four solo albums for the label, and collaborated on many CD and DVD releases.

Now, with the artist’s help, we have brought together favourite tracks from her discography – the Seguidilla and Habanera from Carmen, the Flower Duet from Lakmé (with Anna Netrebko), the Barcarolle from The Tales of Hoffmann and many more, including Annio’s aria from Clemenza di Tito, some of her great bel canto roles and the touching Lullaby (Nana) by de Falla.

The CD booklet includes a newly-commissioned interview with Elina, where she reflects on her career and indicates where she is headed artistically. Her complete discography is also given there.

Anna Netrebko SEMPRE LIBERA

The story of her success requires no further recounting here: beginning with a sensational Salzburg début in 2002 as Donna Anna in Don Giovanni, she's become an almost unrivalled presence among classical artists. Her first aria recital entered the German pop charts, and with the video clips for this album she stands to become the first opera diva for the MTV generation. The clips have already provided her with a key to the gates of Hollywood. It is in the scene from the Traviata that Anna Netrebko will be making her feature film début in Garry Marshall's Princess Diaries II with Julie Andrews.
Anna Netrebko knows what she can do and where (at least for now) her limits lie. Most of all, she knows what the others can, or could, do. With the greatest respect she speaks of Callas (“She is and will remain unique, there's no one else like her"), of Mirella Freni (“After I've listened to her, I sing better"), and of Renata Scotto, from whom she has learned the essentials for interpreting bel canto roles.
The young Russian soprano's new album seems to invoke comparisons with those legendary singers: anyone who takes on roles like Violetta in La traviata, Amina in La sonnambula, Lucia or Desdemona in Otello has to reckon with being measured against Callas, Scotto, and Freni. Initially Anna Netrebko's new recording was to be a pure bel canto recital, but then Claudio Abbado suggested adding Desdemona's great scena. At first she was sceptical: she had never sung the part before, and, moreover, it lies considerably lower than her bravura bel canto roles. On the other hand, she felt so secure with Abbado and the Mahler Chamber Orchestra that she decided to take the plunge. In the recording, it sounds as though Desdemona has been a fixture of her repertoire for years.
Branching out from lyrical parts (like Susanna in Mozart's Figaro), Anna Netrebko has gradually taken on some heavier, prima donna roles. She made headlines in Los Angeles as Lucia (in a new production by Marthe Keller) and in Vienna and Munich as Violetta, which she has called her most demanding part to date: “First of all, in terms of vocal technique it's incredibly demanding, because you basically need four voices - a different one for each act and scene. And dramatically you need to give everything you've got. You have to love with her, suffer with her, and die with her. Whoever does that, however, will always have to pay a price with the voice - just ask anyone who's surrendered her heart and soul to this role."
Every interpreter of the Traviata must also completely surrender heart and soul to the audi-ence - especially in the crucial scene of Act I, the heroine's internal monologue. Violetta is confused. Is it really love that she feels for Alfredo? She yields to the emotion for a moment, but then pulls back. No, it's all an illusion! What's left of her life she will devote exclusively to the pursuit of pleasure. “Sempre libera!" - Ever free, ever free for new adventures.
“Sempre libera", this desperate hymn to sexual freedom, requires much more than a convincing actress: it demands a vocal virtuoso who has mastered all the fine points of classical bel canto. Verdi decorated the whirl of desire that Violetta evokes here with lots of little notes, and many a world-class diva has stumbled over them. Something else that makes this scene such a bugbear for every singer: at the end it goes up to top E flat. Although Verdi didn't actually notate the part with that extreme high note, it quickly became part of the performing tradition and still remains, despite all arguments against it, a “matter of honour".
Anna Netrebko has taken on this challenge as well. “I don't think I've sung as many high Eflats in my whole life as I did in these recording sessions. But Maestro Abbado and the wonderful orchestra helped me to sing better than ever before." (5/2004)