Marina Rebeka / Sinfonietta Rīga / Latvian Radio Choir / Modestas Pitrėnas CREDO

 

CREDO

 

Marina Rebeka / Sinfonieorchester St. Gallen / Michael Balke ELLE

FRENCH OPERA ARIAS

Marina Rebeka / Latvian Festival Orchestra / Michael Balke VERDI La Traviata

A new studio recording of Verdi’s La Traviata is released by Prima Classic, soprano Marina Rebeka’s own label. Believed to be the first complete recording of the opera for 26 years not based on an existing production, it is certainly unprecedented for a small independent label to take on such a massive project so early in its existence. This studio recording, released on 1 November, is only Prima Classic’s third release and its first full opera.

The stellar cast for La Traviata is headed by Marina Rebeka as Violetta, Charles Castronovo as Alfredo, and George Petean as Germont, along with the recently formed Latvian Festival Orchestra and the world-renowned State Choir Latvija under the baton of Michael Balke.

La Traviata is one of the top three most famous and performed operas worldwide, and Marina Rebeka has been singing the role of Violetta to great acclaim almost every season since 2007. She has performed the role in seventeen different productions of La Traviata, singing in houses such as Teatro alla Scala in Milan, The Metropolitan Opera in New York, the Royal Opera House Covent Garden in London, Operá National de Paris, Vienna State Opera, Bavarian State Opera, and the Hamburg State Opera, among many others in Europe, Asia, and the USA.

This ambitious project involved musicians from Latvia, Romania, Spain, Germany, the USA, and Russia. The newly-formed Latvian Festival Orchestra is made up of the best players chosen from several Latvian chamber and symphony orchestras. The VAK State Choir Latvija is widely known the world over for upholding the high standards of the great Baltic choral tradition. The three leading singers – Marina Rebeka, Charles Castronovo, and George Petean – are also cast in the upcoming La Traviata production, conducted by Zubin Mehta, at La Scala, Milan in 2020.

The full opera, in its uncut version, was recorded specifically for this album, meaning that it is not a live performance that has been put onto disc, as is usually the case with most opera recordings nowadays. The closed-doors recording took place at the picturesque and iconic Great Guild Concert Hall in Riga, Latvia, between 24 March and 3 April 2019. Recorded using some of today’s most advanced audio technology, the set aims to shed fresh light on La Traviata. “We hope it will become the current times’ chapter in the long line of great recordings of this timeless masterpiece,” says executive producer Edgardo Vertanessian.

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)