Anna Netrebko’s Met Bohème and new live recital album for DG
Over the past several months, American audiences have witnessed Anna Netrebko’s signature portrayal of Mimì in Robert Dornhelm’s feature film version of Puccini’s La bohème. The movie was released in theaters in September, shown as part of PBS’s “Great Performances” series in December, and recently released on DVD. Now the Russian soprano takes the role to the stage for her first run of performances in the Met’s iconic Franco Zeffirelli production of the opera, opening February 20. In April, shortly after Netrebko’s final appearance in the production, Deutsche Grammophon releases the versatile singer’s new feature recording, a live recital album titled In the Still of Night, made with acclaimed pianist Daniel Barenboim at the Salzburg Festival in August 2009. With this disc, her first piano-vocal recording, the Russian soprano focuses on two of her homeland’s principal exponents of art song, Rimsky-Korsakov and Tchaikovsky.
For Netrebko’s nine performances in La bohème at the Met, Rodolfo will be played by the Polish tenor Piotr Beczala, with whom she sang a “Live in HD” simulcast performance of Lucia di Lammermoor at the Met last season. Baritone Gerald Finley is Marcello, opposite Nicole Cabell and Ruth Ann Swenson alternating as Musetta, in a cast led by Marco Armiliato (Feb 20 – March 20).
While many of the works featured on In the Still of Night are still relatively unknown in the Western world, the recording is a natural follow-up to Netrebko’s Grammy-nominated Russian Album (2007), which features highlights and rarities from the Russian operatic and orchestral song repertoire. In its review of the live recital at the Salzburg Festival on August 17, 2009, the Süddeutsche Zeitung observed: “At the end, the entire audience in the Grosses Festspielhaus was on its feet, showering ovations on the singer… . What a wonderful concert!” Die Welt also praised the performance, noting the “fullness and melting warmth of Anna Netrebko’s soprano and the artistry in her phrasing.” Musical America’s George Loomis, who was also on hand to review the concert, wrote: “It was a pleasure to encounter the star soprano in Russian repertoire, especially with so accomplished a partner, with whom she had a fine rapport. … The lovely voice takes very well to the song repertoire… . Netrebko’s ability to project the essence of a song resulted in much to enjoy.”
Review copies of In the Still of Night will be available in March. Visit the album’s microsite at www.deutschegrammophon.com/netrebko-inthestillofnight for more information and to listen to sample tracks.
Netrebko will reprise the Salzburg Festival recital program, first on March 23, with Daniel Barenboim’s wife, pianist Elena Bashkirova, in Moscow, next on March 26 in St. Petersburg, and then with Barenboim himself at the Berlin State Opera on March 29.
Back on the opera stage, Anna Netrebko will return to the Vienna State Opera in April to portray a quartet of favorite opera characters – Mimì in La bohème, Elvira in I puritani, the title role in Manon, and Micaela in Carmen – over a period of just six weeks. She will end the season performing in a new production of Massenet’s Manon at London’s Royal Opera House, Covent Garden.
In the Still of Night
Anna Netrebko, soprano; Daniel Barenboim, piano
Recorded live at the Salzburg Festival
U.S. release on April 27, 2010
Track listing:
Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov (1844 – 1908)
1. Four Songs, Op. 40, No. 3: “O chem v tishi nochey”
2. Four Songs, Op. 27, No. 4: “Prosti! Ne pomni dney naden’ya”
3. Vesnoy, Op. 43, No. 2: “Ne veter, veya s vïsotï”
4. Vesnoy, Op. 43, No. 1: “Zvonche zhavoronka pen’ye”
5. Four Songs, Op. 3, No. 4: “Na kholmakh Gruzii”
6. Six Songs, Op. 8, No. 5: “V tsarstvo rozï i vina”
7. Four Songs, Op. 26, No. 4 “Pesnya Zyuleyki”
8. Four Songs, Op. 2, No. 2 “Plenivshis’ rozoy, solovey”
9. Four Songs, Op. 42, No. 3: “Redeyet obklakov letuchaya gryada”
10. Two Songs, Op. 56, No. 1: “Nimfa”
11. Two Songs, Op. 56, No. 2: “Son v letnyuyu noch’”
Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840 – 1893)
12. Shest’ romansov (Six Romances), Op. 57, No. 1: “Skazhi, o chom v teni vetvey”
13. “Zabït tak skoro” (1870)
14. Dvenadtsat’ romansov (Twelve Romances), Op. 60, No. 6: “Nochy bezumnïye”
15. Shest’ romansov (Six Romances), Op. 6, No. 5: “Otchevo?”
16. Shest’ romansov (Six Romances), Op. 63, No. 6: “Serenada”
17. Shest’ romansov (Six Romances), Op. 16, No. 1: “Kolïbel’naya pesnaya”
18. Sem’ romansov (Seven Romances), Op. 47, No. 7: “Ya li v pole da ne travushka bïla”
19. Shest’ romansov (Six Romances), Op. 73, No. 5: “Sred mrachnïkh dnei”
20. Sem’ romansov (Seven Romances), Op. 47, No. 6: “Den li tsarit?”
Antonín Dvorák (1841 – 1904)
21. Ciganské melodie (Gypsy Melodies), Op. 55 (sung in German), No. 4: “Als die alte Mutter”
Richard Strauss (1864 – 1949)
22. Vier Lieder, Op. 27, No. 2: “Cäcilie”
Anna Netrebko: upcoming performances
February 20, 24, & 27; March 2, 6, 10, 13, 17, & 20
Metropolitan Opera, New York
La bohème / Mimì
March 4
The Kennedy Center, Washington, D.C.
The Mariinsky Opera and Orchestra: An Evening of Tchaikovsky Operas in Concert
March 23
Moscow
Recital with Elena Bashkirova
March 26
St. Petersburg
Recital with Elena Bashkirova
March 29
Berlin State Opera
Recital with Daniel Barenboim
April 5 and 8
Vienna State Opera
La bohème / Mimì
April 19, 22, & 25
Vienna State Opera
I puritani / Elvira
May 3, 6, 9, 12, & 15
Vienna State Opera
Carmen / Micaela
May 18 & 21
Vienna State Opera
Manon / Title role
June 22, 25, & 28; July 1, 4, 7, & 10
Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London
Manon / Title role
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© 21C Media Group, February 2010