Anna Netrebko’s SF homecoming and new I Capuleti CD
In June, Anna Netrebko
makes her much-anticipated return to San Francisco Opera – where she made her US debut in 1995 in Glinka’s Ruslan
and Lyudmila – to sing her signature role of Violetta in Verdi’s La
traviata.
Maestro Donald Runnicles, a
longtime colleague of Netrebko’s, conducts in his final production as Music
Director of the San Francisco Opera. It has been five years since the superstar
soprano last performed with the company, where she was once a young artist in
the Merola Opera Program. The appearance also marks Netrebko’s first US
performances of her signature role of Violetta Valery. Opera fans will
recall her portrayal of the Verdi heroine in the internationally acclaimed 2005
Salzburg Festival production by Willy Decker, which is available on DVD and on CD in both a highlights and full-length version (the latter of which received a Grammy
nomination in 2006). San Francisco Opera’s new Marta Domingo production of La traviata starring Anna Netrebko opens on Saturday, June 13, 2009. For more information, visit
http://sfopera.com/o/275.asp.
On May 5, Deutsche Grammophon released
Anna Netrebko and Elina Garanca’s full-length recording of Bellini’s I
Capuleti e i Montecchi in the US. The recording has won rave
reviews in Europe, where it was released in February to coincide with Netrebko
and Garanca’s performances of the opera at Covent Garden. Anne Midgette of the Washington
Post recently named
the recording “CD of the Week”. and Gramophone made it an “Editor’s
Choice”. The Times (UK) praised the Russian soprano in its review of
the album, writing: “[Anna Netrebko] is at her best where it matters most …
The voices of the Russian soprano and the Latvian mezzo blend better, perhaps,
than those of their counterparts on any of the previous commercial recordings.”
And the Financial Times’sAndrew
Clark even asserted that, in his opinion, it is the best recording of the opera
to date: “A quarter of a century ago Bellini’s Romeo and Juliet opera was
a rarity. There are now four good modern recordings. This newcomer … tops the
list by showcasing the limpid beauty of the vocal writing.”
Netrebko’s run in Bellini’s opera at Covent Garden this March and April was also well received by the
press. In its review, the Telegraph praised Netrebko’s and Garanca’s
performances, writing: “What fabulously healthy voices they both have, and how
thrillingly they wield them, through melancholy aria, dramatic declamation and
warmly blended duet. … There’s a passion and commitment in [Netrebko’s]
artistry which charges her with electric star quality.” The
Times wrote:
“Her glorious entrance aria “Oh! Quante volte” was blessed with a limpid
legato and an ability to meld her lovelorn sighs into the portamento. No one
should underestimate the technique (and courage) required to sustain the
musical line to meaningful effect – there really is nowhere to hide; and those
transfixing attacks above the stave where the sound instantly evaporates to a
mere thread of sound – they are an essential part of the bel canto soprano’s
armoury and Netrebko makes real capital of them.”
Earlier this spring, Netrebko presented her critically acclaimed portrayal of
Violetta in her debut at the Zurich Opera. She also made a heralded
return to the Vienna State Opera as Lucia di Lammermoor, a role that she performed at the Metropolitan
Opera in New York earlier this year.
Netrebko is currently in Vienna performing in a sold-out run of La
traviata that opened
on May 4. Before heading to San Francisco in June she will sing Mimi in La
bohème at the Bavarian
State Opera in Munich and she will give concerts with Siberian baritone
Dmitri Hvorostovsky at London’s Royal Festival Hall and in Braunschweig,
Germany.
As well as being featured in April’s issue of Vanity Fair in a spotlight piece called
“High
C in High Def,” Netrebko was named opera’s leading lady in a March 27
story in The Times (UK) titled “The
20 Best Classical Divas”. The writer, Neil Fisher, stated that “the Russian
soprano continues her domination of the operatic globe – even though it’s less
than a year since the birth of her first child,” and says she is “currently
untouchable on all counts.” Netrebko also graced the cover of the March
issue of Gramophone magazine.
Anna Netrebko also adds to her list of recent accolades a nomination for 2009 Classical
BRIT “Female Artist of the
Year”. The soprano received this award in this category last year,
but she has been nominated again – this time for her Deutsche
Grammophon recording of La bohème and her most recent solo disc, Souvenirs. The winners will be
announced at the Royal Albert Hall on May 14, 2009.
# # #
Anna Netrebko’s new CD release
Bellini: I Capuleti e i Montecchi (Deutsche Grammophon)
2-CD set
Anna Netrebko, Elina Garanca, Joseph Calleja, Robert Gleadow, Tiziano Bracci;
Wiener Symphoniker / Fabio Luisi; Wiener Singakademie
Released May 5, 2009
Anna Netrebko’s upcoming appearances
May 4, 7, & 11, 2009
Vienna State Opera
La traviata / Violetta
May 16, 2009
Vokswagenhalle Braunschweig
Concert with Dmitri Hvorostovsky
May 19, 2009
Royal Festival Hall, London
Concert with Dmitri Hvorostovsky
May 24, 28, & 31, 2009
Bavarian State Opera, Munich
La bohème / Mimì
June 13, 16, 19, 25, & 28, 2009
San Francisco Opera
La traviata / Violetta
July 18, 21, 24, & 27, 2009
Festspielhaus Baden-Baden
Iolantha / title role
August 12, 2009
Mannheim Rosengarten
Recital (pianist TBA)
August 17, 2009
Salzburg Festival
Recital with Daniel Barenboim
September 13, 2009
Ruhrtriennale Festival
Concert
September 18, 2009
Scandinavian tour, Copenhagen
Emmanuel Villaume, conductor
September 21, 2009
Scandinavian tour, Oslo
Emmanuel Villaume, conductor
September 24, 2009
Scandinavian tour, Stockholm
Emmanuel Villaume, conductor
October 1, 2009
Salle Pleyel, Paris
Duo concert with Massimo Giordano
October 10, 15, 20, 23, 2009
Opera de Paris
L’elisir d’amore / Adina
December 3, 7, 11, 16, 19, 23, 26, 30, 2009; January 2, 2010
Metropolitan Opera
Les contes d’Hoffmann / Antonia
January
20, 24, 26, 29; February 1, 4, 7, 10, 13, 2010
Opera de
Paris
Idomeneo / Elettra
February 20, 24, 27; March 2, 6, 10, 13, 17, 20, 2010
Metropolitan Opera
La bohème / Mimi
May
2009