Netrebko stars in new Met production of Les contes d’Hoffmann
Tony Award-winning director Bartlett Sher’s new production of Offenbach’s Les contes d’Hoffmann, starring Anna Netrebko as Antonia and Joseph Calleja in the title role, begins its run at the Metropolitan Opera on December 3, 2009. Before taking the stage at the Met, however, Netrebko will make a special appearance across Lincoln Center Plaza at Avery Fisher Hall, in this year’s Richard Tucker Music Foundation Gala. The November 22 gala will mark the Russian soprano’s debut in the venue and will be the first time she has performed at the foundation’s annual event, which features many of the world’s leading singers.
When Anna Netrebko sang Antonia at the Mariinsky Theatre, a critic for the St. Petersburg Times wrote: “Her captivating performance was the genuine highlight of the production. Her tormented Antonia, suffering over the paths she had to choose, was pierced with despair.” The Russian soprano returns to the Met for the first time this season for Sher’s new production of Hoffmann, in which she will give her first New York performances as Antonia. Besides Calleja as Hoffmann, Netrebko’s other castmates will include rising-star mezzo Kate Lindsey as Nicklausse and Alan Held as the four villains. Metropolitan Opera Artistic Director James Levine will conduct the first five performances of the nine-performance run, which goes through January 2. Audiences worldwide will be able to see Netrebko as the young Antonia, thanks to the The Met: Live In HD movie theater broadcast of the matinee performance on December 19.
The Met recently announced that the final dress rehearsal of Les contes d’Hoffmann on November 30 will be made open to the public. Approximately 3,000 free tickets are being given away through an online ticket drawing at www.metopera.org. Entries are no longer being accepted, but those who entered will find out if they’ve won by going to the Met’s website after November 19. Visit www.metopera.org for more information.
Watch a video of Anna Netrebko and mezzo-soprano Elina Garanca performing the Barcarolle (“Belle nuit, o nuit d’amour”) from Les contes d’Hoffmann: www.youtube.com/watch?v=SdlT7On7cvY.
In February and March, Anna Netrebko will return to the Met to sing Mimì in Puccini’s La bohème, a role she has sung in many of the world’s leading opera houses, although only once previously at the Met. In this beloved Zeffirelli production of the opera, her Rodolfo will be Polish tenor Piotr Beczala, with whom Netrebko also appeared at the Met last season, in performances of Lucia di Lammermoor.
Those not wanting to wait until 2010 to see Netrebko’s Mimì will be in luck on December 23, when PBS’s “Great Performances” series presents the first American television broadcast of Robert Dornhelm’s feature film version of the opera, starring the Russian soprano opposite tenor Rolando Villazón. This movie version of La bohème was shown in theaters in select markets across the U.S. earlier this year. In anticipation of the PBS broadcast, on December 15 Deutsche Grammophon will release a DVD of the film in the U.S. (it is already available in Europe).
As part of the Richard Tucker Music Foundation Gala program on November 22, Anna Netrebko will make a solo appearance singing Arditi’s coquettish “Il bacio.” She will also join tenor Joseph Calleja (her Hoffmann in the upcoming Met production) for the popular duet “O soave fanciulla” from La bohème, and will close out the evening with the Act II, Scene II finale from Verdi’s La traviata, opposite Zeljko Lucic and this year’s Richard Tucker Award winner, tenor Stephen Costello. Other of Netrebko’s colleagues to be featured on the program include Stephanie Blythe, Susan Graham, James Morris, Matthew Polenzani, and Samuel Ramey, to name but a few. Maestro Fabio Luisi will lead the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, and the performance will begin at 6pm EST.
The Richard Tucker Music Foundation, founded in 1975, is a non-profit cultural organization dedicated to perpetuating the artistic legacy of the great American tenor through the support and advancement of the careers of talented American opera singers by bringing opera into the community. The Foundation seeks to heighten appreciation for opera by offering free performances in the New York Metropolitan area and by supporting music education enrichment programs. Through awards, grants for study, performance opportunities, and other career-enhancing activities, the Foundation provides professional development for singers at several levels of career-readiness.
Anna Netrebko: upcoming performances
November 22, 2009
New York, NY
Avery Fisher Hall
Richard Tucker Music Foundation Gala
December 3, 7, 11, 16, 19(m)*, 23, 26, and 30, 2009; January 2, 2010
New York, NY
Metropolitan Opera
Les contes d’Hoffmann (Antonia)
*The Met: Live In HD transmission
January 18, 2010
London, UK
Philharmonia Orchestra (debut)
Royal Festival Hall
Concert with Dmitri Hvorostovsky
February 20, 24, and 27; March 2, 6, 10, 13, 17, and 20, 2009
New York, NY
Metropolitan Opera
Puccini: La bohème (Mimì)
March 29, 2010
Berlin, Germany
Berlin State Opera
Recital with Daniel Barenboim
April 5 and 8, 2010
Vienna, Austria
Vienna State Opera
Puccini: La bohème (Mimì)
April 19, 22, and 25, 2010
Vienna, Austria
Vienna State Opera
Bellini: I puritani (Elvira)
May 3, 6, 9, 12, and 15, 2010
Vienna, Austria
Vienna State Opera
Bizet: Carmen (Micaela)
May 18 and 21, 2010
Vienna, Austria
Vienna State Opera
Massenet: Manon (title role)
June 22, 25, and 28; July 1, 4, 7, and 10, 2010
London, UK
Royal Opera House, Covent Garden
Massenet: Manon (title role)
Anna Netrebko: recent and upcoming releases
Donizetti: Lucia di Lammermoor (2 DVDs)
Deutsche Grammophon
Release date: Nov 10
La bohème – Highlights (CD)
Deutsche Grammophon
Release date: Nov 23
La bohème (DVD)
Kultur International Films
Release date: Dec 15
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© 21C Media Group, November 2009