Anna Netrebko: Opera Arias
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Free Music Notes for Anna Netrebko: Opera Arias
Free Music Review: Anna Netrebko: Opera Arias
Hit: 5 Stars
Her voice takes my breath away, I fell in love with her.
I highly reccomend it.
Free Music Review: Fresh soprano blood
Hit: 4 Stars
Any budding soprano that doesn't choose the usual warhorses, and opens her debut album with an aria from Mozart's Idomeneo, and turns it into a tour de force, sparkling performance, is worth all the hype. And the best is yet to come- the second track, Non mir dir from Don Giovanni is even better. Not technically, far from it: the way she fudges that trill at the end is astounding, but this Anna is so alive, so achingly beautiful, that it remains one of my favourites among the many versions I have heard over the years. Netrebko has performed Donna Anna on stage - to a great acclaim- and that shows here.
The rest of the album offers energetic Berlioz, great bits of Lucia - a wonderful mezzo Elina Garanca joins Netrebko on this one- and La sonnambula sung in a way that makes Dionizetti and Bellini palatable for me... The runs are little messy sometimes, but give Netrebko the vocal challenges, the idiotic libretti and a sleeping gown and she can act the hell out of it, even in a studio recording. The spunky Manon makes her mark in the gavotte, the Faust is charming- and devoid of many written trills and such, but it's good clean fun and she is putting some life into that chirpy classic.
And then, the kinky Rusalka, lovely, strong and devoid of any of that cheese and swooning nonsense that many other singers have splattered on it. I love this opera and Mesicku aria is one of my big favourites, and I have heard countless renditions of it, from a near perfect Benackova to a very cool Karita Mattila to a horrible, slurring and scooping, bottom of the lake Fleming, and Netrebko really gets it right for me. When I was a kid reading all the stories about rusalki, this is how I imagined them- sad, erotic, and with some character. I can understand her Czech too, how often that happens! I guess only someone from our Slavic language pool would understand how well she controls that super rounded Russian oh's from overtaking what she is singing, and even though her diction is funny business overall, the voice more than makes up for it.
The closing Musetta's Waltz is just about perfect- once again, not too much, not too little, would make me see the tired old Boheme if it played around here and she was in it... Netrebko has some work to do on varying the colors of her lovely, dark voice, and kicking up the diction, but she is shaping to be major economic force in the opera world and from this debut CD it is clear why- the looks are backed by a high wattage talent, acting skills and plain good taste.
Free Music Review: An Exciting Debut
Hit: 4 Stars
I have encountered this exciting singer twice in the opera house, both at Covent Garden, both in Mozart. Her Servilia, I felt, was miscast; the voice was too large, the presence too strong for this young character. Her Donna Anna was a different prospect altogether. A surprise, for starters - she was a replacement for Alexandra von der Weth - but a very welcome one. Vocally, she stole the show, with "Non mi Dir" the peak of this achievement, with impeccable control and very, very subtle phrasing. The house loved her.So now she makes her debut recital disc. She is marketed well by DG - a beautiful woman, there is no shortage of glamour shots on the sleeve. Further, this is a disc from an already experienced artist with an element of maturity that makes her much more interesting than others making their first foray into the recording studio.
The voice sounds healthy, bright, not exactly even, but has a rich palette of colour from a smoky lower register to a bright top that never sounds shrill. There is a resiny edge and darkness that draws the listener in. She isn't afraid to take risks, and will employ an acrobatic pianissimo here and a breathy low note there to give her singing dramatic point. She lacks a real trill and, whilst generally accurate, some of the coloratura is smudgy (especially in the Somnambula excerpt) but this is singing that goes a long way beyond a show of technical prowess. She is a serious artist who thinks before she vocalises.
The choice of repertoire is interesting. Nothing Russian, some well-trod Bel Canto and French repertoire and some off-the-beaten-track Berlioz and Mozart,with Musetta thrown in. Her Lucia is most compelling and I loved her Manon, and her Anna did not disappoint. I can't quite see her as a Bel Canto singer, though - to me she sounds like a singer headed to Gilda, Violetta (already in her repertoire), Amelia Grimaldi and Desdemona with a long view to Trovatore and Don Carlos. French repertoire does suit her (if she could work on the pronunciation) and she is a fine singer of Mozart. Her sound is dark and brooding enough for Puccini - what a Liu she would be! - but I suspect Butterfly and Tosca are beyond her for the foreseeable future.
Accompaniments are perfectly fine (a bit swift in some of the coloratura numbers)m the chorus sounds intermittently coarse, but all in all this is an exciting debut and shows Netrebko off to her advantage. She is clearly going places, and I very much look forward to hearing more.
Free Music Review: First DGG album--very promising
Hit: 4 Stars
Anna Netrebko has rapidly become a first tier star in opera. This album, her first at DGG, illustrates why some rate her so highly; it also illustrates some of the questions that some have raised about her. All in all, though, a very nice CD.
A few selections illustrate:
Mozart, Idomeneo, "Quando avran fine omai." She displays a rich and clean voice. There is a very attractive quality to her voice manifest in this work.
Mozart, Don Giovanni, "Crudele? Ah no, mio bene!...Non mi dir." This is Donna Anna's poignant aria, given her circumstances. Netrebko displays rich tones. This is a well sung cut. "Non mi dir" shows off some agility in her voice.
Donizetti, Lucia di Lammermoor. "Ancor non giunse!. . .Regnava nel silenzio. . .Quando rapito in estasi" Something of a disappointment. Coloratura is not her forte (and see her "Sempre Libera" CD for further confirmation). She clearly shows off a rich and lush voice. I think that she displays some characterization here that is compelling. She hits high notes cleanly. But her ornamentation is indifferent, and she appears unable to trill. I know, some say that that is irrelevant. But compare Beverly Sills' version of this work, with almost too many trills extraordinarily well sung and her florid technique, and this version simply pales.
Bellini, La Sonnambula. "Care compagna. . .Come per me sereno." Again, Netrebko displays a rich voice. She displays an agile voice and the ability to hit the high notes. Her rendition of "come per sereno" is spirited.
Gounod, Faust. "The Jewel Song." Very smooth singing; animated singing. But the technique does not measure up to Anna Moffo's version--let alone Joan Sutherland's.
Puccini, La Boheme. "Musetta's Waltz." Yikes! What a version. Brava Netrebko. Her darker voice is very well suited to this. The characterization of Musetta seems on the mark. A wonderful cut.
All in all, this shows the promise of Netrebko. It also indicates where her strengths are and where she does not do so well (coloratura work). However, this is a very nice introduction to her work and her art.
Free Music Review: Beautifully Captivating!
Hit: 4 Stars
Unlike the passion, intimacy, and beautiful tone Netrebko brought to the Russian Album, the Opera Arias miss these wonderful qualities. There's room at the top for a new operatic power couple and the glamorous Netrebko and rising Mexican tenor Rolando Villazon are desperate to seize. I confess that there is an element of conviction in Netrebko's voice, a significant figure in Russia for more than a decade. No sooner had she arrived on the world stage, her "hype" started describing her as the new Callas, which she isn't, and suspect will never be. She may have the temperament of Callas and her petulance, but vocally the comparison just is not there! In the magnificant arias from Mozart to Puccini, Netrebko shows a lack of being able to convey the utmost of subtleties, and injecting every aria with the personality of the character she was assuming. Netrebko crashes through everything, with a glorious voice capable of conveying the the justice of both dramatic and lyric arias, but with minimal vocal characterization. Netrebko is at times very capable of expressing genuine emotion in her singing as heard in the Russian CD with music from her homeland. Netrebko is capable of becoming a most formidable artist if she continues to learn; especially if she works hard on the Italian and French repertoire as she demonstrates in her Russian work, and with the watchful direction of the Marlinsky's Valery Gergiev. In that regard it's encouraging to hear she's preparing for an important Bellini run at the Met with Renata Scotto. Her Russian aria was fine, but her Gounod aria seems to wash away from its inner qualities, not helped by some disturbing French.
Netrebko is without doubt, an inspiring, extremely talented artist, and with the experience and maturity her voice will command in the future, she will rise to the occasion of becoming one of the world's greatest 21st century singers!