MusicWeb International One of the most grown-up review sites around 2024
60,000 reviews
... and still writing ...

Search MusicWeb Here Acte Prealable Polish CDs
 

Presto Music CD retailer
 
Founder: Len Mullenger                                    Editor in Chief:John Quinn             


CD REVIEW
RECORDING OF THE MONTH


Some items
to consider

new MWI
Current reviews

old MWI
pre-2023 reviews

paid for
advertisements

Acte Prealable Polish recordings

Forgotten Recordings
Forgotten Recordings
All Forgotten Records Reviews

TROUBADISC
Troubadisc Weinberg- TROCD01450

All Troubadisc reviews


FOGHORN Classics

Alexandra-Quartet
Brahms String Quartets

All Foghorn Reviews


All HDTT reviews


Songs to Harp from
the Old and New World


all Nimbus reviews



all tudor reviews


Follow us on Twitter


Editorial Board
MusicWeb International
Founding Editor
   
Rob Barnett
Editor in Chief
John Quinn
Contributing Editor
Ralph Moore
Webmaster
   David Barker
Postmaster
Jonathan Woolf
MusicWeb Founder
   Len Mullenger

 

alternatively
CDs: Crotchet AmazonUK AmazonUS

 

Anna Netrebko - Opera Arias
Bonus:

The Making of the Film: Anna Netrebko. The Woman – The Voice [14:44]
Anna Netrebko (soprano)
Elina Garanca (mezzo)(CD tr. 5), David Aronson (harpsichord) (CD tr. 1)
Wiener Staatsopernchor
Wiener Philharmoniker/Gianandrea Noseda
rec. Musikverein, Grosser Saal, March 2003.
DVD directed and choreographed by Vincent Paterson
Texts and English translations enclosed
DEUTSCHE GRAMMOPHON 00289 477 7566 [62:59 + 40:38]
Experience Classicsonline



CD
Wolfgang Amadeus MOZART (1756 – 1791)

Idomeneo:
1. Quando avran fine omai … Padre, germani, addio! [7:23]
Don Giovanni:
2. Crudele? – Ah no, mio bene! … Non mi dir, bell’idol mio [6:37]
Hector BERLIOZ (1803 – 1869)

Benvenuto Cellini:
3. Les belles fleurs! … Quand j’aurai votre âge [7:44]
Jules MASSENET (1842 – 1912)

Manon:
4. Suis-je gentile ainsi? … Je marche sur tous les chemins … (Gavotte) Obéissons, quand leur voix appelle [6:35]
Gaetano DONIZETTI (1797 – 1848)

Lucia di Lammermoor:
5. Ancor non giunse! … Regnava nel silenzio [12:42]
Vincenzo BELLINI (1801 – 1835)

La sonnambula:
6. Care compagne, e voi, teneri amici … Come per me sereno [7:44]
Charles GOUNOD (1818 – 1893)

Faust:
7. Les grands seigneurs ont seuls des airs si resoles – Air des bijoux Ah! je ris de me voir (Jewel Song) [6:28]
Antonín DVOŘÁK (1841 – 1904)

Rusalka:
8. Měsíčku na nebi hlubokém (Song to the Moon) [5:07]
Giacomo PUCCINI (1858 – 1924)

La bohème:
9. Quando men vo (Musetta’s Waltz) [2:39]
DVD
Charles GOUNOD (1818 – 1893)

Faust:
1. Air des bijoux Ah! je ris de me voir (Jewel Song) [4:04]
Giacomo PUCCINI (1858 – 1924)

La bohème:
2. Quando men vo (Musetta’s Waltz) [3:22]
Wolfgang Amadeus MOZART (1756 – 1791)

Don Giovanni:
3. Crudele? – Ah no, mio bene! … Non mi dir, bell’idol mio [6:31]
Vincenzo BELLINI (1801 – 1835)

La sonnambula:
4. Care compagne, e voi, teneri amici … Come per me sereno [6:54]
Antonín DVOŘÁK (1841 – 1904)

Rusalka:
5. Měsíčku na nebi hlubokém (Song to the Moon) [5:03]

This CD was Anna Netrebko’s first solo recital and it was recorded in 2003. When it now appears again it is for a handful of the arias, their third packaging in less than five years. A couple of years ago there was a disc which was compiled from her first two recitals, to which had been added a few excerpts from her complete La traviata, a duet with Joseph Calleja from his second recital and a never before issued aria from one of the first sessions. The present set is actually a straight reissue in harness with a DVD showing her in five of the arias from the CD and filmed roughly at the same time. Offered at a special price this as good an opportunity as any to acquire this superb recital and get Ms Netrebko ‘on film’ at the same time. David C. F. Wright waxed lyrical about the original issue (review). I was just as enthusiastic about the above-mentioned compilation (review) but also advised readers to buy the two original recitals instead – and here is one of them!

Anna Netrebko’s credentials as a Mozart singer are well documented and she is a deep-probing and expressive Ilia in the first excerpt on this CD. Idomeneo was Mozart’s first mature opera and the first where his psychological insight was fully developed. In the long recitative we follow Ilia’s inner monologue when she looks back on her unhappy life. The music is tailor-made to express all her feelings. But the role also needs a singer who understands her predicament – and is able to bring it over to the listener, which is an even harder task when we have to contend only with the aural picture. Ms Netrebko has all the expressions needed and her woe is tangible. One automatically thinks of her as a natural Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni – maybe even a Zerlina, but that is a role she loathes. She has the measure of the more dramatic Donna Anna too – and who said it must be sung by a Brünnhilde? Singing this role is more a question of intensity, not sheer volume.

In the aria from Benvenuto Cellini she is allowed to show her coloratura technique, which is effortless and brilliant and she has a fine trill. Berlioz has moments of banality but as in most of his music the high and the low thrive side by side. The sublime is often stressed by the presence of its less well-endowed sister. The second French item, the aria and gavotte from Manon, is a masterpiece and the role suits Netrebko particularly well. It is a brilliant reading with a really alluring gavotte. Is a complete recording on the agenda, Deutsche Grammophon? And whil I am on that topic: the Lucia di Lammermoor excerpt makes me wish for a complete version of that opera too. Warmer than Beverly Sills and more expressive than Joan Sutherland she seems like the best of two worlds, and I wouldn’t mind hearing the excellent Elina Garanca as Alisa.

Her Amina in La sonnambula is fresh and more alert than one is used to and the coloratura is again superb. Back in French repertoire Marguerite is another role for the complete list; she is almost in the Victoria de los Angeles class – and that is praise indeed. The Song to the Moon from Rusalka is quite simple and unaffected but the big sweeping melody is filled with darker tones. Her Musetta is charmingly mischievous.

Besides having the best vocal resources in this repertoire since Caballé (Christopher Howell) or even Callas (Dr. Wright) she has the looks to beat them both and the DVD is certainly entertaining. Vincent Paterson has not strived to make the chosen scenes related to the actual situation in the opera but placed Anna Netrebko in various witty or surprising environments and situations; the soprano enjoys every second of it! The Jewel Song is a kind of kaleidoscope with Marguerite in various costumes and surroundings, flickering past quickly. Musetta’s waltz is sung in the backseat of a taxi with her partner turned away from her, busy talking in his cell-phone. In the song to the moon she is in a pool floating on an inflated rubber raft – Esther Williams-like. It is inventive, fun and tongue-in-the-cheek. People who are moderately interested in opera will appreciate it more than die-hard opera freaks. Lip-sync is not always perfect, but so what? When I want to listen to one of the finest opera singers now before the public I choose the CD; when it’s show-time I pick the DVD and get the same high-quality singing in the bargain.

If there are still people listening to opera recordings forty-eight years on, I believe this disc will be one of the classics, just as Joan Sutherland’s ‘Art of the Prima Donna’ is today and will continue to be.

Göran Forsling


 


 




 


Advertising on
Musicweb


Donate and keep us afloat

 

New Releases

Naxos Classical
All Naxos reviews

Chandos recordings
All Chandos reviews

Hyperion recordings
All Hyperion reviews

Foghorn recordings
All Foghorn reviews

Troubadisc recordings
All Troubadisc reviews



all Bridge reviews


all cpo reviews

Divine Art recordings
Click to see New Releases
Get 10% off using code musicweb10
All Divine Art reviews


All Eloquence reviews

Lyrita recordings
All Lyrita Reviews

 

Wyastone New Releases
Obtain 10% discount

Subscribe to our free weekly review listing

 

 


EXPLORE MUSICWEB INTERNATIONAL

Making a Donation to MusicWeb

Writing CD reviews for MWI

About MWI
Who we are, where we have come from and how we do it.

Site Map

How to find a review

How to find articles on MusicWeb
Listed in date order

Review Indexes
   By Label
      Select a label and all reviews are listed in Catalogue order
   By Masterwork
            Links from composer names (eg Sibelius) are to resource pages with links to the review indexes for the individual works as well as other resources.

Themed Review pages

Jazz reviews

 

Discographies
   Composer
      Composer surveys
   National
      Unique to MusicWeb -
a comprehensive listing of all LP and CD recordings of given works
.
Prepared by Michael Herman

The Collector’s Guide to Gramophone Company Record Labels 1898 - 1925
Howard Friedman

Book Reviews

Complete Books
We have a number of out of print complete books on-line

Interviews
With Composers, Conductors, Singers, Instumentalists and others
Includes those on the Seen and Heard site

Nostalgia

Nostalgia CD reviews

Records Of The Year
Each reviewer is given the opportunity to select the best of the releases

Monthly Best Buys
Recordings of the Month and Bargains of the Month

Comment
Arthur Butterworth Writes

An occasional column

Phil Scowcroft's Garlands
British Light Music articles

Classical blogs
A listing of Classical Music Blogs external to MusicWeb International

Reviewers Logs
What they have been listening to for pleasure

Announcements

 

Community
Bulletin Board

Give your opinions or seek answers

Reviewers
Past and present

Helpers invited!

Resources
How Did I Miss That?

Currently suspended but there are a lot there with sound clips


Composer Resources

British Composers

British Light Music Composers

Other composers

Film Music (Archive)
Film Music on the Web (Closed in December 2006)

Programme Notes
For concert organizers

External sites
British Music Society
The BBC Proms
Orchestra Sites
Recording Companies & Retailers
Online Music
Agents & Marketing
Publishers
Other links
Newsgroups
Web News sites etc

PotPourri
A pot-pourri of articles

MW Listening Room
MW Office

Advice to Windows Vista users  
Questionnaire    
Site History  
What they say about us
What we say about us!
Where to get help on the Internet
CD orders By Special Request
Graphics archive
Currency Converter
Dictionary
Magazines
Newsfeed  
Web Ring
Translation Service

Rules for potential reviewers :-)
Do Not Go Here!
April Fools




Return to Review Index

Untitled Document


Reviews from previous months
Join the mailing list and receive a hyperlinked weekly update on the discs reviewed. details
We welcome feedback on our reviews. Please use the Bulletin Board
Please paste in the first line of your comments the URL of the review to which you refer.