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After taking a 6-month break from opera to give birth to Tiago Aruä, her first son with bass-baritone Erwin Schrott, Anna Netrebko returns for her Met debut in the title role of Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor on 26. January 2009.The Met site has just published a recent interview with Anna, in which she talks about her return to the stage and her thoughts about Lucia.
"I didn't open my mouth at all. I just started practicing in November. I thought my voice would be wobbling. But no, no–it was there. I immediately sang the whole role of Lucia! I was curious how my voice would be, because I know of sopranos who have lost their voices after giving birth. But it seems like it was exactly the same as it was before. I started to sing like I had never stopped. The only thing that was different was that I got tired quickly. But that's normal. Like a sportsman, you need to train the muscles"
"The first time I heard Lucia I thought, Oh, my God, how can anybody sing that? No way. But later I tried it, and immediately, from the first phrase, it felt so good"
"You have to be able to act, you have to be able to move... That said, I was once at a performance of Lucia at the Vienna Staatsoper, with a wonderful soprano, Edita Gruberova. She doesn't really act–she's a singer. And I have to tell you, that was one of the most amazing Lucias I ever saw. She was just standing and singing, and it was incredible. She blew me away with her singing"
