Anna Netrebko and Rolando Villazón win a Echo Klassik 2009 Award

The Echo Klassik 2009 Awards have been already announced at the German website Mediabiz.de. Anna Netrebko and Rolando Villazón win a Echo Klassik 2009 Award in the category Opera Recording of the Year (19th Century) for the Deutsche Grammophon/Universal Music CD recording of Puccini's of La Bohème.

Some of the Echo Klassik 2009 Award Winners are:

Female Singer of the Year - Elina Garanca, Bel Canto (Deutsche Grammophon/Universal Music)
Recognition to an Artist Lifetime Achievement - Plácido Domingo
Opera Recording of the Year (19th Century) - Anna Netrebko and Rolando Villazón, Giacomo Puccini, La Bohème (Deutsche Grammophon/Universal Music)
Opera Recording of the Year (Opera Arias and Duets) - René Pape, Gods, Kings and Demons (Deutsche Grammophon/Universal Music)

Related posts
Anna Netrebko has been nominated for the Echo Klassik 2009
Anna Netrebko Awards and Prizes

Anna Netrebko CD signing in San Francisco

Anna Netrebko will be at a CD signing session at the San Francisco Opera House this Sunday 28. June, starting at 5:30 PM. After the CD signing session, Netrebko will sing her last performance of the run of Verdi's La Traviata starting at 8:00 PM.

Anna Netrebko has been nominated for the Echo Klassik 2009

Russian soprano Anna Netrebko, with 9 nominations, Mexican tenor Rolando Villazón with seven and Russian conductor Valery Gergiev with five, are among the nominated for the Echo Klassik 2009.

Winners of the Echo Klassik 2009 awards will be announced on 29. June 2009. The Echo Klassik 2009 awards ceremony will take place at the Semperoper, Dresden, on 18. October 2009. ZDF will broadcast the show starting at 10:00 PM.

Anna Netrebko has previously obtained the following Echo Klassik Awards:
- Echo Klassik 2005 Award in the category "Bestselling Album of the Year" for the recording of the album Sempre Libera (München, 2005)
- Echo Klassik 2006 Award in the category "Bestselling Album of the Year" for the live recording of La Traviata at the Salzburger Festspiele 2005 (München, 2006)
- Echo Klassik 2007 Award in the category "Bestselling Album of the Year" for the recording of the Russian Album (München, 2007)
- Echo Klassik 2007 Award in the category "Best Music DVD Production of the Year" for the video recording of the Waldbühnenkonzert, Berlin, July 2006 with Plácido Domingo and Rolando Villazón (München, 2007)
- Echo Klassik 2008 Award in the category "Bestselling Album of the Year" for the recording of the album Duets with Rolando Villazón (München, 2008)
- Echo Klassik 2008 Award in the category "Best Music DVD Production of the Year" for the video recording of Le Nozze di Figaro at the Salzburger Festspiele 2007 with Ildebrando D'Arcangelo, Dorothea Röschmann, Christine Schäffer and the Wiener Philharmoniker conducted by Nikolaus Harnoncourt (München, 2008)

Rekordbeteiligung beim Echo Klassik, Mediabiz, 23. June 2009 [German]
Anna Netrebko Awards and Prizes

La Traviata, San Francisco Opera, San Francisco 19. Jun 2009

La Traviata
Giuseppe Verdi
Francesco Maria Piave

War Memorial Opera House, San Francisco
Friday 19. June 2009


Production
Conductor: Donald Runnicles
Director and Designer: Marta Domingo*
Choreographer: Kitty McNamee
Chorus Director: Ian Robertson
Lighting Designer: Mark McCullough

Cast
Violetta Valéry: Anna Netrebko
Alfredo Germont: Charles Castronovo
Giorgio Germont: Dwayne Croft
Flora: Leann Sandel-Pantaleo*
Gastone: Andrew Bidlack
Baron Douphol: Dale Travis
Marquis D’Obigny: Austin Kness
Grenvil: Kenneth Kellogg
Annina: Renée Tatum*
Giuseppe: Dale Tracy
Messenger: Bojan Knezevic
Flora’s Servant: William Pickersgill
Matador: Jekyns Pelaez*

Orchestra and Chorus of the San Francisco Opera

About the Opera
Overview
Synopsis
The Traviata Saga

On-line Press Reviews
Netrebko in Traviata at SFO, Not For Fun Only, 21. June 2009 [English]
Russian soprano Anna Netrebko lights up opera stage in 'La Traviata' - By Mike Silverman, The Associated Press 22. June 2009 [English]

Radio Broadcasts
La Traviata will be broadcast on Saturday, October 17, 2009 at 10:30 AM on WFMT and Sunday, December 06, 2009 at 8:00 PM on KDFC.

Related posts
Anna Netrebko lights up stage in "La Traviata", San Francisco Examiner 8. Jun 2009
Sultry soprano Netrebko prepares for "Traviata" in S.F., Mercury News 8. Jun 2009
Anna Netrebko - an opera star but not diva, San Francisco Chronicle 12. Jun 2009
La Traviata, San Francisco Opera, San Francisco 13. Jun 2009

Breaking News - Anna Netrebko and Rolando Villazón withdraw from Idomeneo in Paris in 2010

Anna Netrebko and Rolando Villazón wilthdraw from Idomeneo at the Palais Garnier, Paris in January-February 2010. The Georgian soprano Tamar Iveri will replace Anna Netrebko as Elettra and the American tenor Charles Workman, who was scheduled to sing Arbace, will replace Rolando Villazón in the title role. The German tenor Lothar Odinius will sing the role of Arbace.

Breaking News - Rolando Villazón withdraws from Carmen in Wien in 2010 and is replaced by Massimo Giordano

Rolando Villazón has canceled his participation in Carmen in Vienna in May 2010. He said in an interview with the Austrian magazine NEWS that he wanted to plan his comeback very carefully, and the role of Don José would not be appropriate.

Massimo Giordano will replace Rolando Villazón as Don José in Carmen in Vienna in May 2010.

Rolando Villazón sagt 'Carmen'-Premiere ab: Hätte am 3. Mai 2010 stattfinden sollen, NEWS, 17. June 2009 [German]
Wiener Staatsoper: "Carmen"-Premiere 2010 ohne Rolando Villazón, Der Standard, 17. June 2009 [German]
Villazon cancels 2010 `Carmen' premiere in Vienna, San Francisco Chronicle, 17. June 2009 [English]
Rolando Villazón no interpretará "Carmen" en 2010 en la Ópera de Viena, ABC, 17. June 2009 [Spanish]

Anna Netrebko 2009-2010 Season

Cast changes in Les Contes d'Hoffmann at the Met

Bass René Pape has withdrawn from the Metropolitan Opera’s new production of Offenbach’s “Les Contes d’Hoffmann” opening on 3. December. Pape has decided not to add the four villains to his repertory, the company said Tuesday. Alan Held will now sing the roles of Lindorf, Coppelius, Dappertutto and Dr. Miracle.

As it was announced in exclusive on this blog on 26. May 2009, tenor Joseph Calleja will replace Rolando Villazón as Hoffmann, who canceled his appearance when he announced in April that he needed surgery to remove a cyst on his larynx.

The production, conducted by James Levine and John Keenan (23., 26. and 30. December 2009), includes Anna Netrebko as Antonia and Elina Garanca and Kate Lindsey (26., 30. December 2009 and 2. January 2010) as Nicklausse.

The Dec. 19 performance will be simulcast in HD to theaters around the world.

Anna Netrebko 2009-2010 Season

La Traviata, San Francisco Opera, San Francisco 13. Jun 2009

La Traviata
Giuseppe Verdi
Francesco Maria Piave

War Memorial Opera House, San Francisco
Saturday 13. June 2009


Production
Conductor: Donald Runnicles
Director and Designer: Marta Domingo*
Choreographer: Kitty McNamee
Chorus Director: Ian Robertson
Lighting Designer: Mark McCullough

Cast
Violetta Valéry: Anna Netrebko
Alfredo Germont: Charles Castronovo
Giorgio Germont: Dwayne Croft
Flora: Leann Sandel-Pantaleo*
Gastone: Andrew Bidlack
Baron Douphol: Dale Travis
Marquis D’Obigny: Austin Kness
Grenvil: Kenneth Kellogg
Annina: Renée Tatum*
Giuseppe: Dale Tracy
Messenger: Bojan Knezevic
Flora’s Servant: William Pickersgill
Matador: Jekyns Pelaez*

Orchestra and Chorus of the San Francisco Opera

About the Opera
Overview
Synopsis
The Traviata Saga

Reviews

Press Reviews

When she sashays across the stage, it is a star's entrance. And at Saturday's opening performance in War Memorial Opera House, the Russian diva delivered a searching and often spectacular performance as Violetta Valéry, the Parisian demimondaine who is the heroine of Verdi's tragedy. There was the sheer beauty of her voice to consider: pouring like liquid amber, then bubbling up to all those high A-flats and Cs.
San Jose Mercury News, 14. Jun 2009

In superb voice, used impressively through the evening, and with a believable, moving portrayal of Violetta, Netrebko tonight earned respect and admiration. I don't recall a more convincing Act II performance in the heroine's psychologically and practically bizarre capitulation to the demand to leave Alfredo than in Netrebko's - and in Domingo's direction of plausible body language supporting the plot and the music.
San Francisco Examiner, 15. June 2009

Netrebko’s sculptural approach to the musical phrasing is informed by her natural understanding of the character she depicts, and buttressed by her assured vocal abilities. The voice is voluptuous and balanced in all registers, with a fascinatingly complex range of vocal colors. This is a soprano with grande abbandono in her forte notes, and a genuine pianissimo that’s natural to her voice — not a fake falsetto requiring a shift into another gear. Over the years the voice has grown richer and more powerful. The lower register has acquired a dark, Slavic hue. I hope the temptation to accent this sensual register will not lead to an unbalancing of her magnificent voice.
San Francisco Classical Voice, 16. June 2009

On-line Press Reviews
Splendid Netrebko-Castronovo "Traviata" by Janos Gereben, Opera-L Archives, 14. Jun 2009, San Francisco Examiner, 15. Jun 2009[English]
Review: Anna Netrebko brings glamour and star power to 'La Traviata' at S.F. Opera by Richard Seinin, San Jose Mercury News, 14. Jun 2009 [English]
Anna Netrebko returns to S.F. in 'La Traviata' by Joshua Kosman, San Francisco Chronicle, 14. June 2009 [English]
Anna Netrebko's jazzy opening of Verdi's "La Traviata": Diamond tiara and sparkling performances by Cindy Warner, San Francisco Opera Examiner, 14. June 2009 [English]
Embracing Abandon at S.F. Opera by Olivia Stapp, San Francisco Classical Voice, 16. June 2009 [English]
Verdi: La Traviata by Harvey Steiman, Seen and Heard Opera International Review, 16. June 2009 [English]
Patricia Zohn: A Girl’s Guide to Love and Opera: La Traviata, 19. June 2009 [English]

Videoclips
Video excerpts from rehearsals by San Francisco Opera. Uploaded to Youtube by Sfoperamedia


Video excerpt from rehearsals. "Libiamo ne'lieti calici (Brindisi)" uploaded to Youtube by tactus72


Video excerpt from rehearsals. "Un di felice, eterea" uploaded to Youtube by tactus72


Anna Netrebko on the stage, behind the curtains, just after La Traviata's premiere at the San Francisco Opera. Video uploaded to Youtube by madonna4president


Radio Broadcasts
La Traviata will be broadcast on Saturday, October 17, 2009 at 10:30 AM on WFMT and Sunday, December 06, 2009 at 8:00 PM on KDFC.

Related posts
Anna Netrebko lights up stage in "La Traviata", San Francisco Examiner 8. Jun 2009
Sultry soprano Netrebko prepares for "Traviata" in S.F., Mercury News 8. Jun 2009
Anna Netrebko - an opera star but not diva, San Francisco Chronicle 12. Jun 2009

This Saturday BBC 3 will broadcast I Capuleti e I Montecchi from the Royal Opera House

This coming Saturday 6. June at 18.00 BST (19:00 CET), BBC Radio 3 will broadcast the performance of Bellini's I Capuleti e I Montecchi that was recorded on 7. April 2009 at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, starring Latvian mezzo-soprano Elina Garanca as Romeo and Russian soprano Anna Netrebko as Giulietta. Mark Elder conducts the Chorus and Orchestra of the Royal Opera House.

Presented by Donald Macleod with opera historian Sarah Lenton. If you cannot listen at that time it will be available for the following seven days to listen on the BBC iPlayer.

I Capuleti e I Montecchi

Royal Opera House, Covent Garden 7. April 2009

Romeo Elina Garanca (mezzo-soprano)

Giulietta Anna Netrebko (soprano)

Tebaldo Dario Schmunck (tenor)

Capellio Eric Owens (bass-baritone)

Lorenzo Giovanni Battista Parodi (bass)

The Royal Opera Chorus

The Orchestra of the Royal Opera House

Conducted by Mark Elder