Saturday, January 30, 2010

Concert featuring Anna Netrebko at the Concert Hall, St. Petersburg 25. Mar 2010

"Oh music, I thank you!" is the title of the concert which will take place at the Concert Hall of the Mariinsky Theater in St. Petersburg on 25. March 2010, to mark Elena Matusovskaya’s anniversary.

The concert features Anna Netrebko and Elena Matusovskaya at the piano. Other soloists are Irina Mataeva, Zlata Bulycheva, Nina Romanova (Mikhailovsky Theatre), Yevgeny Akimov, Yuri Marusin, Yuri Laptev, Vladislav Sulimsky and Yevgeny Ulanov.

Tickets for the concert are already on sale.

This concert does not replace the recital in St. Petersburg on 26. March 2010, which was initially announced on the Deutsche Grammophon website.

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Sunday, January 24, 2010

La Bohème, Mariinsky Theater, St. Petersburg 21. Jan 2010


Anna Netrebko was back in St. Petersburg to sing in a performance of Puccini's La Bohème at the Mariinsky Theater on 21. January 2010.

Anna Netrebko was Mimi, Sergei Semishkur was Rodolfo, Karina Chepurnova was Musetta, Vasily Gerello was Marcello, Vladimir Samsonov was Schaunard and Ilya Bannik was Colline. The proudction was by Ian Judge. Mikhail Agrest conducted the Chorus and Orchestra of the Mariinsky Theater.

Anna Netrebko made her debut as Mimi on 3. Jan 2006 in an unforgettable performance of the same Ian Judge's production of La Bohème at the Mariinsky Theater of St. Petersburg, with Rolando Villazón making her debut at the Mariinsky as Rodolfo and Valery Gergiev conducting the Chorus and Orchestra Mariinsky Theatre, being also his debut conducting La Bohème.

Since then, Anna Netrebko has been singing the role of Mimi in the same Ian Judge's production at the Mariinsky Theater of St. Petersburg on 23. Mar 2007, 29. Feb 2008 and 21. Jan 2010, all of them with Sergei Semishkur as Rodolfo and conducted by Mikhail Agrest.

Photos
Mikhail Agrest, Vladimir Samsonov, Anna Netrebko, Sergei Semishkur, Karina Chepurnova, Vasily Gerello and Ilya Bannik at the final curtain call. La Bohème, Mariinsky Theater, St. Petersburg 21. Jan 2010. Photo: Olga

Anna Netrebko, Sergei Semishkur and Karina Chepurnova at the final curtain call. La Bohème, Mariinsky Theater, St. Petersburg 21. Jan 2010. Photo: Olga

Vladimir Samsonov, Anna Netrebko, Mikhail Agrest, Sergei Semishkur, Karina Chepurnova, Vasily Gerello and Ilya Bannik at the final curtain call. La Bohème, Mariinsky Theater, St. Petersburg 21. Jan 2010. Photo: Olga

Anna Netrebko, Mikhail Agrest and Sergei Semishkur at the final curtain call. La Bohème, Mariinsky Theater, St. Petersburg 21. Jan 2010. Photo: Olga

Anna Netrebko and Mikhail Agrest at the final curtain call. La Bohème, Mariinsky Theater, St. Petersburg 21. Jan 2010. Photo: Olga

Anna Netrebko and Mikhail Agrest at the final curtain call. La Bohème, Mariinsky Theater, St. Petersburg 21. Jan 2010. Photo: Olga

Anna Netrebko and Mikhail Agrest at the final curtain call. La Bohème, Mariinsky Theater, St. Petersburg 21. Jan 2010. Photo: Olga

Anna Netrebko and Vladimir Samsonov at the final curtain call. La Bohème, Mariinsky Theater, St. Petersburg 21. Jan 2010. Photo: Olga

Anna Netrebko and Vladimir Samsonov at the final curtain call. La Bohème, Mariinsky Theater, St. Petersburg 21. Jan 2010. Photo: Olga

Anna Netrebko and Vladimir Samsonov at the final curtain call. La Bohème, Mariinsky Theater, St. Petersburg 21. Jan 2010. Photo: Olga

Anna Netrebko at the final curtain call. La Bohème, Mariinsky Theater, St. Petersburg 21. Jan 2010. Photo: Olga

Anna Netrebko at the final curtain call. La Bohème, Mariinsky Theater, St. Petersburg 21. Jan 2010. Photo: Olga

Videoclips
Anna Netebko (Mimi), Sergei Semishkur (Rodolfo), La Bohème, Mariinsky Theater, St. Petersburg 21. Jan 2010


Thursday, January 21, 2010

The Mariinsky Opera and Orchestra with special guest Anna Netrebko in an Evening of Tchaikovsky Opera's Scenes in Concert at The Kennedy Center


The Mariinsky Opera and Orchestra, led by Valery Gergiev and with special guest Anna Netrebko, will perform in An Evening of Tchaikovsky Opera's Scenes in Concert at The Kennedy Center, Washington on 4. March 2010 at 7:30 PM.

The programme includes scenes from Iolanta, The Queen of Spades and Mazeppa. Tickets range from US$ 29 to US$ 150. The principal casts are:

IOLANTA
Iolanta: Anna Netrebko
Robert: Alexei Markov
Count Vaudémont: Sergei Skorokhodov

THE QUEEN OF SPADES
Prilepa: Irina Mataeva
Zlatogor: Edem Umerov
Milovzor: Zlata Bulycheva

MAZEPPA
Mazeppa: Edem Umerov
Maria: Victoria Yastrebova
Lyubov: Elena Vitman
Kochubey: Mikhail Kit
Iskra: Dmitri Voropaev
Drunk Cossack: Nikolay Gassiev

Other performances of the Mariinsky Opera and Orchestra scheduled at The Kennedy Center are Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin in Concert on 27. February 2010 at 7:30 PM, Mussorgsky's Boris Godunov in Concert on 28. February 2010 at 1:30 PM, An Evening of Rimsky-Korsakov, Mussorgsky, & Borodin in Concert on 3. March 2010 at 7:30 PM and Prokofiev's War and Peace on 6. and 7. March 2010.

Related Posts
Anna Netrebko | 2009-2010 Season

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Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Anna Netrebko will make her debut at The Royal Theater, Copenhagen, in Dec 2010, in La Bohème

Anna Netrebko will make her debut at the Royal Theater, Copenhagen, in December 2010. Anna is scheduled to sing Mimí in Puccini's La Bohème on 16. and 19. December 2010.

The role of Rodolfo will be sung by Peter Lodahl. The rest of the cast is Palle Knudsen as Marcello, Gisela Stille as Musetta, Thomas Storm as Schaunard, Johan Reuter as Colline, Mogens Gert Hansen as Benoit and Jens Bruno Hansen as Alcindoro. The production is by Mikael Melbye.

Tickets will be available on 21. June 2010 at 10:00 AM. Ticket prices range from 150 to 1190 KR.

Press
Anna Netrebko to appear at the Royal Danish Opera [English/Danish]
Verdenssopran gæster Danmark: Russiske Anna Netrebko synger Mimi i "La bohème" i to opførelser på Det Kgl. Teater - kpn.dk [Danish]

Related Posts
Anna Netrebko | 2010-2011 Season

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Anna Netrebko and Dmitri Hvorostovsky, Royal Festival Hall, London 18. Jan 2010


Finally Anna Netrebko and Dmitri Hvorostovsky gave their very much eagerly awaited concert at the Royal Festival Hall, London on Monday 18. January 2010.

The concert had been initially scheduled at the Royal Festival Hall, London on 19. May 2009, but unfortunately, Anna Netrebko got sick and the concert was cancelled.

The first part of the programme included arias and duets by Wagner, Strauss, Gounod and Leoncavallo and orchestral works by Rossini, Berlioz and Leoncavallo. The second part included arias and duets by Arditi, Verdi, Dvořák and Tchaikovsky and orchestral works by Verdi and Tchaikovsky. A slight change in the second part of the programme was made with respect to the announced and printed one, starting with Arditi's "Il Bacio" followed by the Overure of Verdi's "La forza del destino". Two encores were given. Anna sang "Meine Lippen, sie küssen so heiss" from Lehar's Giuditta and Dmitri sang the Russian folk song Russian folk song: "Ochi chornyje" (Dark Eyes).

The accoustic of the Royal Festival Hall was very good. Anna and Dmitri sang together only twice, the duet of Nedda and Silvio from Leoncavallo's Pagliacci and the final duet scene from Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin, being the two highlights of the concert. Aside of the duets, anothers highlights of the performance were when Anna drove us, once again, to the heaven singing "O silver moon", from Dvorak's Rusalka and Dmitri sang the Yelensky's aria from Tcahikovsky's The Queen of Spades. The concert ended with almost everyone in the Hall standing up and applauding for several minutes.

Programme
Anna Netrebko and Dmitri Hvorostovsky
Royal Festival Hall, London 18. Jan 2010

1. PART
Gioachino Rossini: Overture, William Tell
Richard Wagner: O Du, Mein Holder Abendstern (Song to the evening star), Tannhauser, Act 3 - Dmitri Hvorostovsky
Richard Strauss: Cäcilie, Op.27 No.2 - Anna Netrebko
Hector Berlioz: Rakoczi March, The Damnation of Faust
Charles Gounod: Avant de quitter ces lieux, Faust - Dmitri Hvorostovsky
Charles Gounod: Jewel Song (Ah, je ris), Faust - Anna Netrebko
Ruggiero Leoncavallo: Intermezzo, Pagliacci
Ruggiero Leoncavallo: Nedda! Silvio, a quest'ora (Duet), Pagliacci - Anna Netrebko, Dmitri Hvorostovsky

2. PART
Luigi Arditi: Il Bacio - Anna Netrebko
Giuseppe Verdi
: Overture, La forza del destino
Giuseppe Verdi: Cortigiani, vil razza dannata, Rigoletto - Dmitri Hvorostovsky
Antonin Dvorak: O silver moon, Rusalka - Anna Netrebko
Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky: Yelensky's Aria, The Queen of Spades - Dmitri Hvorostovsky
Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky: Polonaise, Eugene Onegin
Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky: Final scene, Eugene Onegin - Anna Netrebko, Dmitri Hvorostovsky

Encores
Franz Lehar: "Meine Lippen, sie küssen so heiss" - Giuditta - Anna Netrebko
Russian folk song: "Ochi chornyje" (Dark eyes) - Dmitri Hvorostovsky

Anna Netrebko, soprano
Dmitri Hvorostovsky, baritone
Lawrence Foster, conductor
Philharmonia Orchestra

Attila's Corner
Our blog friend Attila, who has been regularly contributing to the blog with wonderful reviews, attended the concert. I got the opportunity and the pleasure to meet him at the stage door after the performance. Here it is, under the new section labeled "Attila's Corner", the review that he has kindly written for the blog:
I don't remember seeing such an international crowd at the Royal Festival Hall - most of the audience seemed to be Russians taking a break from their shopping trips. The relatively low cost of the tickets (a quarter of the price of Hamburg for example) must have attracted a lot of Europeans who can pay for the whole trip to London for less than the price of a local ticket.

Seeing Anna this evening I have finally come to the (obvious) conclusion that she is a different creature in the opera house from the one that appears in concert. On the stage she is intense and scarily dark, almost shamanistic - connecting inside herself with something almost disturbing. In the concert hall she is a creature of joy and light, wanting to keep the audience happy and laughing. This makies for a completely different experience.

This evening was about showbiz and glamour with Anna and Dimitri almost playing a sort of hard-cop soft-cop act. His arias were dark and broody, and a chance to show off his amazing breath technique with some beautiful crescendos on the climactic notes. Her arias were mostly the light seductive ones we have become familiar with from her concerts, touching on the dramatic only in her the duets.

The Philharmonia played really well with most of the orchestral interludes tastefully programmed to connect with the arias that followed.

Dimitri was the first to appear, looking like a rock star in black tie and cuban heels - finishing every aria with a huge smile, He sang Wolfram's aria with his usual wonderful open throated purring tone.

Anna followed looking very glamourous, with a green (emerald?) ring that was as big as an egg, in what looked like a new dress, off the shoulder - very sexy. Cäcilie is one of Anna's favourites. She delivered it energetically with blooming top notes (slightly pushed) - but maybe sung a little less precisely than I have heard her sing it before.

Dimitri sung his aria from the Faust sequence with real bravura - wonderful strength, and very nice crescendos on the big notes. Anna followed with the Jewel song, again it was full of youth and vitality but for me lacked the necessary precision.

The Pagliacci duet was much better, with Anna floating the sound, and getting more into the words. The two of them creating a wonderful intimacy.

Anna walked on for the second half in a very glamourous pink evening gown - which got a gasp from the audience, She placed Arditi's "Il bacio" ahead of the announced Forza del Destino overture presumably to begin with something light. Again it was a performance based around the high "money" notes, and maybe lacking her usual precision in the lower voice.

But it was the last few numbers that really raised the level of the evening. Anna sang Rusalka's mournful aria with the wonderful melting tone that is her hallmark and with a wonderful finish.

This was followed by the real singing lesson of the evening - Dimitri singing Yeletsky's aria. Hvorostovsky performances of this aria must be one of the best pieces of singing in the world today. Last year, he almost stole the Met Centennial Gala with it, and there can be no better example today of an artist at the top of his art than this; stylish, precise, emotionally intense.

The highlight of the evening was the last item - the final scene from Eugene Onegin. Anna re-entered the stage in full character, and suddenly we saw what we had been missing until now; that intense inward character portrayal, the masterful colouring of words. We had a pause from opera as circus, and returned to opera as intense emotional drama. Everything about her singing was better including the vocal placement in the lower voice. She says the role is not for her voice, but I can't wait for her to eventually do the full opera at the Met. Something happens to her singing that's almost transcendental when she stops focusing on the audience and goes into her own internal space.

There were just two encores, Anna led with another of her old favourites, Meine Lippen sie küssen so heiss - very seductive and she almost set the stage on fire when she went off into a wild dance behind the orchestra. Maybe she should try Salome!

And Dimitri finally softened his macho toughness with "Ochi chornyje" (Dark eyes). It seemed unbelievable that they didn't come back to do some more encores!

Afterwards Anna was on her own at the artists' entrance tirelessly hugging everyone and letting them take photos with her, she looked fantastic in a wonderful red velvet dress. All this joy must be exhausting for her.

On-line Press Reports
Anna Netrebko has crowd eating out of her hand - By Nick Kimberley, Evening Standard 19. Jan 2010 [English]
Dmitri Hvorostovsky & Anna Netrebko, Royal Festival Hall, London - By Edward Seckerson, The Independent 19. Jan 2010 [English]
Anna Netrebko/Dmitri Hvorostovsky - By George Hall, The Guardian, 19. Jan 2010 [English]
Netrebko/ Hvorostovsky at the Festival Hall - By Neil Fisher, Times on Line, 20. Jan 2010 [English]
Netrebko/Hvorostovsky - By Sebastian Petit, What'OnStage 20. Jan 2010 [English]
Netrebko and Hvorostovsky, Royal Festival Hall, London - By Richard Fairman, Financial Times 21. January 2010 [English]
Anna Netrebko and Dmitri Hvorostovsky at the Royal Festival Hall, review - By Rupert Christiansen, Telegraph.co.uk 22. Jan 2010 [English]
Anna Netrebko hits top form in Slavic songs - By Hugh Canning, Times on Line 24. Jan 2010 [English]
Netrebko/Hvorostovsky at Royal Festival Hall, London, 18 January 2010 - By Sam Smith, MusicOMH [English]

Blog Reports
Intermezzo: Netrebko and Hvorostovsky at the Royal Festival Hall [English] [Photos]
Barlines: From Russia with love [English]

Photos
Night overview of the Royal Festival Hall from the Golden Jubilee Footbridge. Photo: Carlos

Anna Netrebko and Dmitri Hvorostovsky, Royal Festival Hall, London 18. Jan 2010. Photo: Brian

Anna Netrebko and Dmitri Hvorostovsky, Royal Festival Hall, London 18. Jan 2010. Photo: Brian

Anna Netrebko and Dmitri Hvorostovsky, Royal Festival Hall, London 18. Jan 2010. Photo: Brian

Anna Netrebko at the stage door of the Royal Festival Hall, London 18. Jan 2010. Photo: Brian

Anna Netrebko at the stage door of the Royal Festival Hall, London 18. Jan 2010. Photo: Brian

Anna Netrebko at the stage door of the Royal Festival Hall, London 18. Jan 2010. Photo: Anne-Laure

Anna Netrebko at the stage door of the Royal Festival Hall, London 18. Jan 2010. Photo: Carlos/Charles

Anna Netrebko at the stage door of the Royal Festival Hall, London 18. Jan 2010. Photo: Charles

Related Posts
Anna Netrebko | 2009-2010 Season
Anna Netrebko and Dmitri Hvorostovsky, Royal Festival Hall, London 19. May 2009
The Programme of the Concert of Anna Netrebko and Dmitri Hvorostovsky at the Royal Festival Hall
Anna Netrebko and Dmitri Hvorostovsky, Volkswagenhalle, Braunschweig 16. May 2009
Breaking News!!! Anna Netrebko has withdrawn from tomorrow's concert at the Royal Festival Hall
Klassik Open-Air Konzert, Anna Netrebko and Dmitri Hvorostovsky, Königsplatz, München 10. Jul 2009
Programme of the concert of Anna Netrebko and Dmitri Hvorostovsky, Royal Festival Hall, London 18. Jan 2010

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Thursday, January 14, 2010

New Recitals of Anna Netrebko in Moscow and St. Petersburg

Deutsche Grammophon website announces the schedule of two new recitals of Anna Netrebko with Elena Bashkirova at the piano. The first one will take place in Moscow on 23. March 2010 and the second one in St. Petersburg on 26. March 2010. Following these two recitals in Russia, Anna will give a recital in Berlin with Daniel Barenboim at the piano during the Festtage 2010 on 29. March 2010.

The programme of those recitals, with songs by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov and Piotr Tchaikovsky, will be the same one performed last summer in Mannheim on 12. August 2009 and Salzburg during the Salzburger Festspiele on 19. August 2009. The last one in Salzburg was recorded and a CD "In the Still of Night" will be released by Deutsche Grammophon on 26. March 2010.

Related Posts
Anna Netrebko at the Festtage 2010, Philharmonie, Berlin
Anna Netrebko, Liederabend, Mozartsaal, Rosengarten, Mannheim 12. Aug 2009
Anna Netrebko, Liederabend, Grosses Festspielhaus, Salzburg 17. Aug 2009
Anna Netrebko plans to sing in a piano recital in Moscow this season
Deutsche Grammophon announces the release of the CD "In the Still of Night"
Anna Netrebko | 2009-2010 Season
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Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Interview to Anna Netrebko on RTVi Russian TV

Anna Netrebko was the invited guest of Viktor Topaller's show on the RTVi Russian TV channel for the last transmission of the year 2009. The interview was recorded in New York. Here it is the full interview, splitted in 6 videoclips, uploaded to YouTube by lekutski.

Our blog friend Violeta has kindly made an english translation of the interview for the blog. Here they are some excerpts.

Talking about the outstanding Willy Decker's production of Verdi's La Traviata, Anna says "This production was quite special. We were preparing it for 6 weeks. This is a very long period. We were working very seriously. Willy Decker is a director whom I trusted from the very beginning. I used to do everything he asked me to do. This seldom happens".

Anna confirmed that she will sing the title role of Donizetti's Anna Bolena next year: "Next year I’ll sing Donizetti’s Anna Bolena. It’s a very interesting and very difficult role. I have to be a Queen. I have to study the story, who’s who. I have only watched a film about the Tudors. I liked it".

Anna is scheduled to sing Tatiana of Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin at the Met in two years time. "Well, I don’t know why I agreed to sing Onegin after two years. I was asked to do it. It’s a new role". And added "Well, it’s not for my voice. But we’ll do something after two years".

Anna made her Met debut in 2002 as Natasha in Prokofiev's War and Peace. "Debut at the Metropolitan Opera is always a very important event in the life of every singer. Of course, it was something very special all the more that it was in War and Peace. This role has everything – wonderful music, wonderful character. It’s probably one of my favorite roles. Probably, that’s why I was noticed".

The same year Anna sang the role of Donna Anna in Mozart's Don Giovanni at the Salzburger Festspiele. She said that nobody believed in the final result. "No one believed. I didn’t believe. My friends, my colleagues, my teachers didn’t believe. Donna Anna requires another type of voice. Everyone asked me: why are you singing it? I answered: I don’t know, I was asked. I’ll make an audition. Harnoncourt is searching a singer for Donna Anna since 5 years and cannot find one. I entered the audition, sang two phrases and he said: OK, we’ll work. This was a great surprise for me".

Anna is a person who loves to take risks. "I can’t say I love risks or love to play with the fate, but if you want to go on the stage in front of thousands of people you must have strong character. It’s especially very important for the performances that are broadcast live to movie theaters and millions of people watch them and the camera is so close to your face. It’s so threatening. You must have nerves of steel". And yes, sure, Anna has nerves of steel.

Anna keeps the friends she had in her childhood. "All friends that I had in my childhood are still with me. Every time when I come back to Krasnodar, unfortunately this rarely happens, they all come to see me the same day. They also visit me frequently. I invite my friends to visit me during my travelling in different countries. Yes, t’s very important for me to see them. Nor time, nor changes in personal life distroyed our relations. This is very important for me".

Talking about her life Anna says "I don’t want to complain. Of course, I have a wonderful life. Of course, I have an interesting life. On the first place, because I love my work, I consider this happiness. I live with people who I love and who love me. This is very important. Everything else is difficult of course. Of course, I need to work, I need to give everything of me if I want to have good results, if I want to stay at the top. Opera singer’s life is difficult, because performances are live, we never sing using microphones, no one cover us. Many times I’m forced to sing ill, because cancellations are a disaster and bring serious consequences. It’s easier for me to sing ill than cancel".

Anna had planned to do a photo session for Playboy. "You know, I really had to do a photosession for Playboy, but not naked. Not only naked photos are made for Playboy. You may do a wonderful sexy photo even when you are dressed or almost dressed. But when everything was ready I get pregnant". Nevertheless, apparently, Erwin does not like very much such kind of photos. "Yes, my husband is very strict. He didn’t like my photos in InStyle Magazine where I’m neglige. He scolded me and said: You must not do this". Anna says that Erwin is "too much" jealous, while she also admits she is jealous too.

Talking about Tiago, Anna says that "He is a quiet boy. We call him Tisha (тихо means quiet). He is a quiet and cute boy. All the time he smiles and reads books". Anna says that they read books in Russian "I don’t have time to teach him. But of course we read books, he loves Russian books. You know what? He’s in love with “Cheburashka” and “Ghena the crocodile” (famous Russian cartoons). If he starts watching these cartoons he stays still at his place until all 4 parts finish. Cheburashka is his favourite character".

Anna does not like receiving presents from her fans. "I have already tell this story: When I was a student at the Conservatory, one of my fans made me a present – boots. There was nothing to wear - poor and hungry years. Thanks God I didn’t put them on, because when I said “No” to this fan, he took back these boots. Since this moment I decided to never receive anything from anyone. Because if you do it you feel oblidged all the time. I don’t want to be oblidged to anyone. If I like something I buy it by myself. Or I do not buy it if I do not have money. So, if I have enough money - I go to Bergdorf, if I don’t have money - I go to TJMax and buy many wonderful things but more cheaper".













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