‘Anna Netrebko -Verdi’ explores new roles

In her first studio album for five years, Russian soprano Anna Netrebko celebrates the Verdi bicentenary and the dramatic power of his music with a new recording on the Deutsche Grammophon label, available from August 9th.  Anna Netrebko – Verdi  is a compilation of arias selected by Netrebko herself. They include some rarely heard works from major roles that the soprano has added to her repertoire. Comprising 12 tracks, the recording has just under 1 hour of music.

Netrebko’s consummate artistry and persona both on and offstage have endeared her to audiences and critics around the world. Her records have sold over 3.8 million copies, more than any other soprano so far this century.

In this album, Netrebko explores five of Verdi’s most complex characters. Beginning with excerpts from Macbeth, which include Lady Macbeth’s sleepwalking scene, she traces the turbulent journeys of Giovanna d’Arco, Elena from I Vespri Siciliani, Elisabetta from Don Carlo and on to Leonora from Il trovatore in which she is joined by tenor Rolando Villazón as Manrico.

The release is a timely one for Netrebko as she performs Giovanna d’Arco during the Salzburg Festival in August, appearing with Plácido Domingo at the Felsenreitschule. During 2013/14 she will sing in Philipp Stölzl’s new production of Il trovatore for the Berlin Staatsoper, conducted by Daniel Barenboim in November/ December, and will make her role debut as Lady Macbeth with the Bavarian State Opera in Martin Kušej’s staging of Macbeth at next year’s Munich Opera Festival in June/July.

Performing with her on the recording are the  Chorus and Orchestra of the Teatro Regio Torino under their Music Director, Gianandrea Noseda who first met Netrebko during his time at the Mariinsky Theatre and conducted her Deutsche Grammophon debut album. “Recording this album has been a wonderful journey, full of discoveries,” says Netrebko. “Together with Gianandrea and the fantastic orchestra, our goal is to do justice to Verdi’s beautiful creations.”

On the CD:

Macbeth

Libretto: Francesco Maria Piave

Act I: Scena e cavatina (Lady Macbeth)

1          Nel dì della vittoria io le incontrai

2          Vieni, t’affretta!

3          Or tutti sorgete, ministri infernali

Act II: Aria (Lady Macbeth)

4          La luce langue

Act IV: Gran scena del sonnambulismo (Lady Macbeth)

5          Una macchia è qui tuttora

Giovanna d’Arco

Libretto: Temistocle Solera

Act I: Scena e romanza (Giovanna)

6          Qui! Qui, dove più s’apre

7          O fatidica foresta

I Vespri Siciliani

Libretto: Eugène Scribe & Charles Duveyrier;
Italian: Arnaldo Fusinato

Act IV: Gran duetto (Elena)

8          Arrigo! Ah, parli a un core

Act V: Siciliana (Elena, coro)

9          Mercé, dilette amiche

Don Carlo

Libretto: Joseph Méry & Camille du Locle;

Italian: Achille de Lauzières & Angelo Zanardini

Act V: Scena ed aria (Elisabetta)

10        Tu che le vanità … Francia, nobile suol

Il trovatore

Libretto: Salvatore Cammarano & Leone Emanuele Bardare

Act IV: Scena, aria e miserere (Leonora, coro, Manrico)

11        Vanne, lasciami

12        D’amor sull’ali rosee

13        Miserere … Quel suon, quelle preci

14        Tu vedrai che amore in terra