Netrebko reveals the beauty of Russian opera
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As a little girl, Russian soprano Anna Netrebko dreamed of becoming a princess. When Netrebko left her small hometown in southern Russia at age 16, she never expected to end up at New York's Metropolitan Opera. While she was ambitious enough to enroll at the St. Petersburg Conservatory, she also took a job at the city's famous Mariinsky Theater, washing the floors. Conductor Valery Gergiev still recalls his surprise when the cleaning lady turned up at one of his auditions.
Today, Anna Netrebko is operatic royalty, starring at the world's leading opera houses. And her newest release is a deeply personal one because she recorded it at the Mariinsky Theater, with her friend and mentor Valery Gergiev conducting.
Netrebko says this project has been on her wish list from the very beginning. She's just been waiting for the right time to do it. Her "Russian Album" is a collection of some of the most beautiful songs and arias from the Russian repertoire. In addition to the wonderful melodies, the orchestrations are incredibly rich and well suited to the virtuoso forces of the Orchestra of the Mariinsky Theatre.
Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov was a master of orchestration, as we know from his popular concert works like "Sheherazade." But here, he doesn't overload the score; instead, his orchestral writing is very restrained and transparent. In the finale to Act IV of "The Snow Maiden," his frequent use of solo instruments gives the entire passage a chamber-music feeling. Netrebko's soft, flexible soprano voice is buoyed by the delicate instrumentation.
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"The Snow Maiden" is one of Valery Gergiev's favorite Russian operas. "You'd have to be deaf and blind not to like it," he declares.
While most of the operas represented on the "Russian Album" are works Anna Netrebko has already performed on stage, she has yet to take on the role of Tatyana in Tchaikovsky's "Eugene Onegin." Unlike many sopranos who tackle the role, Netrebko not only sounds but also looks convincing as the beautiful, passionate heroine, and she understands the visual conception of the character. The final track on this new recording gives us a preview of her as Tatyana in the Letter Scene from Act I of "Eugene Onegin." Here, the young, naive, girl sits up all night baring her soul in a letter after falling in love with the worldly Onegin.
Also included on the recording is an aria from Netrebko's signature role, Natasha in Prokofiev's "War and Peace," which propelled her career in the West in 2002. Gergiev says this role was made for her. It matches her dramatic vocal quality beautifully. Natasha is tempted by the dashing Count Anatol, sung by tenor Dmitry Voropaev in the excerpt we hear from Scene 4.
Anna Netrebko has waited years to make her "Russian Album." Her patience has paid off. On this recording she gives us plenty of opportunity to appreciate the vocal qualities that make her such a shining star, including her wide vocal range, and her ability to sing the soprano high E's. This is also a wonderful opportunity to enjoy the fruit of her collaboration with her mentor and friend Valery Gergiev as they delight us with a few Russian songs and some of the most beautiful moments in Russian opera.
