Product Description
-------------------
The beautiful special deluxe limited edition cap box includes
the CD; a DVD of behind-the-scenes footage, interviews and
musical excerpts; beautiful booklet; three postcards and one
of Netrebko. A must-have for Netrebko fans and the perfect
holiday gift!
Review
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"Netrebko is, in a word, sensational . . . Netrebko's strength
is not just in the mobility of her voice and the razzle-dazzle of
her upper register's big-money notes - no, it's the fullness and
beauty of the middle voice that singles her out . . . properly
overwhelming. For once, fullness of heart is truly matched in
fullness of sound." -- The Independent (London), January 2008
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From the Artist
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ABOUT THE PIECES
Emmerich Kálmán: Heia, in den Bergen
The eponymous "csárdás princess" of Kálmán's ever-popular 1915
operetta Die Csárdásfürstin (in English usually, though
imprecisely, called The Gypsy Princess) is Sylva Varescu, a
Hungarian cabaret singer who becomes engaged to a prince. Sylva's
dazzling opening number, sung on the stage of her chic Budapest
nightclub, mixes Magyar exoticism with Viennese charm.
Richard Heuberger: Im Chambre séparée
In the operetta Der Opernball, Heuberger's 1898 masterpiece, the
housemaid Hortense disguises herself as a ed lady to attend a
glamorous Parisian opera ball. In this seductive duet, she
invites the attractive young naval cadet Henri to join her in a
private room for a "tête à tête".
Franz Lehár: Meine Lippen, sie küssen so heiss
In Lehár's bittersweet 1934 operetta Giuditta, the beautiful
heroine abandons her husband to be with Octavio, an army captain.
When he leaves her to pursue his career, she becomes a
night-club performer in North Africa - and a rather successful
one, it would seem from this, the operetta's hit number.
Gustave Charpentier: Depuis le jour
The heroine of Charpentier's Louise is a Parisian dressmaker who
has fallen in love with the bohemian poet Julien, but their
relationship scandalizes her narrow-minded parents. In this, the
opera's most famous aria, Louise tells her lover that her life
has become one of indescribable happiness since she met him. At
the end of the opera she abandons her parents to live with him -
a surprisingly modern ending for an opera written in the 1890s.
Jacques Offenbach: Belle nuit, ô nuit d'amour (Barcarolle)
In Offenbach's 1881 opera Les Contes d'Hoffmann, we witness the
poet E.T.A. Hoffmann's doomed love-affairs in three cities. This
famous duet, sung by the courtesan Giulietta and Hoffmann's
friend Nicklausse (a mezzo role), is set on a Venetian lagoon.
Offenbach originally composed it for his ill-ed romantic opera
Die Rheinnixen, but it found a happier home in this, his last and
greatest work.
Richard Strauss: Cäcilie
Strauss presented this ravishing song to the soprano Pauline de
Ahna, his bride-to-be, on the day before their wedding in 1894.
The text was the poet Heinrich Hart's tribute to his own wife,
Cäcilie. Although Strauss and his spouse were sites in
temperament - he was phlegmatic and de Ahna fiery - this ecstatic
piece proved prophetic of their long union.
Edvard Grieg: Solveig's Song
Solveig is the patient and long-suffering love of Peer Gynt's
life, but he abandons her to seek adventure in the world. Solveig
nevertheless sings of her love for Peer in this haunting lullaby,
composed by Grieg for the first performance of Ibsen's play in
1876.
André Messager: Lorsque je n'étais qu'une enfant
In Messager's 1907 opera Fortunio - a great success at Paris's
Opéra-Comique - Jacqueline is using the naïve young Fortunio as a
decoy to draw attention from her real love affair with a soldier.
When Fortunio reveals how deeply he loves her, she rejects him.
Antonín Dvořák: Kdyz mne stará matka
Dvořák composed a cycle of Gypsy Melodies to texts by the poet
Adolf Heyduk in 1880, and this sweetly sentimental ballad from
the set has become his best-known song, famous in English under
the title Songs My Mother Taught Me. He made this Czech version
of the song soon after setting the original German text.
Richard Strauss: Wiegenlied
Lullaby
Strauss composed this rapt, haunting lullaby in 1899 to a poem by
Richard Dehmel, and dedicated it to his friend Mme. Marie Rösche
(née Ritter). The accompaniment was originally for piano, but
Strauss himself later adapted it for orchestra.
Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov: Ne veter, veya s vïsotï
Not the wind, blowing from the heights
This charming song, comparing the effect of the wind on the
poet's body to the effect that his beloved has on his soul, was
composed in 1897 to a text by Count Aleksei Tolstoy (a relation
of the novelist Lev Tolstoy). This, and the following song, are
both orchestrated here for the first time.
Rimsky-Korsakov: Plenivshis' rozoy, solovey
Enslaved by the rose, the nightingale
Rimsky-Korsakov wrote this Oriental romance in 1866, and
dedicated it to Malvina, the wife of his friend and
fellow-composer César Cui. The words are from an 1831 poem by
Aleksei Kol'tsov, written in imitation of the style of the
literary giant Aleksandr Pushkin. With its sinuous faux-oriental
melody, it reflects the fascination with the eastern reaches of
the empire which pervaded Russian culture at the time.
Schlof sche, mein Vögele
well, my little bird
Very little is known about the origins of this traditional
Yiddish lullaby, but its sad and tender beauty has ensured that
it touches hearts whenever it is performed.
Andrew Lloyd Webber: Pie Jesu
Lloyd Webber's 1985 Requiem was written as a response to the
harrowing plight of Cambodian orphans in the early 1980s, as well
as to the death of his her in 1982. It was an immediate
success, and later won a Grammy®. The Pie Jesu, a duet for
soprano and boy treble, also rose surprisingly high in the UK pop
charts.
Reynaldo Hahn: L'Énamourée
The Loved One
The Venezuelan-born Hahn composed his first song aged eight and
entered the Paris Conservatoire at ten. This exquisite and
pensive melody dates from 1892, when he was still only
Carlos Guastavino: La rosa y el sauce
Guastavino's reputation is based almost entirely on his songs.
Luscious, tonal and influenced by folk music, they have been
enormously popular in the composer's native Argentina since the
1940s - La rosa y el sauce (The Rose and the Willow) from 1942 is
one of the best known. In recent decades their appeal has been
spreading around the rest of the world.
Gerónimo Giménez: La tarántula é un bicho mú malo
Giménez's zarzuela (a form of Spanish operetta with a high
proportion of dialogue) La tempranica (The Headstrong Girl) was a
huge hit at its premiere in Madrid in 1900. It tells the story of
María, a young gypsy who falls in love with a nobleman but who
comes to realize that their love is impossible. La tarántula, a
lively zapateado (a Spanish dance in triple time), is performed
as a diversion by María's brother Grabié, a trouser role.
Luigi Arditi: Il bacio
The Italian composer, violinist and conductor Luigi Arditi toured
the world before deciding to settle down in London in his 30s. It
was there that he wrote this, his most popular song, in 1860. Il
bacio (The Kiss) has been a favourite ever since among singers
possessing a good coloratura technique.
About the Artist
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Anna Netrebko was born in Krasnodar, in the south of Russia, in
1971. She received her vocal training at the St. Petersburg
Conservatory, where she appeared as Susanna in Le nozze di Figaro
and Violetta in La Traviata. In 1993 she was first-prize winner
of the Glinka Vocal Competition in Moscow, and joined the
ensemble of the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg, to which she
still belongs. In 1995 she graduated from St. Petersburg
Conservatory and made her sensational US debut as Lyudmila in
Glinka's Ruslan and Lyudmila at the San Francisco Opera. Praised
both for her glorious voice and beauty, Anna Netrebko is
acknowledged today as one of the world's most stunning young
sopranos who sweeps audiences off their feet wherever she
appears. 1996 Prizewinner at the International Rimsky-Korsakov
Vocal Competition, St. Petersburg; makes BBC debut (also
telecast) with Gergiev and the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra
1999 Washington Opera debut as Gilda in Verdi's Rigoletto 2000
Accled as Natasha in Prokofiev's War and Peace under Gergiev
at the Mariinsky Theatre and at London's Covent Garden 2002 Sings
Natasha in her Met debut and her first Donna Anna in her debut at
the Salzburg Festival in a new production of Don Giovanni,
conducted by Nikolaus Harnoncourt; Giulietta in Bellini's I
Capuleti e i Montecchi in her Philadelphia debut. Signs an
exclusive contract with Deutsche Grammophon 2003 Vienna and
Bavarian State Opera debuts as Violetta. Release of Netrebko's
debut on Deutsche Grammophon, a collection of opera
arias by Bellini, Berlioz, Donizetti, Dvořák, Gounod, Massenet,
Mozart and Puccini (Amadeus Music Award 2003, Echo Award 2004
"Female Singer of the Year") 2004 Opera appearances as Violetta
in Munich, Musetta in La Bohème in San Francisco, Natasha and
Bellini's Giulietta at the Salzburg Festival; BBC Proms concert
at London's Royal Albert Hall. Release of Sempre libera,
conducted by Claudio Abbado (Gold Record; two Echo Awards 2005);
DVD release Anna Netrebko: The Woman - The Voice 2005 Role debut
as Gounod's Juliet in Los Angeles and Violetta in a new
production of La Traviata at the Salzburg Festival, both with
Rolando Villazón. Sensational worldwide accl for the live
s of the complete opera (Echo Award, "Best-Selling
Album", two platinum discs and a Grammy® nomination in 2006) and
Violetta, arias and duets from La Traviata; Russian President
Vladimir Putin awards her a State Prize in the field of
Literature and the Arts 2006 Opera engagements include Gounod's
Roméo et Juliette and Bellini's Sonnambula at the Vienna State
Opera; Rigoletto and La Bohème (with Rolando Villazón, Plácido
Domingo conducting), Don Pasquale and I Puritani at the Met;
Susanna in Figaro at the Salzburg Festival and Massenet's Manon,
again with Villazón under Domingo, in Los Angeles. Concerts at
the Barbican, in Vienna and Moscow together with Villazón singing
opera arias and duets. Spectacularly successful open-air concert
in Berlin's Waldbühne with Villazón and Domingo, telecast
worldwide and released on DVD by Deutsche Grammophon (Echo Award
2007); other DVD releases: the Salzburg productions of La
Traviata (Académie du disque lyrique and Victoires de la Musique
classique awards 2007) and Figaro (Complete Mozart Operas box);
audio releases: her highly accled Russian Album (Echo Award
2007), and The Mozart Album - sung by Deutsche Grammophon's star
singers. Receives Bambi, Germany's most prestigious media award
in the category "Classical Music" 2007 I Puritani and Roméo et
Juliette at the Met, Massenet's Manon at the Vienna and Berlin
State Operas, Don Giovanni at Covent Garden and La Traviata at
the Deutsche Oper, Berlin. Concert performances of La Bohème with
Villazón in Munich (recorded by Deutsche Grammophon). Concerts
with Villazón in Paris, at the Met and on a German tour in the
summer. Debut at New York's Carnegie Hall singing opera arias and
duets with baritone Dmitri Hvorostovsky; Pergolesi's Stabat Mater
in Moscow and Vienna; sensationally accled concert at the BBC
Proms. Releases: her album Duets with Villazón (audio);
individual release of Le nozze di Figaro from the Salzburg
Festival 2006 and The Opera Gala - Live from Baden-Baden with
Elīna Garanča, Ramón Var, Ludovic Tézier and the SWR Symphony
Orchestra Baden-Baden und Freiburg under Marco Armiliato (both
available on DVD and as audio release); live of
Bellini's I Puritani from the Met (on DVD). Her Russian Album and
the Waldbühne Concert DVD reach Gold status in Germany and
Austria. Musical America names Anna Netrebko "Musician of the
Year 2008", Time magazine includes her in its list of the 100
most influential people in the world and she wins a Classical
Brit Award as "Singer of the Year". She becomes Global
Ambassadress for the Austrian-based charity SOS-Kinderdorf
International 2008 Opera performances include La Traviata at
Covent Garden, Massenet's Manon at the Vienna State Opera,
Bellini's I Capuleti e i Montecchi in Vienna and in her
long-awaited debut at the Opéra national de Paris and Lucia di
Lammermoor at the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg. Concerts
include a performance with Elīna Garanča at the Abu Dhabi Music
Festival, a concert in Moscow and an appearance with Rolando
Villazón and Plácido Domingo in Vienna's Schönbrunn Palace during
the UEFA European Football Championship. Release of the album of
Puccini's La Bohème with Rolando Villazón and the Bavarian Radio
Symphony Orchestra led by Bertrand de Billy. DVD summer releases:
a Mozart Gala from Salzburg with singers Thomas Hampson,
Magdalena Kozená, René Pape, Patricia Petibon, Michael Schade,
Ekaterina Siurina and the Wiener Philharmoniker under Daniel
Harding; Massenet's Manon with Villazón and the Staatskapelle
Berlin led by Daniel Barenboim. Robert Dornhelm's film of La
Bohème, starring Anna Netrebko and Rolando Villazón, is scheduled
to be shown in the cinema in autumn; simultaneously the original
soundtrack of the film, recorded by Deutsche Grammophon in 2007
will be released. Autumn also sees the release of Anna Netrebko's
Souvenirs album with a selection of her favourite arias and songs
in which she is accompanied by the Prague Philharmonia under
Emmanuel Villaume. President Vladimir Putin presents Anna
Netrebko with Russias's highest state cultural honour as the
"People's National Artist" at a gala concert in the Mariinsky
Theatre. Anna Netrebko is honoured as "Female Artist of the Year"
at the Classical Brit Awards 2009 Bellini's I Capuleti e i
Montecchi at Covent Garden and a concert with Dmitri Hvorostovsky
in Braunschweig. Audio release of I Capuleti e i Montecchi with
Elīna Garanča, the Wiener Symphoniker and Fabio Luisi 8/2008
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