Netrebko

The forthcoming season marks the 10th anniversary of Anna Netrebko’s debut with the Metropolitan Opera, New York. The new album celebrates this milestone by bringing together her greatest MET moments throughout the past 10 seasons - performances never before issued on record and most never commercially released on any format.

A greatest-hits album ought to stick to the middle of the road, playing to what an artist does best. Yet it ought not simply wallow in past glories: this collection from Russian soprano Anna Netrebko, arguably the best-known soprano of the present day, hits the spot and can safely be recommended to newcomers. Netrebko is at her best in core Italian repertory like Casta Diva from Bellini's Norma or Libiamo ne 'lieti calici from Verdi's La Traviata.

Jules Massenet - Manon
Anna Netrebko / Rolando Villazón / Staatskapelle Berlin / Daniel Barenboim
MPEG-4 AVC, 1080p, 1.78:1 | DTS-HD 5.1, PCM 5.1 & PCM 2.0 @ 24Bit/48kHz | Full Artwork
Label/Cat#: Deutsche Grammophon # 00440 073 4477 GH | Country/Year: Germany 2008
Genre: Classical | Style: Opera, HiDef | 5% Recovery Info

Anna Netrebko, Rolando Villazón, and Jules Massenet’s Manon would seem to be a match made in heaven. (…) The spectacular and ultra-colorful Paterson production looks great on Blu-ray, and all of his artful choreography, sets, and costumes contribute to keeping Massenet’s very long score alive. Audio formats are PCM stereo and PCM and DTS 5.1 surround sound. The surround options contain a slightly larger than usual contribution from the rear speakers that totally immerses you in the listening experience in high-resolution sound. Needless to say, Blu-ray offers visual splendors that are not wasted in this production. (…) Very highly recommended!

Although I Puritani was performed during the Metropolitan Opera's first season in 1883, it had not been seen there for decades until this production by Sandro Sequi was unveiled in 1976. It was one of the greatest triumphs for the partnership of Joan Sutherland and Luciano Pavarotti, and it is to the credit of all concerned in this recent revival that one soon forgets names from the past and enjoys what is a spirited attempt to evoke mid-19th-century style.

Here, a year after her sensational Metropolitan debut as Prokofiev’s Natasha from War and Peace, comes the debut solo recital album of 30-something soprano Anna Netrebko. She hails from southern Russia, and her emergence from the life of a conservatory student has a touch of the Cinderella tale—the bit, that is, about being discovered by Gergiev mopping floors for the Kirov as a part-time job and making her way into the Kirov's ranks.

Two of the biggest names in opera join forces for a live performance from historic Red Square in the heart of Moscow, captured in stunning sound and vision with 18 high definition cameras and 5.1 cinema surround sound. Recorded at a superb live concert on 19 June 2013, Anna Netrebko and Dmitri Hvorostovsky return to their native Russia, singing a brilliant programme of popular arias and duets from some of the world’s best-loved operas, including Tosca, Eugene Onegin, and, celebrating Verdi's bicentenary, Il trovatore.