Tag: Anna Netrebko

Title: Anna Netrebko – Opera Arias (2003)
Genre: Classical
Format: MCH SACD ISO + DSF DSD64

This remarkable vocal album, which won the prestigious Amadeus Music Award in 2003, features soprano Anna Netrbko in stunning renditions of works by Puccini, Berlioz, Mozart, Bellini, and Dvorák among others. A multiple Grammy-nominee and the first opera singer ever to be named to the TIME 100 list (Time magazine’s list of the most influential people in the world), Netrebko takes on these masterworks with startling vivacity and vocal virtuosity.

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Title: Anna Netrebko – Sempre Libera (2004)
Genre: Classical
Format: MCH SACD ISO + DSF DSD64 

Anna Netrebko’s second disc is even more impressive than her first. She still may not be an absolutely polished, finished artist, but she’s working at it and presents here a very satisfying–-even thrilling–-program. She doesn’t quite have the stature or insights for Verdi’s Violetta yet, but aside from some smudged coloratura in low-lying passages she sings the first act scene quite well (capped with a well-placed, big E-flat). She’s close to ideal in the Sonnambula and Puritani excerpts, where her girlishness is entirely right, her coloratura dazzling, and her ability to sound tearful really impressive. The Lucia Mad Scene (also notable here for its use of the glass harmonica for which it was composed in place of the usual flute) is quite wonderful, even if the runs are sometimes not as well-delineated as they should be. And although she’s not vocally suited to Desdemona’s Willow Song and Ave Maria, she does manage to darken her voice to fit the character and presents a very moving portrait. The disc ends with an utterly charming “O mio babbino caro.” Artistry and everything else aside, her voice is just beautiful. Claudio Abbado’s leadership is ideal.

hraudio | discogs

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