Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky – Iolanta – Anna Netrebko, Slovenian Philharmonic Orchestra, Emmanuel Villaume (2015)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/48kHz | Time – 01:32:53 minutes | 969 MB | Genre: Classical, Opera
Official Digital Download – Source: highresaudio.com | © Deutsche Grammophon is a Universal Music Company
Recorded: November 2012 at Philharmonie Essen, Germany
Following Anna Netrebko’s astounding success in Salzburg’s Il Trovatore production we are pleased to announce a very exciting opera release for the start of 2015, recorded during her U-Live tour in 2012.
Anna Netrebko performs Iolanta, the title role of one of Tchaikovsky’s most passionate, evocative scores and one of opera’s most enigmatic figures making the character her own and dedicating herself to championing this under-appreciated work.
In this live recording, maestro Emmanuel Villaume, with whom Netrebko collaborated on the successful “Souvenirs” album, leads a stellar cast comprising a number of Russia’s biggest opera stars (Markov, Skorokhodov, Kowaljow).
The hand-picked company of supporting artists makes this a significant addition to Netrebko’s discography and an artistically valuable addition to the DG catalogue.
Netrebko is scheduled for eight staged performances of Iolanta at the Metropolitan Opera in New York in January-February 2015, as well as a four-city U-Live produced European tour of concert performances and a Royal Albert Hall date later in the season.
An opera that can be most moving — not least when, as here, it is given such wonderful advocacy . . . Netrebko has never been better than here, where her head and heart are so self-evidently engaged. Her opening ariosa establishes the glorious complexion of her voice — a creamy, dark coloration extending unblemished throughout the range. It is her inwardness, of shared confidences, that are as affecting as the eventual full-throated rapture of the piece. She clearly adores it and feels deep communion with it — the sound, the poetry, of her native language, the ache of Tchaikovsky’s music. Emmanuel Villaume and the Slovenian Philharmonic Orchestra both embrace and illuminate it with distinction . . . The refinement of Villaume’s conducting is a constant source of delight: it nuances and tempers even the most wholehearted flights of fancy . . . Vaudemont is sung with lusty relish by Sergey Skorokhodov, one of those fabulous heroic Russian tenors with a sensationally full-flooded top which you just know is what Tchaikovsky had in his mind’s ear when he wrote roles like this . . [Netrebko & Skorokhodov]: these two voices locked in their musical embrace is quite something — as is the over-spilling orchestral release in their wake. We are truly in this moment in the presence of Tchaikovsky’s greatness. –Edward Seckerson, Gramophone
. . . [“Iolanta”] has an atmosphere all its own, and though not a great deal happens the heroine is treasurable and there is much gorgeous writing . . . [this recording] starts well, the rather constipated wind intro melting into Schubertian strings that fix the score’s sweet yearning. Netrebko starts beautifully too, low down with the softest grain to the voice, and this intimate mode works well . . . The other singers are pretty good . . . Sergey Skorokhodov’s beautifully smooth, masculine tenor Vaudémont full of romantic ardour . . . –Robin Thicknesse, Opera Now
. . . [Netrebko] has never been better than here, where her head and heart are so self-evidently engaged. Her opening ariosa establishes the glorious complexion of her voice — a creamy, dark coloration extending unblemished throughout the range. It is her inwardness, of shared confidences, that are as affecting as the eventual full-throated rapture of the piece. She clearly adores it and feels deep communion with it — the sound, the poetry, of her native language, the ache of Tchaikovsky’s music. Emmanuel Villaume and the Slovenian Philharmonic Orchestra both embrace and illuminate it with distinction . . . The refinement of Villaume’s conducting is a constant source of delight: it nuances and tempers even the most wholehearted flights of fancy. The scene in which Iolanta and the Burgundian knight Count Vaudémont fall in love and most especially the moment Vaudémont at last realises that Iolanta is blind is marked by a penetrating passage for strings invoking his shock and silence. Netrebko’s response to this is extraordinarily touching . . . Vaudémont is sung with lusty relish by Sergey Skorokhodov, one of those fabulous heroic Russian tenors with a sensationally full-flooded top which you just know is what Tchaikovsky had in his mind’s ear when he wrote roles like this . . . “What is light?” asks Iolanta. “Creation’s first-born” replies Vaudémont. The thrill of these two voices locked in their musical embrace is quite something — as is the overspilling orchestral release in their wake. We are truly in this moment in the presence of Tchaikovsky’s greatness. Every voice has been carefully selected to ensure that there are no weak links here. Vitalij Kowaljow as King René has his moment in a thematically significant ariosa while the preening and rather shallow Robert . . . is sung with selfish ardour by Alexey Markov. There’s also a splendid contribution from Lucas Meachem as the Moorish physician Ibn-Hakia . . . as ever with Tchaikovsky the surface uplift betokens a deeper eloquence which all but the totally jaded will embrace. –Edward Seckerson, Gramophone online
Tracklist:
Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840 – 1893)
Iolanta Op.69
1. Introduction 02:12
No. 1 Scene and Arioso of Iolanta
2. Moy ptenčik, Iolanta, tï ustala? 06:39
3. Otčego ėto prežde ne znala 02:35
No. 2 Scene and Chorus
4. Polno, ne nado, rodnaya … Vot tebe lyutiki 02:02
No. 3 Scene and Chorus
5. Brigitta, ėto tï? 01:52
6. Spi, pust’ angelï krïlami navevayut snï 03:12
No. 4 Scene and Arioso of the King
7. Prizïvnïy rog 09:14
8. Gospod’ moy, esli grešen ya 03:18
No. 5 Scene and Monologue of Ibn-Hakia
9. Tvoyo lico besstrastno 03:10
10. Dva mira – plotskiy i dukhovnïy 04:29
No. 6 Scene and Aria of Robert
11. Ne toropis’, zdes’ tak temno … Kto možet sravnit’sya 05:15
No. 6a Romance of Vaudémont
12. Net! Čarï lask krasï myatežnoy 03:39
No. 7 Scene and Duet of Iolanta and Vaudémont
13. Odnako gde že mï? 06:35
14. Vï mne predstali kak viden’e 05:30
15. Tvoyo molčan’e neponyatno … Čudnïy pervenec… 08:41
No. 8 Scene
16. Iolanta! – Menya zovut podrugi … Tï, osleplennïy… 07:26
17. Net, nazovi mučen’ya, stradan’ya, bol’ 04:16
No. 9 Finale
18. Prosti menya 02:09
19. Gotfrid, ya vïručat’ tebya yavilsya 04:50
20. Gde ya? 02:02
21. Blagoy, velikiy, neizmennïy 03:56
Personnel:
Anna Netrebko, Soprano
Theresa Plut, Soprano
Nuska Rojko, Alto
Monika Bohinec, Contralto
Sergey Skorokhodov, Tenor
Jun Ho You, Tenor
Alexey Markov, Baritone
Lucas Meachem, Baritone
Vitalij Kowaljow, Bass
Luka Debevec Mayer, Bass
Slovenian Philharmonic Orchestra
Emmanuel Villaume, Conductor
Slovenian Chamber Choir
Download:
mqs.link_TchaikvskyIlantaAnnaNetrebkSlvenianPhilharmnicrchEmmanuelVillaume20154824.part1.rar
mqs.link_TchaikvskyIlantaAnnaNetrebkSlvenianPhilharmnicrchEmmanuelVillaume20154824.part2.rar