The Opera Gala Live from Baden-Baden

The new faces of opera present opera favorites in a glamorous live concert recording: Anna Netrebko, Elına Garanca, Ramón Vargas and the highly acclaimed young French baritone Ludovic Tézier sing a wide range of Italian and French opera arias This recording features highlights from three gala concerts at Baden-Baden's Festspielhaus - surely the hottest event of the summer! What's more, the third concert will be broadcast live on television and be a part of a documentary film directed by Robert Dornhelm, setting new standards for classical-music films. The release date for the complete documentary DVD is scheduled for 2009. The CD features the four young stars performing duets and the popular quartet "Bella figlia dell'amore" from Rigoletto. Other highlights include Delibes' famous flower duet from Lakmé for which Anna and Elı-na are the heaven-sent dream team! (Remember the British Airways TV spot with this music?!) It's like having Christmas and Easter on one day to catch these young stars in a single concert program, since they are all in great demand at international opera houses and concert halls. Tickets for all three concerts were sold out in just a few days. Album Description

Live Opera Concert CD

Extraordinary singers delivering ever popular arias, duets, etc. with beauty of sound. Being live, the performances were delightfully not so absolutely perfect, but real and very impressive. Ony complaint is that too much applause is left in the recording. May 19, 2008

Opera Gala redux

I bought this for Netrebko's performance but all of them sing beautifully. The foto on the cover mislead me because Vargas is on the right whereas Vargas, being the tenor, is listed first, not that this matters a whole lot. I am surprised to hear Vargas sing "Una furtiva lagrima," while the Italian is "lacrima," but he is a native Spanish speaker and "lagrima" is Spanish. Oh well, so what. Pavarotti, Carreras couldn't pronounce English to save their lives but they sang gloriously in their heyday. Nowadays are the heyday of all those on the CD and they sing gloriously. So get it and remember what G.B.Shaw had to say about critics - "they leave no turn unstoned!" Well. I expect there will be opera snobs who'll find fault with my review and carp about the performances because "Netrebko can't compare with Callas, etc..." April 10, 2008

Blue Willow

Live performances are both interesting and, with a cast of this worth a very rewarding experience. Anna Netrebko is certainly a delight with a fine voice and she alone makes this a worthwhile purchase. It is a great shame that the applause was not edited. The clapping on this CD is awful, it is loud and long after each aria. It ruins a nice CD. December 18, 2007

Starry, starry night

How I envy those present in this live performance this July in Baden-Baden.
The programme was so well-chosen, the singers so top notch, the two ladies particularly full of starry quality both vocally and visually...
Back to the singing. Anna Netrebko here sings Norma's excerpt, and places herself in headon competition with Maria Callas.
Well, I have heard Callas's, as well as Sutherland's. Anna's is completely on par with these two illustrious predecessors. Her coloratura, well, is surely improving. The last part of this long aria is sung in an immaculately soft coloratura that challenges the best sopranos. Her smoky voice is reminiscient of Callas, yes, but I think the latter part of Callas's career really saw her in an inevitable vocal decline, whereas Netrebko's singing is actually improving with her maturity. Honestly, vocally I think Anna outshined her predecessor in this piece.
Ramon Vargas, a tenor often shovelled to the background (well, he hasn't got much looks), is a real lyrical tenor. I particularly love his duet in Bizet's Pearl Fishers: highly affecting and beautiful in every respect.
It is in fact the best performance of Terzier in that evening. Well, the Toreador's Song isn't every baritone's cup of tea. Apart from Ruggiero Raimondi, I haven't heard one single fully satisfying version, Van Dam, Hvorostovsky, Ramey etc. included.
The star of the stars that night is mezzo-soprano Elina Garanca.
Her solo aria is simply heart-ripping. What singing! What a mezzo-soprano! November 7, 2007

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