This woman’s voice is relaxing. Her rich, womanly depth and radiant height are equally strong from piano to forte; Her timbre is now so darkened that it sounds (almost) like a mezzo, her radiant top notes are unbroken, her phrasing is fantastically beautiful. It’s like an explosion when her energy causes her to glow.
Vienna Concert Hall, 6. September 2023
Giuseppe Verdi, La Traviata (konzertant)
Anna Netrebko
Yusif Eyvazov
Etienne Dupuis
Baden-Baden Philharmonic
Vienna State Opera Choir Concert Association
Michelangelo Mazza, musical director
Photo © Vladimir Shirkov: Anna Netrebko und Yusif Eyvazov
by Andreas Schmidt
There are moments in the life of an opera, voice and classical music lover that are magical and that remain etched in the soul for eternity. But there are really only very few evenings that have such emphatic intensity, radiance, luminosity and magic as this Wednesday evening in Vienna.
On the program: “La Traviata” by Giuseppe Verdi – a divine millennium opera full of fantastic melodies in which no note is superfluous.
An opera full of sensitive moments.
Magical moments.
They are primarily due to the enchanting, unique and nuanced voice of the world’s outstanding classical singer: Anna Yurevna Netrebko (she turns 52 on September 18) from Krasnodar, Russia – a soprano with a Russian and Austrian passport, an artist with permanent residence in St. Petersburg and Vienna.
The presence, the dedication, the perfection, the diversity with which Anna Netrebko sang that evening in the outstanding acoustics of the Vienna Konzerthaus cannot actually be described in words. Anyone who lives in the land of mountains, loves beautiful voices and wasn’t there this Wednesday missed something.
Yes, it really was the goosebump factor 10: when Anna Netrebko sang in a motherly, feminine, soft amber tones in the middle range, when she slid into the lower register like a mezzo-soprano and when she sang with an open, beguiling female “power” voice manifested a RADIANT POWER in the very high heights that is unique among the sopranos of this world.
Anna Netrebko manifested herself with the wonderful, sensitive and sparkling Baden-Baden Philharmonic under the direction of Michelangelo Mazzathat a Verdi evening has something wonderful, sensitive and fiery. As Violetta Valéry, she proved with unique perfection and absolute devotion that she is able to present Verdi’s most beautiful “La Traviata” arias with absolute perfection.
Also her husband Yusif Eyvazov (46) sang the role of Alfredo as a tenor with such quality that – after years of further learning alongside Anna Netrebko – makes him probably the best Verdi tenor of his time. Everything is effortless, it sparkles and shines in all registers. And this Eyvazov is a real tenor who “delivers” everything in light, fiery, luminous strength for the core competence for which he is paid – a flawless, radiant height.
The program booklet quotes them Los Angeles Times saying Eyvazov’s voice was “metallic, powerful and distinctly Italian”. Well, the word “metallic” is certainly not too high a praise for a tenor… and indeed the Algiers (Algeria)-born Azerbaijani’s voice is once “metallic” beenwhen he sang the troubador in Verdi’s opera of the same name at the Schiller Theater in Berlin in 2016 – alongside his wife.
Today, however, the likeable tenor sings without pressure, loosely and easily and often with a lot of warmth in his voice. Here the singing lessons with the best teachers in the world paid off – including the “tips” from my wife.
The French Canadian Etienne Dupuis (44) shone from fatherly-deep to radiant-luminous with a fantastic range of voices in the role of Germont. With his very own timbre, he offered numerous feel-good moments – a singer who should definitely be noted.
Die Vienna State Opera Choir Concert Association under choir director Huw Rhys James provided absolute listening pleasure with the well-known Traviata choirs, lively, fiery, sensitive. Quite a few singers could please look at the music a little less spellbound. All supporting roles – Irena Krsteska (Soprano / Annina), Arina Holecek (Mezzo / Flora Bervoix), Won-Cheol Song (Tenor / Gastone Vicomte de Létorières / Giuseppe), Ferdinand Pfeiffer (Bass / Marquis d’Obigny) and Konrad Huber (Bass / Doctor Grenvil) – everyone was in top form and offered very nice insights into their world of voices.
A third of the audience were certainly fans of Russian descent – in general, the evening wear was predominantly festive, which is becoming increasingly rare in the world’s opera houses. Anna Netrebko is a “national heroine” for many people of Russian origin around the world.
Andreas Schmidt, September 6, 2023, for
klassik-begeistert.de and klassik-begeistert.at
2023-09-08 07:16:53
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