IN RECITAL
San Francisco Performances Recital
"Opera diva turns in a recital with flair"
"After keeping San Francisco audiences waiting for so long, Anna Netrebko delivered the goods on Monday night, with interest. The extravagantly gifted Russian soprano finally returned to the Bay Area to give her twice-postponed recital in Herbst Theatre, and the result was worth every minute of anticipation.
"Accompanied at the piano by Donald Runnicles, Netrebko offered a cannily chosen program of music by Mozart, Strauss and Rachmaninoff. She sang it with every ounce of vocal brilliance and emotional fervor at her disposal.
"This was music calculated to flatter her musical endowments – her darkly piercing vocal tone, impeccable precision and interpretive urgency – and the dazzling glamour that attends her very presence. Not since her unforgettable Schwabacher Debut Recital in 1998 has Netrebko's musical sorcery been available with such intimate directness.
"Netrebko is a creature of the operatic stage – that's her native turf, where all the bloom and intensity of her artistry come forth. And the more operatic Monday's program became – the more she could immerse herself into a dramatic character – the more confident and magnificent her singing sounded.
"The contrast was evident in the very first pair of Mozart numbers. The early concert aria 'Per pietà, bell'idol mio,' K. 78, led off the program in a rendition marked by precisely turned phrases but a degree of emotional stiffness that went beyond the conventional sentiments of the aria.
"But then, in a last-minute switch, Netrebko launched into 'Padre, germani,' Ilia's opening aria from Idomeneo (that opera, in 1999, marked her first collaboration with Runnicles). The difference was striking and instantaneous. Before our eyes and ears, Netrebko became the anxious, tormented princess, giving voice to a surfeit of emotion in exquisitely shaped melodic lines.
"Clad in two contrasting outfits – a silken floral number followed after intermission by a flounced black sheath dress – she looked and sounded every inch a diva.
"But her most gripping performances came after intermission, with a group of nine Rachmaninoff songs done with almost irresistible fervency and depth. From the melancholy of 'I fell in love for my sorrow,' with its touching finale vocalise, to the gut-wrenching anguish of 'Oh, do not sing to me,' Netrebko embodied each song's expressive world with extraordinary vividness.
"'Discord,' a sprawling, quivering explosion of raw emotion, made a final tour de force. There were encores by Delibes (the vivacious 'Les filles de Cadix') and Puccini (a soulful 'O mio babbino caro' from Gianni Schicchi)."
Joshua Kosman, San Francisco Chronicle, May 26, 2004
"Netrebko's ravishing vocalism, dramatic flair and charismatic stage presence added up to an enchanting evening.
"Of course, it doesn't hurt that Netrebko is one of the music world's most glamorous women, a dark-haired beauty with a figure that hardly conforms to the standard image of an opera singer.
"Yet what was most remarkable about this appearance was the singer's assurance and ability to communicate the essence of the repertoire. The dramatic intelligence that has fueled Netrebko's Bay Area opera performances ... was applied with keen focus in this recital. She projected a sense of command, and the tonal vagaries that have plagued some of her previous outings here seem to have vanished for good."
Georgia Rowe, Costa Mesa Times, May 26, 2004
Schwabacher Debut Recital Series, San Francisco
"Netrebko Just About Perfect"
"There's no more room for doubt. Anna Netrebko has everything she needs to become a huge operatic star. The extraordinary young Russian soprano has already given San Francisco Opera audiences two memorable performances: her 1995 U.S. operatic debut in Glinka's Ruslan and Lyudmila and an ebullient Susanna in last month's performances of Mozart's Marriage of Figaro. Then on Sunday evening at Old First Church, she set the seal on her triumph with a Schwabacher Debut Recital that was as close to incendiary perfection as an artist or audience can hope to come. In over a decade of regular attendance at this series, Netrebko's was easily the finest recital I have heard. Here is a singer who simply has it all: a voice of astounding purity, precision and scope, extensive dynamic and tonal range, imagination, insight and wit—all combined with a dazzling charisma that makes it all but impossible to look away when she is performing.
"Throughout the first half, there were long, rapturous legato phrases, in which strands of pearly notes fused into a single utterance, and rhythmic precision joined with crystalline diction to give each song a distinct character. The first thing one noticed was the amazing luster of her vocal tone—a luxuriantly rich, velvety sound that never misses the pitch at any point throughout her range. It was stunning to hear so much sound pour forth with such ease and technical control.
"Sunday's recital, by the way, was evidently the first of Netrebko's young and brilliant career. Anyone fortunate enough to have been in attendance witnessed a historic event."
Joshua Kosman, San Francisco Chronicle, February 2, 1998
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