Anna Netrebko · Thomas Quasthoff Bryn Terfel · Elina Garanca René Pape · Erika Miklósa Christoph Strehl · Orchestra Mozart Mahler Chamber Orchestra Scottish Chamber Orchestra Staatskapelle Dresden Claudio Abbado · Sir Charles Mackerras · Sebastian Weigle
Int. Release 21 Jul. 2006
1 CD / Download
0289 477 6297 3
Deutsche Grammophon's vocal star power join forces for the ultimate Mozart Year album
The Russian soprano is undoubtedly the rock star of the opera world right now . . . she no doubt has charisma and musicality, and she is especially effective in the aria "D'Oreste, d'Aiace" ("Idomeneo"), which requires a fury, a scolding quality, that Ms. Netrebko easily supplies . . . A standout on the album is Elina Garanca, the wonderful Latvian mezzo, who sings "Parto, parto" ("La clemenza di Tito"), a specialty of hers. Also commendable is the Hungarian soprano Erika Miklósa, who sings a specialty of her own: the Queen of the Night aria ("The Magic Flute"). She traverses that daunting number accurately and triumphantly . . . An inevitable track on "The Mozart Album" is the aria "In diesen heil'gen Hallen" ("The Magic Flute"), sung by Mr. Pape.That aria, like that role (Sarastro), is almost his meal ticket. You are always safe with that, and him.
The Russian soprano is undoubtedly the rock star of the opera world . . . she no doubt has charisma and musicality, and she is especially effective in the aria "D'Oreste, d'Aiace" ("Idomeneo"), which requires a fury, a scolding quality, that Ms. Netrebko easily supplies . . . A standout on the album is Elena Garanca, the wonderful Latvian mezzo, who sings "Parto, parto" ("La clemenza di Tito"), a specialty of hers. Also commendable is the Hungarian soprano Erika Miklósa, who sings a specialty of her own: the Queen of the Night aria ("The Magic Flute"). She traverses that daunting number accurately and triumphantly . . . An inevitable track on "The Mozart Album" is the aria "In diesen heil'gen Hallen" ("The Magic Flute"), sung by Mr. Pape. That aria, like that role (Sarastro), is almost his meal ticket.You are always safe with that, and him.
. . . for the most characterful singing, turn to Bryn Terfel and Thomas Quasthoff, embedded in the music like a true lieder singer.
At the top end of the range there's Bryn Terfel's furious and deceived Count in Figaro, adding lots of appropriate appoggiaturas to Mackerras's spirited accompaniment, and René Pape in Sarastro's second aria from "The Magic Flute" . . .
Als Zentralgestirn stellt die Deutsche Grammophon sie [Anna Netrebko] in den Mittelpunkt eines neuen ¿Mozart-Albums¿. Um die schöne Russin kreisen, mit durchaus eigenen Bewegungs- und Anziehungskräften, Prominente wie Bryn Terfel und Elina Garanca, Thomas Quasthoff und René Pape . . . Hier leuchtet ein Zentralgestirn doppelt schön, weil die Planeten ebenbürtig sind.
Vitalität, Ausdrucksstärke und Emotionalität kennzeichnen seinen [Terfels] packenden . . . Gesangsstil. Anna Netrebko verfügt . . . über einen betörend schönen Sopran, der in der "Zeffiretti"-Arie ("Idomeneo") vorzüglich zur Geltung kommt . .. Dass man auch mit wenig Materialeinsatz zu stimmigen Ergebnissen kommen kann, demonstriert Thomas Quasthoff als Leporello und Papageno. Er arbeitet mit den Worten, zeigt auf kleinstem Raum komische Momente auf und lässt die von ihm gesungenen Figuren leben . . . Als neue Exklusiv-Künstlerin der Deutschen Grammophon stellt sich Elîna Garanca als Sesto und Annio vor ¿ mit tadellosen Ergebnissen . . . Claudio Abbado und sein Orchestra Mozart, Sebastian Weigle und die Staatskapelle Dresden sowie Sir Charles Mackerras und das Scottish Chamber Orchestra sorgen jeweils auf eigene Art für eine vorbildliche Unterstützung der Gesangssolisten.
Anna Netrebko, curtida en el repertorio lírico de su país, es quien más protagonismo tiene el disco, interpretando un delicadísimo e insinuante 'La cí darem la mano' con Quasthoff, un desgarrado 'Fuggi, crudele, fuggi!' también de "Don Giovanni" y también pasajes de "Las bodas de Fígaro", "Idomeneo" y "La clemenza di Tito", mostrando una capacidad camaleónica para cambiar de terreno y temperamento, aunando una voz oscura y cándida a voluntad, con un convincente dramatismo. Quizá no haga falta comentar nada del gran Quasthoff, que se confirma como uno de los barítonos del momento.
Anna, Wolfgang & Friends
Yes, they do exist, the Mozartians of our day. It isn't necessary to deliberate for long to single those names out from the almost endless list of Mozart singers in this anniversary year of 2006 - those artists whose unmistakable voices and compelling charisma excite music lovers from New York and Tokyo to Vienna and Salzburg. But to bring this hand-picked company together at the same time and place for a personal homage to the Salzburg master: that has required a special unifying idea. And this feat is what Deutsche Grammophon has pulled off - at least on CD - with its Mozart Anniversary Gala, making possible the seemingly impossible.
Anna Netrebko, Salzburg's acclaimed Donna Anna and Susanna, leads this ensemble of Mozart specialists, whose as-yet unreleased recordings have been brought together and arranged to form a quite extraordinary Mozart bouquet. Along with DG old hands like Thomas Quasthoff and Bryn Terfel, such new exclusive signings as Elīna Garanča and René Pape are accompanied by podium stars like Claudio Abbado and Sir Charles Mackerras.
Featured in excerpts from Idomeneo, Le nozze di Figaro, La clemenza di Tito as well as Don Giovanni, Anna Netrebko turns this anniversary album into an “Evening with Anna & Friends". In this Mozart gala the focus is on Anna Netrebko, whether as soloist in Elettra's bravura aria “D'Oreste, d'Aiace" or floating Ilia's lyrical “Zeffiretti lusinghieri" or - no less popular - Susanna's aria from Act IV of Figaro, which she sings at the Mozart Year's Salzburg Festival, or in the “duet of all duets" from Don Giovanni - “Là ci darem la mano - with Thomas Quasthoff and the lovely “Ah, perdona al primo affetto" from La clemenza di Tito with mezzo Elīna Garanča.
Bryn Terfel allows himself a musical joke as he lavishes his artistry on the concert aria “Männer suchen stets zu naschen" for this project, turning a tiny gem into two minutes of unforgettable Mozart singing of the highest calibre. And when you have Garanèa elevating Sesto's “Parto, parto" from La clemenza to the level of incandescent music drama, and Quasthoff, Pape and Erika Miklósa as, respectively, Papageno, Sarastro and the Queen of Night joining forces for a mini-Magic Flute, then it's safe to say that this “Who's Who" of modern Mozart singing has recorded a “Best of Mozart" for now and for ever.
Looking at this gala selection of Mozart stars in greater detail reveals the stylistic range of interpretations that it contains, from large-scale symphony-orchestra sonorities on one extreme and historically inspired “original" timbres on the other: while Dresden's illustrious Staatskapelle represents the time-honoured “classical" Mozart tradition, the Scottish and Mahler Chamber Orchestras as well as Claudio Abbado's newly founded Orchestra Mozart - here in its CD debut - are inspired in their music-making by the “authentic" style favoured by so many Mozartians in 2006.
A celebratory vocal feast to honour one of the greatest musical geniuses of all time: that's the aim of this gala of international stars. And once quiet has finally returned to peaceful Salzburg in autumn after the storm of an exceptional summer, there will be this recorded homage from Anna Netrebko and her friends to sweeten the pill of waiting for the next Mozart anniversary
