Intermezzo

Anna Netrebko isn't reading this

Anna Netrebko discloses in an interview that she's happy without a computer, and wouldn't know how to turn one on. In fact, she's never looked at her own website.

She told the Kronen Zeitung that Erwin Schrott googled her once and came up with "Netrebko has got really fat and has no voice". After that, she realised it was better to avoid computers altogether.

She's advised her Twitter-addicted blogger of an other half to do the same, because it exhausts his energy when he get angry at what's been written. Good advice for all singers (and opera directors) I think.

Pectacular Don

Don Giovanni - Royal Opera House, 21 February 2012

Francesca Zambello's witless, charmless, tasteless production hasn't improved with age. But great performers can redeem even the most idiotic of stagings - and frequently have to in these parts. If Erwin Schrott isn't the finest Don Giovanni around right now I'll eat my pants. Yours too.

Anna and Erwin say auf Wiedersehn to Dresden

Anna Netrebko and Erwin Schrott have withdrawn from their long-booked 2011 New Year's Eve and 30 December concerts at Dresden Semperoper, citing insufficient preparation time.

Having successfully stepped into last year's Dresden concerts with less than a week's notice, the excuse is an unexpected one.

They apparently hope the programme of of Franz Lehar operetta highlights can be rescheduled at a later date. That's a grain of comfort to ticket holders for the long sold out shows.

But the solution won't help the ZDF channel. They're due to broadcast the New Year's Eve concert in fierce competition with rivals ARD, who've snaffled the Berlin Phil. It's not clear at this stage whether ZDF had finalised contractual arrangements with Netrebko and Schrott.

Their replacements are Angela Denoke and Ana Maria Labin.

Anna is Erwin's woman (but she likes a bit of Jonas on the side)

Not nearly as toecurling as it could have been - bravo/a/i for trying.

That was perhaps the most experimental selection in the stream of greatest operatic hits at Anna and Erwin's blockbuster Waldbühne concert on Tuesday evening. Jonas Kaufmann joined them, and the entire highly-priced extravaganza was broadcast on the German channel ZDF.

You can watch the whole thing on ZDF's website (not all countries), or enjoy a few choice excerpts below.

Mortgage the garden shed and perhaps you too could catch them live in the Royal Albert Hall next year.

Netrebko / Kaufmann / Schrott at Royal Albert Hall

 

Don't all rush at once! But if you've got a couple of hundred quid to spare, you might fancy spending it on a blockbuster date with Anna Netrebko, Erwin Schrott and Jonas Kaufmann. They're coming to the Royal Albert Hall on 6 June 2012 for "a superb gala of their favourite arias and music by Puccini, Verdi, Mozart and many more".

Promoters Raymond Gubbay have set prices from £25 in the corner of the side circle, where you will see virtually nothing, to £185 for a grand tier box seat, and tickets are on sale now.

Makes Jonas's £75 Royal Festival Hall date in October sound a positive bargain.

(via Carlos)

Salzburg's nozze di Figaro gets the bird

Le nozze di Figaro - Haus Für Mozart, Salzburg, 30 July 2011

Claus Guth's cinematically-inspired 2006 production sets Figaro in funereal Bergmanesque monochrome. Hitchcock's The Birds is referenced in the dead crows and autumnal leaves littering the bare rooms. It looks more like a particularly scary The Turn of the Screw than a Mozart comedy. 

Netrebko and Schrott 'hurt' to be ditched from Salzburg Festival

Half the publicity the Salzburg Festival receives is based around the talented and indecently photogenic Anna Netrebko and Erwin Schrott. Not to mention the glowing critical reviews and through-the-roof ticket sales for anything they're in.

So it's surprising to read an interview with the pair in today's Austrian News magazine that confirms next year's La bohème is the last Salzburg Festival booking in Anna Netrebko's calendar. Worse, Erwin Schrott says there's no place for him whatsoever in new Intendant Alexander Pereira's plans (which are noticeably stuffed with job opps for his old Zurich cronies).

"Doesn't that hurt?" asks the interviewer. "Yes it does" they both confirm.

When you bear in mind that they're not clapped-out old singers trading on past glories, but young (in classical music years) artists whose talents grow year on year, the exclusion seems even odder. Bad for music, bad for business.

But it's not goodbye to Austria. They remain based in Vienna, and performances there will feature in their future, even though there are no immediate plans. Netrebko says she's waiting for the right time and the right production. They both dodged questions about specific commitments, with Netrebko refusing to confirm that she'll make her Wagner debut as Elsa with Thielemann in Dresden - though she does say she can't wait to sing the role. And she wants to clarify that although she's retiring some roles, Violetta is not one of them, as has been reported elsewhere.

They also talk about their widely-reported plans to open a restaurant (location: Vienna, cuisine: undecided).

Read an extract from the interview online, or see the whole thing below (click to enlarge):

Anna and Renee steer Dresden to ratings victory

 

The results are out. Fresh from winning the World Cup for Russia, Anna Netrebko provided the final boost of star-power that Christian Thielemann and the Dresden Staatskapelle needed to win their New Year's Eve TV ratings war against the Berlin Philharmonic.

After a tidy set-up from Anna and hubby Erwin, team mate Renee Fleming finished off the opposition.

Gustavo Dudamel, Elina Garanca and the Berlin Philharmonic didn't stand a chance.

The final score - 1.67 million viewers (7.7% of total) for Dresden and 1.19 million (5.9%) for Berlin - enough in total to fill roughly a thousand opera houses.

Anna Netrebko, Einspringer of the Year - the video evidence

As filmed last night and shown on German TV earlier this evening - while Dresden awaited the arrival of the snowbound Renee Fleming, Anna Netrebko sang Heia, heia, in den Bergen from Kálmán's Die Csárdásfürstin with Christian Thielemann and the Dresden Staatskapelle. It's followed by Erwin Schrott with Pablo Ziegler's Rojotango.
 

Anna Netrebko, Dresden's cover girl

 
Semperoper Dresden, 28 December 2010

German TV's big New Year's Eve event is the annual concert on the ZDF channel. For many years it was the preserve of the Berlin Philharmonic. But their escalating pay demands led to the baton being passed this year to the less financially-demanding Staatskapelle Dresden.

The change has not exactly gone smoothly. First, when Dresden's then-music director Fabio Luisi discovered ZDF wanted future (from 2012) director Christian Thielemann to conduct the concert, he resigned in a fit of pique.

Then a few weeks ago Thomas Hampson dropped out, unable to fit initial rehearsals into his schedule. That left Renee Fleming, pencilled in to sing extracts from Die lustige Witwe with Hampson's replacement Christopher Maltman. But the Beautiful Voice has been trapped all week in the New York snow, leaving her unable to fly to Germany for rehearsals.

Fortunately, Anna Netrebko has agreed to step in to the final rehearsal at the last minute - together with bonus hawtness in the form of hubby Erwin Schrott.

Netrebko, Kaufmann and Schrott - 2gether 4eva

Anna Netrebko, Erwin Schrott, and Jonas Kaufmann will appear together on stage for the first time in the summer of 2011.

Dates have been scheduled for Munich (29 July), Vienna (6 August) and Berlin Waldbuhne (16 August).  Advance ticket sales will start this Friday.

Netrebko and friends raise €300,000 for flood victims

Sporting her favourite Katherine Jenkins cast-off once again, Anna Netrebko joined a host of other singers in Salzburg last night for a special charity concert which raised a massive €300,000 for Pakistan's flood victims. Despite the short notice (the concert was only announced on Sunday), an enthusiastic audience of over 1,500 packed out the Haus Für Mozart.

Netrebko sang Il bacio by Luigi Arditi, followed by the duet Quanto amore from L'elisir d'amore with Erwin Schrott, who later treated the audience to some tango. With Piotr Beczala she performed a duet from La bohème. Beczala returned for Ah! lève toi, soleil from Roméo et Juliette. Other performers included Christopher Maltman, Mikhail Petrenko, Joel Prieto and Anna Prohaska.

****more photos on next page!****

Anna and Erwin to sing for Pakistan flood victims

Anna Netrebko and Erwin Schrott will be joined by Piotr Beczala, Christopher Maltman, Mikhail Petrenko and other artists for a special concert at Salzburg's Haus für Mozart on Thursday evening. 

The concert has been organised by the Salzburg Festival to aid victims of Pakistan's recent floods.

Tickets cost from € 40 and € 280 and will be available today from 3pm (CET; 2pm UK) at the Festival box office, or by email (info@salzburgfestival.at), on-line (http://salzburgerfestspiele.at) or phone (0662-8045-500).

Anna Netrebko, pap star

While Anna Netrebko and Erwin Schrott are both appearing in this year's Salzburg Festival - she in Roméo et Juliette, he in Don Giovanni - they've rented a house in the Liefering district of Salzburg, a not-especially-posh suburb just outside the centre.

The Austrian press are beside themselves with excitement - at last they can fill their pages with something a bit more glamorous than the rumpled politicians and bedirndled minor aristocrats who form the Festival's mainstay.

"Hardly a day has passed in the festival city", reports the Kurier, "when you couldn't manage to spot clan Netrebko."

It goes on to list the opportunites, starting with the supermarket - Anna apparently makes the family breakfast, which includes kasha, a Russian porridge, for her son Tiago. Or she might be seen on her way to rehearsals in the Felsenreitschule, or en famille in the Triangel restaurant, a couple of minutes away. And of course she's attended all the opera premieres with Erwin on her arm.

The Austrian paps have not been slow to exploit this unprecedented €€€-making opportunity, and the couple don't seem to mind the photographic attention - check out the next page......

Le nozze di Figaro in photos

At last - up to date production photos for the current run of Le nozze di Figaro at the Royal Opera House.

Here's the main reason to catch the show - Erwin Schrott as Figaro:

Le nozze di Figaro at the Royal Opera House

Le nozze di Figaro - Royal Opera House, 31 May 2010 (first night)

Just some hit and run impressions from the first night before I embark on a solid week of opera. This latest revival of David McVicar’s 2006 production doesn’t always deliver the goods vocally, but the casting couldn’t be bettered theatrically. Back in person to direct (he left the last revival to someone else), McVicar has tweaked and tightened the dramatic screws. The master-servant relationship is more effectively defined than ever before, and the shenanigans of the final act much easier to follow.

Royal Opera House 2009/10 season - all the details

Here first! - a full list of all the Royal Opera House's main stage productions for the 2009/10 season.

The 2009/10 Covent Garden season opens with neither bang nor whimper but with a credit-crunching concert performance on 7 September (repeated on 14 September). Makes a change from last year's Sun readers' special I suppose.

The opera in question is Donizetti's Linda di Chamounix, and the conductor is bel canto genius Mark Elder. The cast includes potential Next Big Things Stephen Costello, Eglise Gutierrez and Luciano Botelho, plus the incomparable Alessandro Corbelli, the first of several welcome appearances this season.

The first staged opera of the season is Nicholas Hytner's lego-loving Don Carlo, with - OMG!- Jonas Kaufmann !!! in the title role. John Tomlinson joins him as the Grand Inquisitor, and the rest of the cast is lifted straight from the first run - Marina Poplavskaya, Simon Keenlyside, fans' favourite Ferruccio Furlanetto, Sonia Ganassi and Pumeza Matshikiza.The conductor is Semyon Bychkov.

This season's contribution to the 2013 Wagnerversary is a new Christof Loy production of Tristan und Isolde. Antonio Pappano conducts Ben Heppner, Nina Stemme, Matti Salminen, Michael Volle and Sophie Koch.

Neigh! Francesco Zambello's ghastly Carmen returns in October, with the latest Covent Garden favourite Elina Garanca back for the title role, fighting off Roberto Alagna, Ildebrando d'Arcangelo, and a farmyard full of furry friends. Bertrand de Billy conducts. It's resuscitated again in June 2010 with a distinctly 'B' cast.

October also sees one of Richard Jones's more subtle and effective efforts back on stage - and attractively cast. The shouldn't-work-but-it-does double bill of Ravel's L'Heure Espagnole (Christine Rice, Yann Beuron, Christopher Maltman, Andrew Shore and Bonaventura Bottone) and Puccini's Gianni Schicchi (Thomas Allen, Maria Bengtsson and Stephen Costello) is conducted by Pappano.

Francesco Zambello steps into Tchaikovsky's The Slippers in November. The new production will be conducted by Alexander Polianichko and features some serious talent fresh from the Mariinsky - Olga Guryakova, Vsevolod Grivnov, Larissa Diadkova, Vladimir Matorin and Maxim Mikhailov.

John Schlesinger's elderly Der Rosenkavalier is dusted off in December. Kirill Petrenko conducts and the cast includes Soile Isokoski, Sophie Koch, Thomas Allen and Lucy Crowe.

Littering the December and January schedules is the inevitable La Bohème. This time Andris Nelsons conducts most of the double-cast performances, which begin with Piotr Beczala and Hibla Gerzmava and end with not a few tbc's.

Robert Lepage's intermittently effective Rake's Progress returns in January 2010. Ingo Metzmacher, Toby Spence (a Tom Rakewell tdf), Kate Royal, Kyle Ketelsen and Stephanie Blythe promise much on the musical side.

Female conductor alert! Top Lisboan Julia Jones wields the baton over Jonathan Miller's Cosi fan Tutte in January. The cast includes Charles Castronovo and Sally Matthews.

A new Richard Jones production of Prokofiev's The Gambler in February is conducted by Pappano, with a cast including Roberto Sacca, Angela Denoke, John Tomlinson and Jurgita Adamonyte.

Plácido Domingo's first appearance of the season is as a tenor. Graham Vick's acclaimed production of Handel's Tamerlano (recorded in Madrid and available on DVD con Plácido) makes its first visit to Covent Garden in March with Christianne Stoijn, Sara Mingardo and Christine Schäfer. Baroque specialist Ivor Bolton conducts.

Bill Bryden's family-friendly The Cunning Little Vixen returns in March with Emma Matthews, Christopher Maltman and Emma Bell, though the presence of Charles Mackerras on the podium has to be the main draw.

Caurier and Leiser's lovely Il Turco in Italia is back in April, with Maurizio Benini conducting, and Aleksandra Kursak, Colin Lee, Alessandro Corbelli, Thomas Allen and Ildebrando d'Arcangelo in the cast.

Aida is subjected to the David McVicar magic in April. His new production is conducted by Nicola Luisotti and features Micaela Carosi, Marcelo Alvarez and Luciana D'Intino. Bare naked elephants?

The last of the Big Three, Richard Eyre's subtly intelligent La Traviata, makes its annual appearance in May and July. This time her name's in the programme - Our first Lady of the Camellias is the fabulous former Netrebko sub Ermonela Jaho. Joining her in her long-awaited return to Covent Garden in May are Saimir Pirgu and Dmitri Hvorostovsky. July's 'B' Violetta is Angela Gheorghiu, who makes do with James Valenti and Zeljko Lucic. Yves Abel conducts.

Laurent Pelly's now-legendary La Fille du Régiment returns in May with the unbeatable original cast of Juan Diego Flórez, Natalie Dessay, Alessandro Corbelli and Felicity Palmer back in place. Bruno Campanella conducts.

What would tempt Sir Colin Davis back into the pit? How about David McVicar's Le Nozze di Figaro? Erwin Schrott, Camilla Tilling, Maruisz Kwiecen. Annette Dasch, Soile Isokoski and Christine Schäfer head the strong cast.

Antonio Pappano conducts Laurent Pelly's new Manon, coming to Covent Garden in June with the announced cast including Anna Netrebko and Rolando Villazón. Anyone fancy a bet?

In one of those rare operatic fairy stories, June sees a baritone with less than a year's experience thrust into a leading role at Covent Garden. Yes, it's Plácido Domingo again, and this time he's Simon Boccanegra. Antonio Pappano conducts a strong cast including Marina Poplavskaya, Ferruccio Furlanetto and Joseph Calleja. It's the 1991 Elijah Moshinsky production by the way, not the Ian Judge one seen last year.

The season ends in July 2010 with the first revival of David McVicar's controversial Salome. Angela Denoke takes the central role, with Johan Reuter as Jokanaan. Hartmut Haenchen conducts.

No link yet, but more details expected on the Royal Opera House website sometime next week.

****************

*******UPDATE 22/4*******

The Royal Opera House's press releases are now available on their website. Go here for the summary, here for the opera details and here for the ballet.

Il trovatore test run

I don't usually write about rehearsals because you don't necessarily get 100%-honed performances, and its not really fair to make public comment in those circumstances. But yesterday's general rehearsal for the ROH's latest run of Trovatore was so superb I feel a duty to spread the word. (And just in case Monday's opening night doesn't reach the same heights - but let's not go there yet).

We all know what Caruso said - that all Il Trovatore needed was the four best singers in the world. And with this cast - Roberto Alagna, Dmitri Hvorostovsky, Sondra Radvanovsky and Malgorzata Walewska - it came as close as you could hope for.

Dmitri Hvorostovsky's Luna has been the highlight of previous runs of this production. Well, this time he's got stiff competition, but once again he sang with nobility and distinction. Just like he always does. And was it wishful thinking, or have his acting skills taken a dramatic (ha!) turn for the better? In recital, his natural exuberance is as memorable as his leather pants. But stick him in an opera, and he often looks as if he's reading from an autocue. Not in this show. Even the Egli era tuo fratello! at the end was, for once, not remotely tittersome - his quale orror!  sent a jolt through the auditorium.

And here's my profound rumination of the week. Dima's snowy hair is absolutely perfect for every role he plays, whatever the character, whatever the period. So why do production designers neverever duplicate it for other singers? Does he have copyright hair or something?

The Angela-less Alagna seems back on top form. He sounds healthy, he even looks a bit slimmer. Manrico is a real test of his abilities, and while you never feel there's a millimetre to spare, ultimately there's no audible strain whatsoever. He just grabs every note and hurls it forth heroically. So much for his plans to chicken-out from half of the murderous Di quella pira, as the Daily Telegraph's recent interview claims. He belted out both verses like the champion of the tenor Olympics. If he naughtily slipped out of character to acknowledge the applause, who can blame him? And in the tender, lyrical moments that are more his home territory, wooing Leonora or soothing his dear old mum, the natural beauty of his voice shone through to heart-melting effect.

Sondra Radvanovsky wobbled a bit to begin with, but her supreme technical control soon became apparent. She spun her long lines out silkily and crested even the highest notes with liquid ease. Every note and every syllable was shaped and coloured in minutely-nuanced detail. Inevitably, it lacked the thrill of spontaneity - she's a sort of earthy Renee Fleming in that respect. I wasn't always convinced she was living the part either - her dedication to crafting the beautiful line often distanced her from the heart of the role. But I can't think of anyone right now who could sing Leonora better.

Malgorzata Walewska was a bit of a find as Azucena, with a rich lower register and a winning line in dramatic venom that more than compensated for some insecurities on top.

OK, that's your four best singers, but this production is immaculately cast top to toe. Mikhail Petrenko, a mahogany bass in the classic Russian style, has great presence as well as a fabulous voice - what a terrific Ferrando. Monika-Evelin Liiv's Ines more than held her own against Sondra Radvanovsky. And Haoyin Xue, who never made much of an impact on me when he was in the ROH's Young Artist programme, has matured into a fine, solid singer.

Despite the best casting it's ever had, and despite fine 19th century set and costume designs, the production is still as dire and inert as it ever was. It looks like some dredged-up '70's relic even though it can't be more than ten years old, and it makes the legendarily-'difficult' storyline even more incomprehensible and absurd. But more on that after the opening night.

And the audience weren't just the usual riff-raff. What a surprise to see sitting in a private box - Anna Netrebko and Erwin Schrott. She wore a loose beige geometric-patterned shift, chatted and signed autographs for her neighbours on either side, and applauded enthusiastically along with everyone else. A lousy phonecam shot:

Schrott out; Calleja in

Thanks to reader Georgiana for pointing out that Cadogan Hall has scheduled new artists for the June 11th concert which Erwin Schrott cancelled.

They're tenor Joseph Calleja and his wife, soprano Tatiana Lisnic.

Calleja's last appearance in London was an impressive one, opposite Renee Fleming in the Royal Opera House's Thaïs. And he'll be back partnering la Renay at Covent Garden next year in La Traviata.

So £12 at Cadogan Hall sounds like a bargain.

Donde está Erwin Schrott ?

O noes!!! I am devastated by Jessica Duchen's latest lid-blowing news - Erwin Schrott has cancelled next month's Cadogan Hall recital.

Contract busting? The words "hearsay", "lawyers" and "bargepole" flutter so noisily between my ears they drown out speculation.

But I note with interest that the future Mrs Schrott, Anna Netrebko, is expected at the Paris Opera on the night in question, June 11.