Anna Netrebko / Orchestra del Teatro alla Scala / Riccardo Chailly AMATA DALLE TENEBRE

 

AMATA DALLE TENEBRE

 

Hila Fahima / ORF Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra / Michele Gamba DONIZETTI - VERDI

 

DONIZETTI - VERDI

 

Lise Davidsen / London Philharmonic Orchestra / Sir Mark Elder BEETHOVEN - WAGNER - VERDI

 

BEETHOVEN - WAGNER - VERDI

 

Ophélie Gaillard / Morphing Chamber Orchestra / Frédéric Chaslin CELLOPERA

 

CELLOPERA

 

Natalie Dessay À L'OPÉRA

 

À L'OPÉRA

 

Marina Rebeka / Sinfonietta Rīga / Latvian Radio Choir / Modestas Pitrėnas CREDO

 

CREDO

 

Linda Richardson / Sinfonia of London / John Wilson ITALIAN OPERA ARIAS

 

ITALIAN OPERA ARIAS

Eli Kristin Hanssveen / Operaorkesteret / John Fiore SEMPRE LIBERA

 

SEMPRE LIBERA

 

THE TRUMPETS OF MATTHIAS HÖFS

 

THE TRUMPETS OF MATTHIAS HÖFS

 

Ermonela Jaho / Orquestra de la Comunitat Valenciana / Andrea Battistoni ANIMA RARA

ANIMA RARA

 

Ekaterina Siurina / Kaunas City Symphony Orchestra / Constantine Orbelian AMOUR ÉTERNEL

AMOUR ÉTERNEL

Münchner Rundfunkorchester / Ivan Repušić GIUSEPPE VERDI Attila

ATTILA

Aleksandra Kurzak DESIRE

DESIRE

Maria Callas DRAMA QUEEN

DRAMA QUEEN

Georges Prêtre THE LAST CONCERT AT LA SCALA

                                              THE LAST CONCERT AT LA SCALA

Olga Mykytenko / Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra / Kirill Karabits I VESPRI VERDIANI

                                                            I VESPRI VERDIANI

Marina Rebeka / Latvian Festival Orchestra / Michael Balke VERDI La Traviata

A new studio recording of Verdi’s La Traviata is released by Prima Classic, soprano Marina Rebeka’s own label. Believed to be the first complete recording of the opera for 26 years not based on an existing production, it is certainly unprecedented for a small independent label to take on such a massive project so early in its existence. This studio recording, released on 1 November, is only Prima Classic’s third release and its first full opera.

The stellar cast for La Traviata is headed by Marina Rebeka as Violetta, Charles Castronovo as Alfredo, and George Petean as Germont, along with the recently formed Latvian Festival Orchestra and the world-renowned State Choir Latvija under the baton of Michael Balke.

La Traviata is one of the top three most famous and performed operas worldwide, and Marina Rebeka has been singing the role of Violetta to great acclaim almost every season since 2007. She has performed the role in seventeen different productions of La Traviata, singing in houses such as Teatro alla Scala in Milan, The Metropolitan Opera in New York, the Royal Opera House Covent Garden in London, Operá National de Paris, Vienna State Opera, Bavarian State Opera, and the Hamburg State Opera, among many others in Europe, Asia, and the USA.

This ambitious project involved musicians from Latvia, Romania, Spain, Germany, the USA, and Russia. The newly-formed Latvian Festival Orchestra is made up of the best players chosen from several Latvian chamber and symphony orchestras. The VAK State Choir Latvija is widely known the world over for upholding the high standards of the great Baltic choral tradition. The three leading singers – Marina Rebeka, Charles Castronovo, and George Petean – are also cast in the upcoming La Traviata production, conducted by Zubin Mehta, at La Scala, Milan in 2020.

The full opera, in its uncut version, was recorded specifically for this album, meaning that it is not a live performance that has been put onto disc, as is usually the case with most opera recordings nowadays. The closed-doors recording took place at the picturesque and iconic Great Guild Concert Hall in Riga, Latvia, between 24 March and 3 April 2019. Recorded using some of today’s most advanced audio technology, the set aims to shed fresh light on La Traviata. “We hope it will become the current times’ chapter in the long line of great recordings of this timeless masterpiece,” says executive producer Edgardo Vertanessian.

Benjamin Bernheim / PKF - Prague Philharmonia / Emmanuel Villaume BENJAMIN BERNHEIM

“Working in partnership with Deutsche Grammophon, a label with such a long and illustrious history, is both an enormous honour and a huge responsibility,” says Bernheim, for whom the world’s most prestigious opera houses are already homes from home. “It’s given me an even greater incentive to perform at the very highest level.” Born in Paris in 1985, Bernheim studied in Lausanne then became a member of Zurich Opera’s renowned International Opera Studio. Before long he was one of the most sought-after lyric tenors worldwide, and he is now regularly invited to appear at La Scala, Milan, the Berlin Staatsoper, the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, the Vienna Staatsoper and the Salzburg Festival, among many others. Wherever he goes, he captivates audiences with his mesmerising vocal and dramatic interpretations.

Accompanied by the Prague Philharmonia under the baton of Emmanuel Villaume, on his debut DG album Bernheim presents a varied programme drawn from the Italian, Russian and French operatic repertoire. His vocal and expressive versatility can be heard, for example, in Lensky’s aria from Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin, an opera in which he enjoyed huge success at the Deutsche Oper in Berlin, and in Edgardo’s “Tombe degli avi miei” from Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor. Another of the characters featured here is Puccini’s Rodolfo (La bohème), a role he sees as “steeped in tradition”, and therefore one for which he needed to find his own personal interpretation – “a challenging but hugely rewarding experience”. The music of his birthplace is particularly close to his heart, and is represented on the album by arias such as “En fermant les yeux” from Massenet’s Manon, “L’Amour! Oui, son ardeur” from Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette and “Salut! demeure chaste et pure” from the same composer’s Faust. “The French repertoire requires perfect diction and the ability to convey the meaning behind the text as well”, observes Bernheim. “There is so much poetry in these pieces and there are so many details to discover in them. My aim is to bring all of this out in my performances. These are works in which I can give 150% and use every different facet of my voice.”

Ildar Abdrazakov / Orchestre Métropolitain de Montréal / Yannick Nézet-Séguin VERDI

Never change a winning team – Ildar Abdrazakov, Yannick Nézet-Séguin and Orchestre Métropolitain came once again together to record Ildar’s first solo album on Deutsche Grammophon.

Throughout his career Verdi always played a big role in Ildar’s life and has accompanied him all along. He is noted for Verdi roles and has sung and will continue to sing almost all of the roles on this album on stage.

Ildar’s first Verdi role was Macbeth with Riccardo Muti in 2001 – this album will be released around his Salzburg Festival performances with Riccardo Muti (Verdi: Messa da Requiem).

The album includes famous hand-picked bass roles by Giuseppe Verdi. Ildar is currently one of the most well-known and in demand bass singers and has already performed at big opera houses in London, Munich, Paris, Berlin and Milan.

Michael Fabiano / London Philharmonic Orchestra / Enrique Mazzola VERDI - DONIZETTI

American star tenor Michael Fabiano presents a spectacular set of scenes taken from late Donizetti and middle Verdi operas, revealing the strong ties between these two composers. The album documents a paradigmatic shift in Italian opera, from the beautiful lines and crispness of belcanto to a richer, more dramatic musical universe. The historical line stretches from Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor, Poliuto and Maria di Rohan to mature Verdi operas such as Rigoletto, Un ballo in maschera and Don Carlos. In many cases, Fabiano has selected original, rarely-heard versions, including the thunderous ‘Qual sangue sparsi’ from the original St. Petersburg edition of La forza del destino.

Together, these arias and scenes constitute a world full of heartfelt tenderness and fire-laden drama. After numerous successes on the opera stage, this is Michael Fabiano’s debut album on PENTATONE.