Anna Netebko Verdi Album review

I recently published my first Cd review through Latinospost. Here is a sample of the review and you can continue reading.

"It has been five years since Anna Netrebko recorded a solo album for her record company Deutsche Grammophon. This year she celebrates her tenth anniversary with the company with a CD dedicated to Giuseppe Verdi's 200^th anniversary entitled "Verdi." The CD is a selection of arias that were personal favorites of the soprano and a preview of works she will add to her repertoire in the coming seasons.Since her album "Souvenirs" Netrebko's voice has obtained a larger, heavier and darker sound. The soprano who once sang the coloratura and lyric roles proves in her latest album she is ready for more dramatic ones." Continue Reading.

Alice Coote and Sophie Koch To Replace Elina Garanca

The Met press office has just released the following press statement: “Elina Garanca has withdrawn from her 2013-14 Met engagements because she is pregnant with her second child, who is due this winter. Garanca was originally scheduled to sing Octavian in three performances of Strauss’s Der Rosenkavalier and Charlotte in a new production of Massenet’s Werther. Two star mezzo-sopranos will replace her in these performances: Alice Coote in Der Rosenkavalier and Sophie Koch, making her Met debut, in Werther.“

Jonas Kaufmann in First Don Carlo Pictures From Salzburg

The first pictures of Salzburg's Don Carlo have been revealed. And I am happy to announce that it is not all black. After seeing Munich and the Met's hideous productions, Peter Stein seems to have realized that Verdi operas can also have color. This is by far the most anticipated production of the year and one that am most looking forward to. The opera will be broadcast from Medici and ORF and should eventually get a DVD (Hopefully). 

Anna Netrebko to Sing Lady Macbeth at the Met

Anna Netrebko has revealed her future plans for the upcoming season. She revealed that she has already signed a contract with the Met to sing Lady Macbeth and that she will do a new production of Il Trovatore in Salzburg. She also said she would sing Manon Lescaut with Riccardo Muti conducting and would also sing Adriana Lecrouveur. She also plans on singing the role of Elsa in Lohengrin and the four last songs. For more information click here.

Aleksandra Kurzak Pregnant; Elina Garanca Rumored as Well

Polish coloratura soprano Aleksandra Kurzak has announced that she is pregnant to Roberto Alagna's child. The singer posted the following comments on facebook: Today is my birthday, and the most happy one, so let's make it official...
We are expecting BABY!!!

No news on how this development will affect her performances at the Met in November. However Congratulations.

An email from Ernesto Palacio, manager to Elina Garanca, states, “Elina Garanca is waiting for a second baby. Would arrive on December. She would cancel Rosenkavalier at the Met, Carmen in London and MAYBE Werther at the Met.”

In other baby news, La Cieca is also hearing rumors that Elina Garanca is pregnant and that she may cancel Werther for this Met season. Nothing has been confirmed.

The Met Gets a New Eugene Onegin Director

The just sent out a press statement which said that Deborah Warner would direct her production of Eugene Onegin in September. 

The statement was the following: 

Deborah Warner, director of the Met’s season-opening new production of Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin, will be unable to direct her staging at the Met due to an unexpected surgical procedure and the anticipated recovery time.

Replacing Warner as director of the production will be actress and director Fiona Shaw, Warner’s frequent artistic collaborator.

Shaw makes her Met debut with this production. Her previous directorial credits include Henze’sElegy for Young Lovers, Vaughan Williams’s Riders to the Sea, and Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro at English National Opera, and an upcoming production of Britten’s The Rape of Lucretia at the Glyndebourne Festival.

The twenty-five-year working partnership between Fiona Shaw and Deborah Warner started with a landmark production of Electra in 1988. Their many collaborations since then have included Medea, The Waste Land, Happy Days, and The Testament of Mary (all of which were seen in New York).

Ms. Shaw’s numerous honors include Best Actress awards from the London Critics’ Circle, the Olivier Awards, and the Evening Standard Awards, as well as a Tony Award nomination; in 2001, she was made a Commander of the British Empire for services to drama.

Eugene Onegin opens the Met season on September 23, and continues for thirteen performances through December 12. The opening night cast, conducted by Valery Gergiev, features Anna Netrebko as Tatiana, Oksana Volkova as Olga, Piotr Beczala as Lenski, Mariusz Kwiecien as Onegin, and Alexei Tanovitski as Gremin. Later performances, conducted by Alexander Vedernikov, star Marina Poplavskaya as Tatiana, Elena Maximova as Olga, Rolando Villazón as Lenski, Peter Mattei as Onegin, and Štefan Kocán as Gremin. 

Rusalka Preview 2013-2014

Renee Fleming returns to her acclaimed turn in Dvorak's Fairy Tale Rusalka. Piotr Beczala, Dolora Zajick and Emily Magee round out the cast in Otto Schenk's classic production.