MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Verdi: La Traviata (Arias and Duets)

"The very few voices like hers prosper under the close scrutiny of recordings, as her soprano never admits any flaws. In the unhelpfully cavernous acoustics of the Grosses Festspielhaus she sounded no less impressive: the softest singing always carried, but she could also fill this vast open space with apparently little effort. Netrebko could bring class to Violetta anywhere in the world, but in Salzburg she went one better and played the role as the producer wanted, as a tough and tarty modern woman, fired by the will to live when she finds that her time is running out... he [Villazón] is a born creature of the stage and the physical performance he gives is so alive that it provides any extra volume... Villazón can be a whirlwind of activity, getting to parts of the character that the rest never knew were there."
Financial Times (London), 9 August 2005

"With talent and looks to burn, she has the world at her feet... she is such a singing actress, you thought mainly of Violetta, not of Anna Netrebko. Seldom has this character's torment been so well portrayed. Miss Netrebko tore your heart out, eschewing anything cheap... Speaking of perfection: I am reminded, once more, that Verdi has written a perfect opera, in "La traviata." And these Salzburg forces have given it its maximum impact. Wednesday night's was a shattering experience."
The New York Sun, 12 August 2005

By the end of the first performance, if not sooner, it was clear that the Russian soprano is a remarkably charismatic artist who has helped to open up the world of opera to new audiences. Without exception, the international critics praised her vocal qualities, singling out the "bell-like purity of her tone", the "effortless lyricism of her coloratura singing" and the "golden gleam" of her voice. The Neue Zürcher Zeitung came straight to the point: "That Anna Netrebko has at her disposal an extraordinary voice is beyond question. Her soprano issues from deep in her throat and thus radiates with opulent resonance without ever tending towards heaviness. The timbre, compact yet rich in overtones, enables her to open up to her full power, but also to establish her own intensity in quiet passages." But the singer's gifts were never deployed for their own sake alone. Rather, they were used for a subtly differentiated portrayal and a consummate musical realization of the director's underlying concept, a point brought out by the critic of the Süddeutsche Zeitung, who noted the way in which Decker projected Netrebko's "social role into this 'artist opera': he emancipates the singer Netrebko from the media star. The latter dies at the end along with Violetta. In her place is born Anna Netrebko the artist." The critic of Le monde likewise observed that Netrebko, who is under exclusive contract to Deutsche Grammophon, offered a clear and moving account of Violetta's tragedy: "Elle touche très simplement."

Rolando Villazón was a partner entirely worthy of his leading lady. Naturally gifted as an actor, he predictably impressed his Salzburg audiences with his dazzling stage presence and thrilling portrayal, combining subtle acting skills and even more subtle vocalization. Villazón, who will soon be an exclusive Deutsche Grammophon artist, had no difficulty in giving vocal expression to the role's dramatic outbursts as well as to its more lyrical moments and even to its buffo elements. "Rolando Villazón as Violetta's lover Alfredo Germont... also brings colour to the piece with his singularly flexible, agile, radiant and versatile bel canto instrument, from which he can summon up the entire palette of expressive values, from lyrical ecstasy to heroic metal", wrote the critic of the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. The festival was additionally fortunate in being able to enlist the services of the leading American baritone Thomas Hampson, a singer well known for his intellectual grasp of the roles in his repertory. As a lieder recitalist, too, he enjoys the highest acclaim, allowing him to explore every last detail of his part. His scene with Violetta in Act Two was unforgettable.

The performance ended with frenetic applause and a spontaneous standing ovation. Not since Karajan's heyday have we seen such scenes in Salzburg, claimed the Vienna Kronenzeitung. The whole world gazed on a true operatic event. The artists fulfilled their promise.