Customer Reviews

The Mozart Album

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is a curious recording. It is a compilation of four recording sessions: Bologna in March, 2005 with Netrebko (4); Modena in September, 2005 with Pape, Miklósa (2) released before; Glasgow in April, 2006 with Terfel (2) and ending in Dresden in May, 2006 with Quasthoff, Garanca and Anna singing a duet with each (5). The recording is subtitled "Anna Netrebko & Friends" and Ms. Netrebko appears on six of the 13 tracks. It is safe to assume that this album was not conceived to turn out this way but is a patchwork, as Anna Netrebko may not have had the time to fill up 60 minutes of Mozart by herself. Still, the voices are all DG "All Stars" and the music is Mozart, all taken from his operas, and beautifully rendered without a hitch. Anna Netrebko's gorgeous soprano shines through although I am not overly fond of Electra's final rage-aria from Idomeneo that she also recently sang at the Salzburg Festival shown on a U.S. television "Great Performances" production. I have always loved Pape, Terfel and Quasthoff's rich voices. Garanca, the young, brilliant Latvian mezzo-soprano is being groomed to be a star although I am upset with her for backing out of the "Mostly Mozart" Festival at Lincoln Center this summer. New York awaits her debut. I love the duet with Garanca and Netrebko from "La Clemenza di Tito". The CD ends with a lovely trio, "Soave sia il vento" from "Cosi fan tutte" with Terfel, soprano Miah Persson and mezzo Christina Rice. Conductors include Claudio Abbado, Charles Mackerras and Sebastian Weigle. My major quibble is that this is a studio recording. I prefer live recordings with the warts.

Deutsche Grammophon has brought out their big guns on this Mozart anniversary compendium, and the results are invariably lush and insightful. Recorded in four different sessions and backed by different orchestras at each venue, the thirteen tracks here - several recitatives and arias, three duets and one trio - have a thankfully seamless quality in spite of the variability of dramatic interpretations. The lead-off player is soprano Anna Netrebko, who sings on six tracks including a coquettish take on Susanna's recitative and aria, "Giunse alfin il momento...Deh vieni, non tardar" from "Le nozze di Figaro (The Marriage of Figaro)". A passionate singer with a voice just ripening now, she plays both sides of the coin with selections from "Idomeneo" - first in a vengeful rage as Elettra with "Oh smania! Oh furie...D'Oreste, d'Aiace" and later as the sweet Ilia on "Zeffiretti lusinghieri".

Netrebko's Italianate diction and sumptuous voice are well suited for Ilia's aria, but her relative youth works against her as Elettra since she lacks the consistent edge and intimidating persona needed. My favorite of her pieces is actually her Donna Anna in the "Don Giovanni" duet with the exceptional tenor Christoph Strehl on "Fuggi, crudele, fuggi!", in which she feverishly transitions from her character's distraught mental state to a conniving mindset as her lover Don Ottavio pleads with her. Netrebko has another noteworthy albeit brief duet with mezzo-soprano Elina Garanca as they poignantly play the lovers Annio and Servilia on "Ah, perdona al primo affetto" from "La clemenza di Tito". In another pants role, Garanca is impressively stentorian in Sesto's forlorn lament, "Parto, parto, ma tu, ben mio" from the same opera.

The singer who sounds like he is having the most fun on the disc is baritone Thomas Quasthoff, who covers arias from "Don Giovanni" - first as the devoted servant Leporello in the comic "Madamina, il catalogo è questo" and then in the title role seducing Netrebko's Zerlina on the seductively yearning duet, "Là ci darem la mano". As Papageno, Quasthoff captures the bird catcher's delicate romanticism in "Der Vogelfänger bin ich ja" from "Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute)". From the same opera, German bass René Pape lends a haunting, voluminous ripeness to Sarastro's aria, "In dieson heil'gen Hallen", while Hungarian soprano Erika Miklósa is a bit too showy for my taste as the Queen of the Night on the vocally ornate "Der Hölle Rache kocht in meinem Herzen".

Bass-baritone Bryn Terfel effectively conveys the Count's flamboyant jealousy on "Ho già vintò la causa!...Vedro mentr'io sospiro" from "Le nozze di Figaro", though unfortunately his contribution as Don Alfonso to the final trio, "Soave sia il vento" from "Cosi fan tutte", is strictly by-the-numbers with sopranos Christine Rice and Miah Persson equally lackluster. Regardless, the orchestral accompaniment is expert on all the tracks with the estimable Claudio Abbado conducting on six pieces (including most of Netrebko's solos), Sebastian Weigle on five pieces and Charles Mackerras on the two Terfel tracks. If not a complete success, this is a fine recording which spotlights several of the best singers around today.

Four stars for me is a top rated disc, make no mistake-there are maybe 10 five star albums I''ve heard in my life. The performances are both accurate and inspired and, in this rare instance, I enjoy the blend of music from different Mozart pieces. Newcomer (well, sort of) Elina Garanca is outstanding and, I believe, will likely be the one of this crop we are still talking about in 10 years

This CD has first rate artists, including the glorious Anna Netrebko, songs, and sound. It couldn't get any better.

5 wonderful singers,mozart were he alive today would be

justifiably proud of them.

This has been one extended party for old Wolfgang. By now it's a wonder we haven't all been Mozarted out. And with that predisposition that's how I sat down to listen to this 2007 offering from Deutsche Grammophon - another Mozart entry into a long line of CD and DVD entry's commemorating Mozart's 251st anniversary party. What got my attention about this CD, however, was the list of singers being offered up with various orchestras, recorded at different times. Netrebko, Garanca on the female side and Quasthoff, Terfel and Pape on the male side. Now, that's a power line-up. The bottom line: I was pleasantly taken back some by the pure sound and high quality of both vocal and instrumental performances, as well as the selections - and the latter point is important. All Mozart, all the time, can wear on the listener, at least it does me. The style and era produced a certain sameness in sound and composition that can almost border on stale. Here, however, that wasn't the case at all. The vocal performances are superb and the selections, while some more well-known and common than others, did sparkle with originality in the manner of delivery. And so, this is a plus all around, making this Mozart entry worthwhile in every way and just as enjoyable, too.

Some may question the artistic value of this CD. All the singers are in fine voice, but Netrebko steals the show. This CD is worthwhile just for Netrebko's rendition of Elettra's aria "Oh smania! Oh furie" from Idomeneo. Close your eyes and listen. You can see the demented expression on her face spitting fire, and her gaze turning into arrows soaked in the venom of hatred, ready to pierce your heart. Netrebko colors her voice, acts, and is consumed by the character, irrespective whether she is on stage or not, while keeping her singing focused. Her passion involves you, no matter how cool you pretent to be. That's the sign of a great singing actress, the likes of which we haven't seen for a long time!

Constantine A. Papas

El Paso, TX

This album is somewhat enjoyable but empty feeling. It runs under 60 minutes and includes some Mozart favorites, but the work by the lesser singers is forgettable for the most part as were the duets and trio. Quasthoff and Netrebko had some nice offerings, but certainly not enough to carry the entire program. At the end of the album, it felt like I had just listened to a summer pops concert and wasn't quite satisfied.

Jede einzelne Arie ist eine Besonderheit. Besonders interessant die Interpretation der Registerarie von Quasthoff.