Live at the Metropolitan Opera (2011)

performed by Anna Netrebko (soprano), Cecilia Brauer (harmonica), Dmitri Hvorostovsky (baritone), Ekaterina Semenchuk (mezzo-soprano), Eric Halfvarson (bass), Gerald Finley (bass baritone), Ildar Abdrazakov (bass), Joseph Calleja (tenor), Juan Diego Flórez (tenor)
composed by Charles Gounod, Gaetano Donizetti, Giacomo Puccini, Giuseppe Verdi, Jacques Offenbach, Sergey Prokofiev, Vincenzo Bellini, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

It would be happy news for opera fans if this release indicated the beginning a trend for the Metropolitan Opera: releasing albums of excerpts of operas from its vast archive that showcase the work of individual singers. Recitals of operatic arias and scenes recorded in the studio are a dime a dozen (and for a rising star, a practically obligatory rite of passage). The results can easily sound sterile and formulaic; the same repertoire for each voice type gets endlessly recycled, the supporting singers are seldom of the ... Read More

It would be happy news for opera fans if this release indicated the beginning a trend for the Metropolitan Opera: releasing albums of excerpts of operas from its vast archive that showcase the work of individual singers. Recitals of operatic arias and scenes recorded in the studio are a dime a dozen (and for a rising star, a practically obligatory rite of passage). The results can easily sound sterile and formulaic; the same repertoire for each voice type gets endlessly recycled, the supporting singers are seldom of the highest quality, and the orchestral accompaniment is a wild card, sometimes stellar and sometimes barely adequate. A series of releases from the Met would guarantee a high quality of orchestral and choral support, excellent soloists in the extended scenes and ensemble pieces, and the dynamic charge of live performance that's rarely captured in the studio. This release is all of those things, besides being a glowing testimony to Netrebko's artistry; her immersion in her roles and easy... Read Less