Album Review: Anna Netrebko, Live at the Metropolitan Opera

Anna Netrebko, Live at the Metropolitan Opera. Photo / Supplied

Poised for its 81st season, the Metropolitan Opera's radio broadcasts have become a treasured institution, in the United States and beyond.

Many of us have been operatically nurtured through their programming on Radio New Zealand Concert and a new series is scheduled for early next year.

Anna Netrebko's Live at the Metropolitan Opera delves into these recorded archives, with samplings that range from her 2002 debut in Prokofiev's War and Peace to her Mimi in last year's revival of La Boheme.

Netrebko is a diva with a penchant for springing a few surprises such as the salon lollipops on her 2008 Souvenirs CD or the Russian Lieder recital on last year's In the Still of Night.

With the new disc she relinquishes the glittering Waltz Song from Gounod's Romeo et Juliette and opts for the tombside tragedy of the later Potion Aria - so compellingly delivered that one almost overlooks the composer hedging around La Marseillaise in his score.

Coloratura may not be Netrebko's strongest point but it is strange that, with a 2005 Rigoletto, her Caro Nome aria is passed over for the Act III trio with Maddalena and Sparafucile. This deals out solid Verdian drama - her character, Gilda, is about to be murdered - but Netrebko's presence is minimal.

All is forgiven, even her avoidance of the final top E flat, in the Mad Scene from Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor. The lustre and sheen of the voice captivate; scurrying footsteps and stage business, intrusive elsewhere, almost heighten the drama.

Nicest touch is the ghostly glass harmonica which blends eerily with her voice when the incense burns and the holy tapers glow.

Fringe divo benefits include a single line from Dmitri Hvorostovsky's Andrei in War and Peace and a passionate partner in Joseph Calleja for the love duet from Act I of Offenbach's Les Contes d'Hoffmann.

This is a fascinating document, perfectly timed for the launch of a new season of live screenings from the Met.

Next week, playing in theatres around the country (including Auckland's Rialto and Bridgeway), Netrebko plays the tragic queen in David McVicar's production of Donizetti's Anna Bolena.

Anna Netrebko: Live at the Metropolitan Opera
(Deutsche Grammophon)

Stars: 4/5

Verdict: "A celebration of a Russian superstar diva and an opera house which shares its music with the world."