Montag, 29. Juni 2009

Message of Rolando (!!!), Anna at the Richard Tucker gala and "The winners are..." ECHO 2009

Puuhhh sorry for not being always totally in time with my posting, but please be lenient towards me ;) In Landshut is at the moment the "Landshuter Hochzeit" and so I will not be online so often the next 3 weeks. Well first the best message of the week !!! How could it beginn better ?! =) -> Rolando's latest message for his fans:

Dear friends,

This is just a quick note to tell you how touched I am by the many beautiful messages I have received from you over the past weeks. Every message, every postcard, every book you have sent me is like a flower. My garden is full of colors and I am the little colibri drinking from all of them. Thank you!Some of you have expressed worries about my recent withdrawal from the "Carmen" -production in Vienna. Don't be concerned! I have not yet had the operation (it will take place in these days), but I decided I want to be careful with my repertoire in the next year.I have spent this time playing with my kids and taking walks with my wife, joggling, reading Darwin's fabulous "The Origin of Species", joggling, listening to all of Brahms and going to the theater, joggling, dreaming, writing a little fiction and joggling!.I wish you all the very best for a wonderful summer and promise to be in touch again soon!

Rolando

These words are going down like butter...You don't leave your fans out in the rain ! THANK YOU ROLANDO !

So what happened also the last days ?? Let's see...Anna will participate, next others like Joseph Calleja, at the John Tucker gala at the Avery Fisher Hall in New York on 22th November 2009.

Anna and Rolando recieved the ECHO 2009 in the category "Opera recording of the year (19th century) - La Bohème" Congratulations ! You both really deserve it !

Freitag, 26. Juni 2009

From Russia with love - Recital programme for the Liederabend in Mannheim is announced

Netrebko with Russian

Finally the secret about the Mannheimer evening with Anna Netrebko is disclosed. For a long time we were wondering what the south russian will sing on 12th August at the Rosengarten, cause it was said from the beginning she's coming without orchestra and "only" with piano accompaniment to the Liederabend. Such evenings are rare and very intimate. Now has the organiser BB Promotion announced the programme. Netrebko will sing a russian programme: 11 Lieder by Nikolai Rimski-Korsakow and 9 by Peter Iljitsch Tchaikovsky. Her piano partner is the moscow born Elena Bashkirova, who got an international reputation as chamber music partner and soloist.

Dienstag, 23. Juni 2009

Anna and Rolando nominated for the ECHO 2009

Anna and Rolando are both nominated for the ECHO 2009. Anna 9 times and Rolando 7 times =)

"[...]Mit zehn Nennungen bringt es Sir Simon Rattle mit den Berliner Philharmonikern auf die meisten Nominierungen; es folgen Anna Netrebko mit neun, Rolando Villazón mit sieben, Esa-Pekka Salonen mit sechs sowie Claudia Barainsky und David Pitmman-Jennings, Anne-Sophie Mutter und Valery Gergiev sowie Concerto Köln und Philippe Jaroussky mit jeweils fünf Nominierungen.[...]"

The award takes place at the dresdner semperoper on 18th October 2009. The german tv channel "ZDF" will broadcast the award beginning 10:00 p.m. The winners will already be announced by the BVMI and the Phono-Akademie on 29th July. The jury consists of people out of policy, culture and medias, the ZDF-Music editorial department and the "Bundesverbands" working team Classic.

Michael Brüggemann
Carsten Dürer
Manfred Görgen
Stephanie Haase
Lars Ingwersen
Michael Kaufmann
Christian Kellersmann
Helmut König
Martin Maria Krüger
Markus Schächter
Martin Schneider
Virginia Tutila


Hmm actually I don't know anybody of this people...do you ???

Click here for reading the whole article.


Thanks to Schlumpf for the info !

"Russian soprano Anna Netrebko lights up opera stage in 'La Traviata'"

Review in the "Canadian press" about Anna's Traviata in San Francisco:

Russian soprano Anna Netrebko lights up opera stage in 'La Traviata'


SAN FRANCISCO — From the moment she rolls on stage in a 1929 Buick for the opening party scene of Verdi's "La Traviata," Anna Netrebko pretty much obliterates everything in her path.

Just try taking your eyes off the Russian soprano as she sings and acts her way through the role of Violetta, a 19th-century Parisian courtesan who falls in love, makes a noble sacrifice and eventually dies of tuberculosis.

Netrebko, at 37, is an opera star at the height of her considerable powers. And her appearance is unquestionably the highlight of the San Francisco Opera's annual "summer season," though the other productions - Puccini's "Tosca" and Gershwin's "Porgy and Bess" - have much to recommend them.

Heard at the third of her five performances Friday night, Netrebko showed she has kept her creamy voice, tinged with melancholy, in good repair. If anything, it sounds fuller than before she took a pregnancy sabbatical last year, yet she controls it so expertly that she has no trouble pulling off the coloratura flights of "Sempre libera" or floating soft high notes in her death scene. She has retained some of the weight she gained but still looks glamorous in costumes that range from a sleeveless evening gown to a negligee.

Netrebko is a San Francisco favorite, having made her U.S. debut here in 1995. But it had been five years since she last sang with the company, so it was a particular plum to have her perform Violetta for the first time in the U.S. (She is due to sing it at New York's Metropolitan Opera in the 2010-11 season.)

Though she has by now portrayed the role dozens of times in other houses, her performance feels spontaneous and free of mannerism. Small, telling touches abound - the way she spits out the word "Gioir!" (Joy!) as she desperately asserts her preference for the high life over a commitment to her young suitor, Alfredo; her nervous impatience when his father first lectures her about the shame she is bringing to his family; or the final image, standing atop her bed with arms outstretched, then crumpling lifeless in an instant.

If only her co-stars were worthier foils. As Alfredo, tenor Charles Castronovo sang pleasantly but neither his personality nor his sound had enough heft to make it plausible that he could be more than a passing fancy for this Violetta. Similarly, baritone Dwayne Croft's burnished baritone was pressed to the limits as Alfredo's father, Giorgio Germont. The effort seemed to narrow his emotional range, denying him the force of character that could believably inspire the heroine's renunciation.

Donald Runnicles, the company's music director and principal conductor who is being replaced after 17 years by Nicola Luisotti, conducted the excellent orchestra with evident affection both for the players and the score.

The production by Marta Domingo, on loan from the Los Angeles Opera, turns Violetta into a flapper of the Roaring '20s. That works well enough in the first act, but makes nonsense of the story thereafter. The idea that she would renounce her lover to protect the reputation of his family doesn't transfer well, nor does the likelihood she would die of tuberculosis.

And though the antique car is an eye-popping effect, other liberties are gratuitous, such as making Alfredo rush back in at the end of "Sempre libera" so the lovers can fall into each other's arms, or having the dying Violetta hallucinate about her wedding day.

Dubious updating, though to less distracting effect, is also on display in "Porgy," which director Francesca Zambello, in a production first seen at the Washington National Opera, has moved from the 1920s to the 1950s. The elaborate set for Catfish Row looks like an odd cross between a shantytown and a prison cell block, but the movable scenery allows the action to flow without interruption.

The breakout performance here is by bass-baritone Eric Owens, who as Porgy commands the stage with a warm, sympathetic voice and presence. Soprano Laquita Mitchell looks terrific as Bess, and sounds fine most of the time, but the high notes occasionally give her problems and her voice lacks the plushness ideal for the role. In supporting roles, soprano Angel Blue is a standout as Clara, with a shimmering "Summertime," and Karen Slack brings emotional fervor to "My Man's Gone Now." John DeMain, who led the historic Houston performances of the work in 1976 that restored "Porgy" as grand opera, conducted with authority gained from long association with the score.

"Tosca," one of the most tightly constructed melodramas in the operatic repertory, requires a soprano with great vocal and dramatic presence. Adrianne Pieczonka is very effective in the role, and her second-act confrontation with the evil Baron Scarpia, well sung and acted by baritone Lado Ataneli, is the chilling climax it should be. Tenor Carlo Ventre, as the painter Cavaradossi, is not quite on their level. He has a powerful voice, but it's blunt and unrefined, and he's prone to holding onto his high notes a bit too long - as if to show off his lung power.

Despite the anemic economy, the company seems to be attracting healthy audiences for this mini-season, which runs from June 2-July 5. All five of Netrebko's performances sold out (the final four will be shared by Elizabeth Futral and Ailyn Perez) as did all performances of "Porgy." "Tosca" drew a crowd of 27,000 to a free simulcast at the Giants' baseball stadium, which the company says is the most since opera-in-the-ballpark became a regular event.


It feels so, so good to read such articles. They are all showing again and again that Anna is really back, that she is even better then before and that nothing has changed ! She's still the same - simply our Anna <3

Montag, 22. Juni 2009

Release of Bohème


Hmm well it seems like that Bohème the film, will be released finally here in Germany on 07th August =)) Look here ->
















I hope that it will available then in stores, too and not only via amazon.....


Thanks to fanatic_Mom for the info !

Sonntag, 21. Juni 2009

Anna Netrebko walks into a bar...

Anna Netrebko walks into a bar...

While sitting at the bar of a restaurant across from the opera house Friday night, I was surprised to see Anna Netrebko and Charles Castronovo casually stroll in after performing in La Traviata (I wasn't at the performance, but was coming from seeing Hiromi Uehara next door- she'll get her own post).

Since I thought the recently published photos of her for the Chron interview were pretty unflattering, I'm happy to report Netrebko still looks great from three feet away (I had another chance close-up sighting of her in Costa Mesa a couple of years ago when I found myself standing next to her and Rolando Villazon). She seemed fine to wait while the restaurant arranged for their party table upstairs. It appeared that many people in the restaurant didn't even recognize her, as the public left her alone and nary a fuss was raised over the opera world's most desired diva- or is it the locals are just too cool to fawn over her?

I resisted the urge to ask to have my picture taken with her, though I'll admit to the temptation. I was really hoping she'd pop down on the empty stool two to my left. So was the guy seated to my left. Alas, both of us were disappointed.


I love such reports about Anna ! They are showing that Anna is in real life really just a normal person and that she has nothing to do with a "diva" or something. She's so kind ! I love her !

Anna backstage after the premiere of Traviata on 13th June

Donnerstag, 18. Juni 2009

Anna and Rolando cancelled Idomeneo at the Paris opera in January/February 2010



Instead of Anna will the soprano Tamar Iveri sing the role of Elettra and instead of Rolando will the tenor Charles Workman sing the role of Idomeneo himself...Ok I can understand Rolando's decision but what about Anna ??? Strange...

Mittwoch, 17. Juni 2009

Prague 2009

The Dvorák hall / Rudolfinum

Prague 2009

The state opera

Many things

Sorry that I didn't wrote anything since Saturday as I had already promised, but I'm ill and the last days I was only lying my bed...There happend a lot...where to begin ??? Hmm...well on Saturday had Anna her first performance of Traviata at the San Francisco Opera. There are some reviews and many, many photos but it would actually need to long to load them up all, cause there are also other things I want to write down...So happend happend, too ?? -> Rolando will not sing Don José in the millenium production of Carmen next year in Vienna with Elina as Carmen and Anna as Micaela ! Click here, here and here. Well of course it's shit for the ones who are having a ticket yet or are trying to get one, but I think it's a good decision he made. The pressure would be soooooooo high if he would sing in this production, the whole world of opera would look (and listen !) at (to) him. If Giordano is a good replace...hmm...we will see...
Maybe I will later also upload some photos of Prague (I really took a lot ^^) It was a great holiday even if we didn't sleep a lot ;)

Dienstag, 9. Juni 2009

Closing, Prague and Anna in San Francisco

I'm sorry for telling you but yes - the blog will be closed till Saturday once again. But now is the reason something much more better then exams ;) I travel with my class to Prague =) I will of course take a lot of pictures and report you on Sunday over the Smetana Hall, the Rudolfinum (where Anna recorded Souvenirs), the national museum, the Dvorák museum etc etc =)

Not to forget -> Latest news about Anna cause of her upcoming performances of La Traviata at the San Francisco opera, click here =)

Hope you will have a nice a week !

See you soon
Yours, Christina

Dienstag, 2. Juni 2009

Back to the roots -> Normal posting again -> Rolando at the Scala in October 2010

Rolando will sing Nemorino together with Nino Machaidze as his Adina in October 2010 at the Scala in Milan. Click here for details.


Thanks to Elisa !

Autogramme und How-to-use-a-Bucheinbindefolie-for-other-things

Opera













L'elisir d'amore















Opera wind- und wetterfest eingepackt =)













L'elisir d'amore wind- und wetterfest eingepackt =)


SOKO München in Bildern - Das spricht für sich

Sonntag

Im Biergarten





















Big buisness in der U-Bahn





















Endlich die Oper ! Und außen schon Plakate zu Bohème ! Musste natürlich genauestens festgehalten werden !













Sophie Marceau...





















Danielle Callegari













Vorhang auf für Joseph Calleja !













New best friends: Joseph and Lisa =)













Und jetzt THE ONE AND ONLY -> ANNA NETREBKO !!!!!!!!!!!!!!













"Outside, outside ! I need fresh air !"





















Auf diesem Bild zu sehen die deutsche Star-Abiturientin Lisa W. und links neben ihr irgendeine Russin ;))))))))) ANNA & LISA ! OMG !













Hier die Menschentraube um sie herum...





















After Anna...um geschätzte 3 Uhr morgens und um einige Euros erleichtert...













Montag

Posing à la "ddNngwd" vor dem Rathaus ;)






















Soo und hier natürlich noch mal alles bei Tageslicht, sieht ja alles gleich gaaanz anders aus !













Der Chopard shop (leider ohne Anna im Schaufenster) musste auch noch ausführlichst begutachtet werden
















So das war unsere "SOKO München" ! Lisa und Christina sagen tschüss und bis zum nächsten Mal wenn es wieder heißt: "SOKO ..."