xn--vrossignol-b7a: Anna Netrebko and Dmitri Hvorostovsky, Royal Festival Hall, London 18. Jan 2010

Finally Anna Netrebko and Dmitri Hvorostovsky gave their very much eagerly awaited concert at the Royal Festival Hall, London on Monday 18. January 2010.

The concert had been initially scheduled at the Royal Festival Hall, London on 19. May 2009, but unfortunately, Anna Netrebko got sick and the concert was cancelled.

The first part of the programme included arias and duets by Wagner, Strauss, Gounod and Leoncavallo and orchestral works by Rossini, Berlioz and Leoncavallo. The second part included arias and duets by Arditi, Verdi, Dvořák and Tchaikovsky and orchestral works by Verdi and Tchaikovsky. A slight change in the second part of the programme was made with respect to the announced and printed one, starting with Arditi's "Il Bacio" followed by the Overure of Verdi's "La forza del destino". Two encores were given. Anna sang "Meine Lippen, sie küssen so heiss" from Lehar's Giuditta and Dmitri sang the Russian folk song Russian folk song: "Ochi chornyje" (Dark Eyes).

The accoustic of the Royal Festival Hall was very good. Anna and Dmitri sang together only twice, the duet of Nedda and Silvio from Leoncavallo's Pagliacci and the final duet scene from Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin, being the two highlights of the concert. Aside of the duets, anothers highlights of the performance were when Anna drove us, once again, to the heaven singing "O silver moon", from Dvorak's Rusalka and Dmitri sang the Yelensky's aria from Tcahikovsky's The Queen of Spades. The concert ended with almost everyone in the Hall standing up and applauding for several minutes.

Programme
Anna Netrebko and Dmitri Hvorostovsky
Royal Festival Hall, London 18. Jan 2010

1. PART
Gioachino Rossini: Overture, William Tell
Richard Wagner: O Du, Mein Holder Abendstern (Song to the evening star), Tannhauser, Act 3 - Dmitri Hvorostovsky
Richard Strauss: Cäcilie, Op.27 No.2 - Anna Netrebko
Hector Berlioz: Rakoczi March, The Damnation of Faust
Charles Gounod: Avant de quitter ces lieux, Faust - Dmitri Hvorostovsky
Charles Gounod: Jewel Song (Ah, je ris), Faust - Anna Netrebko
Ruggiero Leoncavallo: Intermezzo, Pagliacci
Ruggiero Leoncavallo: Nedda! Silvio, a quest'ora (Duet), Pagliacci - Anna Netrebko, Dmitri Hvorostovsky

2. PART
Luigi Arditi: Il Bacio - Anna Netrebko
Giuseppe Verdi: Overture, La forza del destino
Giuseppe Verdi: Cortigiani, vil razza dannata, Rigoletto - Dmitri Hvorostovsky
Antonin Dvorak: O silver moon, Rusalka - Anna Netrebko
Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky: Yelensky's Aria, The Queen of Spades - Dmitri Hvorostovsky
Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky: Polonaise, Eugene Onegin
Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky: Final scene, Eugene Onegin - Anna Netrebko, Dmitri Hvorostovsky

Encores
Franz Lehar: "Meine Lippen, sie küssen so heiss" - Giuditta - Anna Netrebko
Russian folk song: "Ochi chornyje" (Dark eyes) - Dmitri Hvorostovsky

Anna Netrebko, soprano
Dmitri Hvorostovsky, baritone
Lawrence Foster, conductor
Philharmonia Orchestra

Attila's Corner
Our blog friend Attila, who has been regularly contributing to the blog with wonderful reviews, attended the concert. I got the opportunity and the pleasure to meet him at the stage door after the performance. Here it is, under the new section labeled "Attila's Corner", the review that he has kindly written for the blog:
I don't remember seeing such an international crowd at the Royal Festival Hall - most of the audience seemed to be Russians taking a break from their shopping trips. The relatively low cost of the tickets (a quarter of the price of Hamburg for example) must have attracted a lot of Europeans who can pay for the whole trip to London for less than the price of a local ticket.

Seeing Anna this evening I have finally come to the (obvious) conclusion that she is a different creature in the opera house from the one that appears in concert. On the stage she is intense and scarily dark, almost shamanistic - connecting inside herself with something almost disturbing. In the concert hall she is a creature of joy and light, wanting to keep the audience happy and laughing. This makies for a completely different experience.

This evening was about showbiz and glamour with Anna and Dimitri almost playing a sort of hard-cop soft-cop act. His arias were dark and broody, and a chance to show off his amazing breath technique with some beautiful crescendos on the climactic notes. Her arias were mostly the light seductive ones we have become familiar with from her concerts, touching on the dramatic only in her the duets.

The Philharmonia played really well with most of the orchestral interludes tastefully programmed to connect with the arias that followed.

Dimitri was the first to appear, looking like a rock star in black tie and cuban heels - finishing every aria with a huge smile, He sang Wolfram's aria with his usual wonderful open throated purring tone.

Anna followed looking very glamourous, with a green (emerald?) ring that was as big as an egg, in what looked like a new dress, off the shoulder - very sexy. Cäcilie is one of Anna's favourites. She delivered it energetically with blooming top notes (slightly pushed) - but maybe sung a little less precisely than I have heard her sing it before.

Dimitri sung his aria from the Faust sequence with real bravura - wonderful strength, and very nice crescendos on the big notes. Anna followed with the Jewel song, again it was full of youth and vitality but for me lacked the necessary precision.

The Pagliacci duet was much better, with Anna floating the sound, and getting more into the words. The two of them creating a wonderful intimacy.

Anna walked on for the second half in a very glamourous pink evening gown - which got a gasp from the audience, She placed Arditi's "Il bacio" ahead of the announced Forza del Destino overture presumably to begin with something light. Again it was a performance based around the high "money" notes, and maybe lacking her usual precision in the lower voice.

But it was the last few numbers that really raised the level of the evening. Anna sang Rusalka's mournful aria with the wonderful melting tone that is her hallmark and with a wonderful finish.

This was followed by the real singing lesson of the evening - Dimitri singing Yeletsky's aria. Hvorostovsky performances of this aria must be one of the best pieces of singing in the world today. Last year, he almost stole the Met Centennial Gala with it, and there can be no better example today of an artist at the top of his art than this; stylish, precise, emotionally intense.

The highlight of the evening was the last item - the final scene from Eugene Onegin. Anna re-entered the stage in full character, and suddenly we saw what we had been missing until now; that intense inward character portrayal, the masterful colouring of words. We had a pause from opera as circus, and returned to opera as intense emotional drama. Everything about her singing was better including the vocal placement in the lower voice. She says the role is not for her voice, but I can't wait for her to eventually do the full opera at the Met. Something happens to her singing that's almost transcendental when she stops focusing on the audience and goes into her own internal space.

There were just two encores, Anna led with another of her old favourites, Meine Lippen sie küssen so heiss - very seductive and she almost set the stage on fire when she went off into a wild dance behind the orchestra. Maybe she should try Salome!

And Dimitri finally softened his macho toughness with "Ochi chornyje" (Dark eyes). It seemed unbelievable that they didn't come back to do some more encores!

Afterwards Anna was on her own at the artists' entrance tirelessly hugging everyone and letting them take photos with her, she looked fantastic in a wonderful red velvet dress. All this joy must be exhausting for her.

On-line Press Reports
Anna Netrebko has crowd eating out of her hand - By Nick Kimberley, Evening Standard 19. Jan 2010 [English]
Dmitri Hvorostovsky & Anna Netrebko, Royal Festival Hall, London - By Edward Seckerson, The Independent 19. Jan 2010 [English]
Anna Netrebko/Dmitri Hvorostovsky - By George Hall, The Guardian, 19. Jan 2010 [English]
Netrebko/ Hvorostovsky at the Festival Hall - By Neil Fisher, Times on Line, 20. Jan 2010 [English]
Netrebko/Hvorostovsky - By Sebastian Petit, What'OnStage 20. Jan 2010 [English]
Netrebko and Hvorostovsky, Royal Festival Hall, London - By Richard Fairman, Financial Times 21. January 2010 [English]
Anna Netrebko and Dmitri Hvorostovsky at the Royal Festival Hall, review - By Rupert Christiansen, Telegraph.co.uk 22. Jan 2010 [English]
Anna Netrebko hits top form in Slavic songs - By Hugh Canning, Times on Line 24. Jan 2010 [English]
Netrebko/Hvorostovsky at Royal Festival Hall, London, 18 January 2010 - By Sam Smith, MusicOMH [English]

Blog Reports
Intermezzo: Netrebko and Hvorostovsky at the Royal Festival Hall [English] [Photos]
Barlines: From Russia with love [English]

Photos