Just in case the opera world didn’t already know that Anna Netrebko is one of the ruling prima donnas of the day, the Metropolitan Opera placed her front and centre last night for its new season-opening production Peter Ilytch Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin.

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John Terauds

John Terauds, Editor-Emeritus of Ludwig van Toronto, is currently a Divinity student at the University of Toronto and a church music director. He joined the Toronto Star in 1988, was the classical music critic from 2005 to 2012, and continues as a freelance critic for the paper. He is the co-author of Roy Thomson Hall: A Portrait, a book written with Toronto Star Colleague, William Littler.

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History reminds us of great diva rivalries, and sometimes it’s tempting to imagine Netrebko and usual Met opening-night darling Renée Fleming as bitter adversaries for the top career rung. But they’re not rivals because they are completely different singers. To use an analogy from the visual arts, Fleming paints with light, while Netrebko paints with shadow.

Those shadows are, to really mix up a metaphor, resplendent in Netrebko’s latest album for Detusche Grammophon — her first studio-recorded effort in half a decade — a collection of arias and scenes from the operas of Giuseppe Verdi, out in time to commemorate this year’s 200th anniversary of the composer’s birth.

Netrebko, who has opened a deeper well of musicianship in her early 40s, is big, dusky, dramatic as she sings from Macbeth, Giovanna d’Arco, I vespri siciliani, Don Carlo and Il Trovatore. She is also in complete and utter control, blunting the bleeding dramatic edge that makes someone like Sondra Radvanovsky so appealing. But the emotional power is all there, ready to kick you in the gut.

Providing impeccable support is conductor Gianandrea Noseda — a favourite guest of the Toronto Symphony — leading the house orchestra of the Teatro Regio in Turin. Tenor Rolando Villazón steps in to partner in one of the four excerpts from It trovatore. The Turin opera company’s chorus makes two appearances, both of which underline how fine the Canadian Opera Company Chorus really is.

You’ll find all the details here.

This is the official promo video:

John Terauds

• Author
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John Terauds

John Terauds, Editor-Emeritus of Ludwig van Toronto, is currently a Divinity student at the University of Toronto and a church music director. He joined the Toronto Star in 1988, was the classical music critic from 2005 to 2012, and continues as a freelance critic for the paper. He is the co-author of Roy Thomson Hall: A Portrait, a book written with Toronto Star Colleague, William Littler.

Latest posts by John Terauds (see all)

• Classical Music 101: What Does A Conductor Do? - June 17, 2019
• Classical Music 101 | What Does Period Instrument Mean? - May 6, 2019
• CLASSICAL MUSIC 101 | What Does It Mean To Be In Tune? - April 23, 2019