Anna Netrebko lights up stage in 'La Traviata'
By: Jason Victor Serinus
Special to The Examiner
June 8, 2009
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| Party time: Soprano Anna Netrebko, pictured at the Vienna Opera Ball last year in Austria, will be in The City to sing Violetta in San Francisco Opera’s “La Traviata.” (Getty Images) |
SAN FRANCISCO — Anna Netrebko, the gorgeous Russian soprano who regularly mesmerizes audiences in the world’s greatest opera houses, returns to the War Memorial Opera House this month.
Starting Saturday, the diva lights up San Francisco Opera’s spring season with her portrayal of Violetta Valéry, the tubercular courtesan in Verdi’s “La Traviata.”
In an on-again-off-again cellular interview, terminated unexpectedly as she was being driven down the Autobahn after a late plane arrival, Netrebko revealed that she does not have a specific approach to the character of Violetta.
When singing Violetta, she tries to be as truthful as possible to both the music Verdi has written and to herself.
By singing the best she can, characters emerge as they will. There are performances, of course, that have a special emotional charge, but this is not something that happens consciously.
Does she have models from the past that inspire her? Of her predecessors, she favors Maria Callas above all, along with Renata Scotto and Mirella Freni.
Joan Sutherland, she said, is so perfect that she cannot learn from her; she simply admires the perfection.
Asked about her most recent CD release, a star-studded performance of Bellini’s “I Capuleti e I Montecchi” (Deutsche Grammophon), Netrebko called the score “some of the most beautiful music ever written.”
She refused to rank its beauty in comparison with such other Bellini gems as “Norma,” “La Sonnambula” and “I Puritani” — “that is not something I can do,” she said — but acknowledged that the rarely performed opera is best heard in concert version rather than fully staged.
Not only did she admit the story has little relationship to Shakespeare’s play, but also said the action can be a bit boring.
Nonetheless, as long as you have a good soprano and a good mezzo, the beauty of the music takes care of itself.
Netrebko first performed at San Francisco Opera 14 years ago, when she made her American debut as Lyudmila in Glinka’s “Ruslan and Lyudmila.”
A year later, she participated in San Francisco Opera’s famed Merola summer training program.
These days, she tries to keep the voice as light as possible and continue sing high-flying bel canto coloratura. But the natural maturing of the voicing is inevitably leading her to heavier roles.
Her baggage is also a bit heavier, as she carries her 8-month-old son with her wherever she goes. Her baby, she affirmed, is a joy, not a career impediment.
If you go
La Traviata
Presented by San Francisco Opera
When: 8 p.m. Saturday and June 16 and 19; 7:30 p.m. June 25, 29 and July 1 and 2; 2 p.m. June 28 and July 5
Where: War Memorial Opera House, 301 Van Ness Ave., S.F.
Tickets: $20 to $250
Contact: (415) 864-3330, www.sfopera.com
NOTE: Netrebko performs Saturday and June 16, 19, 25 and 28; she alternates the role with Elizabeth Futral, singing June 29 and July 2 and 5, and Ailyn Pérez on July 1.
