Anna Netrebko - Puccini: Manon Lescaut (2016) [CD Rip]

Russian soprano Anna Netrebko made a well-publicized debut at New York's Metropolitan Opera in 2016, and this live concert performance from the Salzburg Festival, recorded the same year with many of the same forces, was perhaps intended to capitalize on the event. It likely makes a good substitute for the Met performance. La Netrebko dominates the proceedings, even when paired with her husband, Azeri tenor Yusif Eyvazov, in the role of des Grieux. You might take this as a negative or as a positive: when you're dealing with a star of Netrebko's magnitude, the proper effect is achieved when the stage takes on a jolt of electricity when the prima donna appears. That's what happens here, for Netrebko has the elusive combination of dramatic effectiveness and musical power that has put her at the top of the soprano heap. Sample "In quelle trine morbide" from Act II, where Manon's thoughts turn from the bureaucrat who keeps her as his mistress to her true love des Grieux, for a taste of how Netrebko keeps the action moving along through dramatic commitment and control of the big long line. There's nothing wrong with the work of Eyvazov, the rest of the cast, and conductor Marco Armiliato, who was retained for the New York production, and really the biggest complaint is the rather boxy sound from the Salzburg Festspielhaus. But that's a small price to pay for the chance to experience perhaps the premier soprano voice of her time at its peak. -- James Manheim