Album

Soprano Anna Netrebko and tenor Rolando Villazón are paired here in "opera's greatest love duets," music that allows their ample and expressive voices to soar. Villazón has been compared to Domingo for the quality of his tone, his vocal discipline, and the expressiveness of his interpretations, and these elements are all in evidence here. In "È il sol dell'anima," from Rigoletto, the intensity of his characterization is especially penetrating. The purity of Netrebko's tone and the youthful innocence she expresses so persuasively are hugely touching; in her final lines of the first scene of La bohème, before Mimì and Rodolfo leave the stage, she sounds so blissfully and simply happy that the awareness of the couple's fate makes the moment unbearably poignant. One intriguing element of the album is having each singer join in a duet from the repertoire that's the other singer's specialty, so there is a selection from Tchaikovsky's Iolanta in Russian, and from Torroba's 1932 zarzuela Luisa Fernanda in Spanish. Netrebko and Villazón are well matched in their vocal weight and in the depth of their investment in their roles, and the equality of their partnership makes the album especially satisfying. The collection should be of strong interest to Netrebko's and Villazón's fans, and to opera lovers who enjoy old-fashioned, larger-than-life moments of high passion. Nicola Luisotti (who also sings the brief lines of Ceprano and Borsa in the Rigoletto excerpt) leads the orchestra of Staatskapelle Dresden in lively and polished performances. Deutsche Grammophon's sound is clean, with fine balance between the singers and orchestra.

© Stephen Eddins, All Music Guide

CD 1
Giacomo Puccini Composer La bohème (opera)...Act 1 Work Rolando Villazón Tenor, Nicola Luisotti Conductor, Anna Netrebko Soprano, Dresden Staatskapelle Orchestra
1	12.Rodolfo and Mimi's Duet: O soave fanciulla	4:09			$0.99
Gaetano Donizetti Composer Lucia di Lammermoor (opera)...Act 1 Work Rolando Villazón Tenor, Nicola Luisotti Conductor, Anna Netrebko Soprano, Dresden Staatskapelle Orchestra
2	8b.Lucia perdona; 9.Sulla tomba che rinserra	12:40			$1.99
Giuseppe Verdi Composer Rigoletto (opera)...Act 1 Work Rolando Villazón Tenor, Nicola Luisotti Voice, Anna Netrebko Soprano, Nadine Weissmann Mezzo-Soprano, Dresden Staatskapelle Orchestra
3	19.Sc.12: Giovanna, ho dei rimorsi; 20.Sc.12: È il sol dell' anima; 21.Sc.12: Che m'ami, deh, ripetimi; 21c.Sc.12: Gualtier Maldè...	8:19			$1.49
Charles Gounod Composer Roméo et Juliette (opera)...Act 4 Work Rolando Villazón Tenor, Nicola Luisotti Conductor, Anna Netrebko Soprano, Dresden Staatskapelle Orchestra
4	1.Orchestral Introduction; 2.Va! je t'ai pardonné; 3.Romeo! qu'as-tu donc?	13:22			$2.49
Georges Bizet Composer Les pêcheurs de perles (The Pearl Fishers; opera)...Act 2 Work Rolando Villazón Tenor, Nicola Luisotti Conductor, Anna Netrebko Soprano, Dresden Staatskapelle Orchestra
5	3.De mon amie, fleur endormie; 4.Leïla! Leïla! Dieu puissant	9:00			$1.49
Jules Massenet Composer Manon (opera)...Act 3 Work Rolando Villazón Tenor, Nicola Luisotti Conductor, Anna Netrebko Soprano, Dresden Staatskapelle Orchestra
6	26.Toi! Vous! Oui, c'est moi!; 27.Ah! perfide Manon!; 28.N'est-ce plus ma main que cette main presse?	8:04			$1.49
Pyotr Ilich Tchaikovsky Composer Iolanta (opera), Op.69 Work Rolando Villazón Tenor, Nicola Luisotti Conductor, Anna Netrebko Soprano, Dresden Staatskapelle Orchestra
7	22.Tvoyo molcan'ye neponyatno	10:03			$1.99
Federico Moreno Torroba Composer Luisa Fernanda, zarzuela Work Rolando Villazón Tenor, Nicola Luisotti Conductor, Anna Netrebko Soprano, Dresden Staatskapelle Orchestra
8	Act 3. No.13. Duet: "¡Cállate, corazón!"	5:28			$0.99