I Capuleti e i Montecchi with Anna Netrebko and Elīna Garanča

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Anna Netrebko / Elīna Garanča
I Capuleti e i Montecchi
Fabio Luisi / Wiener Symphoniker
00028947780311
Available May 5, 2009

I Capuleti e I Montecchi is one of the loveliest and most moving of bel canto operas, though not among the more frequently performed. When Anna Netrebko and Elīna Garanča sang Giulietta and Romeo in Vienna last year at the performances documented in this recording, critics were enthusiastic. Bellini wrote that “opera, through singing, must make one weep, shudder, die”. The final scene of I Capuleti – a continuous alternation of chorus, recitative, flexible arioso and ensemble – was the most powerful argument he had created to date for that view.

They found that Giulietta suited Anna Netrebko especially well, and she could show her rounded tone and creamy timbre in every register to its full advantage. Elīna Garanča’s velvety timbre with its hint of noble metal made the character of the young Romeo Montecchi come vividly to life, while still embracing the masculinity of the role.

Bringing true youth to an archetypal tale of youthful passion, Anna Netrebko and Elīna Garanča as Shakespeare’s “star-crossed lovers”, blow the dust off this Bellini classic with pure love, drama, and passion.

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