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Two of opera’s biggest stars, on the crest of solo album triumphs, team up for this long-awaited duet album of Verdi Scenes.
It is high drama and great Verdi, with Dmitri Hvorostovsky, widely recognized as “the Verdi baritone of our time” (Los Angeles Times), and Sondra Radvanovsky, the fastest-rising “true Verdi soprano” (Opera News) in international opera today. The electricity is palpable in the emotional duet scenes from Il Trovatore, Un Ballo in Maschera, and Simon Boccanegra. Dmitri sings a favorite among his signature arias, “O Carlo, ascolta,” from Don Carlo; and Sondra gives us a memorable glimpse of her Tosca in “Vissi d’arte.” We are treated to delightful Mozart and tender Dvorak. Dmitri’s favorite conductor, Constantine Orbelian, leads the Philharmonia of Russia in masterful fashion.
Giuseppe Verdi: Un ballo in maschera
Un ballo in maschera, Act III: Morro, ma prima in grazia
Giuseppe Verdi: Don Carlo
Don Carlo, Act III: O Carlo, ascolta
Giuseppe Verdi: Simon Boccanegra
Simon Boccanegra, Act I: Paolo … Signor
Giuseppe Verdi: Il trovatore
Il trovatore, Act IV: Udiste? Come albeggi
Antonin Dvorak: Rusalka, Op. 114, B. 203
Rusalka, Op. 114, B. 203, Act I: Mesicku na nebi hlubokem
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Don Giovanni, K. 527
Don Giovanni, K. 527, Act II: Deh! vieni alla finestra
Giacomo Puccini: Tosca
Tosca, Act II: Vissi d'arte
June 2011
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“If Hvorostovsky's tone has become leaner, its smoothness and secutiry are still distinctive...one can distinguish Hvorostovsky's benign Boccanegra from his curtly venomous di Luna”
July 2011
“The charisma factor is considerable: Sondra Radvanovsky has a plaintive lyric soprano that can do the work of mid-weight Verdi roles such as Amelia in Un ballo in maschera, Leonora in Il Trovatore and the other scenes excerpted here...[Hvorostovsky] brings to the music a plush sonority that's particular gratifying in the lyrical passages...Orbelian has all the big Verdi moments well in hand”
Click on any of the works listed above for alternative recordings.
Un ballo in maschera, Act III: Morro, ma prima in grazia
