1. 2nd revision of list on March 7th 2012, where plácido domingo is replaced by anja harteros. next to go are a) dmitri hvorostovsky if he does not improve upon his singing or b) angela gheorghiu if she does not expand her repertoire. 2. 1st revision June 17th 2012 after thorough deliberations, where waltraud meier and karita mattila from the initial list have been replaced by joyce didonato and juan diego florez.
Although there is most certainly always a subjective element to any top 10 list, the size of the singers career and popularity are important parameters alongside vocal quality.
My entirely subjective top 10 list below (random order):
eva-maria westbroek anne schwanewilms (mainly in lieder) waltraud meier anna caterina antonacci magdalena kozena (lieder and concert mainly) karita matila jonas kaufmann peter mattei gerald finley rene pape
Il Trovatore. DVD. Metropolitan Opera 2011. Cast: Marcelo Àlvarez (Manrico), Sondra Radvanovsky (Leonora), Dolora Zajick (Azucena), Dmitri Hvorostovsky (Count Luna). Director: David McVicar. Conductor: Marco Armiliato.
It is by no means a bad Il Trovatore, which opened 2009 at the Metropolitan Opera. A well-known production first seen in Chicago 2006, the conservatively-inclined Metropolitan Opera was not taking too big a risk giving director David McVicar his house debut. Not that David McVicar´s style is too far from what would be deemed acceptable by Met audiences: His trademark is the character development and personal direction of the singers, often done with some updating of the setting, but rarely into present times.
Accordingly, this Trovatore is updated from the 15th Century to the Spanish Liberation War in the beginning of the 19th Century, inspired by a set of etchings "The disaster of War " by the Spanich painter Goya. A dark, rotating set, effectively conveying a dark period. Not at all experimenting or innovative in terms of sets, however David McVicar´s trademark, the personal direction of the singers, is seen to full in this production with the most developed characters I have ever seen in any production of Il trovatore.
Being given four lead-singers, none of which are known to be especially fine stage actors, makes McVicars achievements even more remarkable: 50% of them are outstanding, 25% are fine and 25% less so.
Best are Dolora Zajick and Dmitri Hvorostovsky. This is simply the finest thing I have seen Zajick do on stage: Vocally the rather low-lying part is perfect for her and she has the necessary heft. But what makes her Azucena truly outstanding is her portrayal of her as a shell-shocked woman, who has become insane, probably as a result of post-traumatic stress. Far from a villain, she, too is a victim. And Dmitri Hvorostovsky, who previously has shown that he can in fact act if sufficiently inspired, is a dashing as well as dramatically convincing Luna. Vocally, he may occasionally sound a bit strained, but my guess is that few will care.
Leonora has been the calling card of Sondra Radvanovsky for almost a decade, and she will probably divide the viewers of this DVD as she does in the theater. Her Leonora is rather like a neurotic school-girl than a noble lady, however this is as valid an interpretation as any. My reservations lie with her shaky intonation (admittedly seen worse than on this DVD) and a voice that occasionally seems to be rather out of her control, though definitely large enough for the part.
Points to Marcelo Alvarez for obviously trying to act on stage and not only stand and deliver his area. But no doubt he is hired solely based on his vocal capabilities, which, admittedly he has. Radvanovsky and Alvarez in the superbly directed final scene do fine. With the more dramatically inclined singers we will hopefully see in this production the coming years, this scene will be electrifying.
Marco Armiliato is a follower, rather than a leader here, not succeeding in bringing out the nuances in the score, unfortunately.
The DVD to own? Perhaps, but Jonas Kaufmann and Anja Harteros will be appearing in the same work in Munich next year, which will probably be released on DVD as well.
La Traviata. Teatro La Fenice, Venice 2004. Production: Robert Carsen. Cast: Patrizia Ciofi (Violetta), Roberto Saccá (Alfredo), Dmitri Hvorostovsky (Germont pére). Conductor: Lorin Maazel. Further information here.
This Robert Carsen production of La Traviata was chosen for the reopening of Teatro La Fenice in 2004, the place of the Traviata world-premiere in 1853.
Robert Carsen´s concept is strong: This Traviata is about prostitution as a phenomenon, not about Violetta as a person. His view is a cynical one, in which all the men only are interested in Violetta´s past, present or future potential for providing sexual satisfaction.
The action is transferred to the 1970´s. Violetta is a celebrity prostitute. During the prelude she is payed for her services. Alfredo is a paparazzi photographing her right from the beginning at the sleazy party where they meet. He keeps photographing her amidst a floor covered with money-resembling-leaves in Act 2. Money is continuously thrown around. Also Germont pére is willing to pay for Violetta´services. Sex and money is not subtly hinted at but blatantly put out. Flora´s party takes place in a nightclub with ditto dancers. In the end Violetta sits in an empty warehouse flipping through her photos - her empty life as a celebrity prostitute is over.
I find the concept extraordinarily inventive and well-executed, but as most will have guessed by now: This is not a traditional La Traviata. For a traditional production, look here.
Patrizia Ciofi is a compelling Violetta, primarily through her vocal as well as physical acting. Her voice is not particularly beautiful and furthermore she tends to be sharp, but she delivers a very convincing portrait of Violetta´s transformation from self-absorbed prostitute to dying woman.
Dmitri Hvorostovsky seems more engaged than usual and while he physically is completely believable as the photographer, vocally Roberto Saccá is the weak link of the production. Lorin Maazel, who apparently did not like the production, nevertheless conducted an excellent performance.
Finally: Why do all TDK releases have such boring covers? One almost does not believe that the content may be interesting.
Patrizia Ciofi with Amami Alfredo:
The bottom line (scale of 1-5, 3=average):
Patrizia Ciofi: 4 Roberto Saccá: 3 Dmitri Hvorostovsky: 3
The four-act Italian version Don Carlo in Graham Vick´s 1998 staging was revived at the Paris Bastille Opera on June 5th with James Morris (Filip), Dmitri Hvorostovsky (Posa), Yvonne Naef (Eboli), Tamar Iveri (Elisabetta), Stefano Secco (Carlos) and Mikhail Petrenko (Inquisitor).
Reader nv has just written an excellent report from this production in comment number 1 to this post. Thank you! I find it particularly interesting what he writes on James Morris as I suspect these to have been my sentiments as well, had I been there (discussed in the comments section).
For the historically interested, here is a review from when this production opened in 1998 with Samuel Ramey, Carol Vaness, Neil Schicoff, Vladimir Chernov and DoloraZajick!
Il trovatore. Royal Opera Covent Garden 2002. Production: Elijah Moshinsky. Cast: José Cura (Manrico), Veronica Villaroel (Leonora), Dmitri Hvorostovsky (Count di Luna),Yvonne Naef (Azucena). Conductor: Carlo Rizzi. Further information here.
Moshinsky´s Il Trovatore is mostly a dark, traditional affair, which seems to be set in late 18th century Italy. The filmic quality no doubt may be attributed to set designer Dante Ferretti, well-known for his previous work in film.
Superbly acted Manrico from José Cura, though vocally he strayed rather far away from pitch and was patchy at times. Equally fine dramatic acting from Veronica Villaroel, who furthermore sang a fine Leonora, though perhaps not an ideal voice type for this sort of spinto role. Yvonne Naef was a strongly sung Azucena with the required heft, though a bit restrained. And Dmitri Hvorostovsky was a beautifully sung Count di Luna, a part very suitable to his exquisite legato-lines. Not normally a notable actor, he nevertheless seemed quite into the part as well.
Carlo Rizzi conducted without being memorable one way or the other.
Dmitri Hvorostovsky, Il balen del suo sorriso:
The bottom line (scale of 1-5, 3=average):
José Cura: 3 Veronica Villaroel: 3-4 Dmitri Hvorostovsky: 4 Yvonne Naef:4
Eugene Onegin. Metropolitan Opera 2007. Production: Robert Carsen. Cast: Dmitri Hvorostovsky (Onegin), Renée Fleming (Tatiana), Ramon Vargas (Lenski). Conductor: Valery Gergiev. Further information here.
This is without doubt the most exciting performance I have seen from the Metropolitan Opera, in addition to being one of the best operatic DVDs ever to have been issued.
Robert Carsen´s simplistic sets provide the ideal background for a production with the focus on Dmitri Hvorostovsky´s marvellous Eugene Onegin. He is simply the Eugene Onegin of the century: Ideal in both physical appearance and voice: The haughty manners, perfectly smooth legato lines combined with superb acting, way above his usual standard, perhaps influenced by Renée Fleming´s moving Tatiana. They have superb chemistry on stage and the final scene is simply unforgettable. Also a fine though slightly dry performance from Ramón Vargas as Lenski. Where I would have expected Valery Gergiev to sparkle in the pit, I rather found him slightly hollow, in what approached an off-night by his own standards.
They bring this story alive in one of the most searing operatic performances I have ever witnessed. Helped by Pusjkin´s great and eternally relevant story of love and rejection.
My only complaint is that this is spread out on 2 discs, while it could very well have fitted into one.
Initially I though, this would be the undisputed best DVD version of Eugene Onegin for years to come. However, merely a couple of months later, the dark, brooding 2007 Salzburg production conducted by Daniel Barenboim emerged, meaning that two of the best operatic DVDs on the entire operatic DVD market are 2007 productions of Eugene Onegin. And yes, Barenboim does beat out Gergiev in musical depth. And Peter Mattei is the equal of Dmitri Hvorostovsky. Both versions are essential viewing.
Renée Fleming and Dmitri Hvorostovsky in the final scene: The bottom line (scale of 1-5, 3=average):
Dmitri Hvorostovsky: 5 Renée Fleming: 5 Ramon Vargas: 4
Simone Boccanegra. Paris Bastille Opera. April 26th 2007. Production: Johan Simons. Cast: Dmitri Hvorostovsky (Simone Boccanegra), Olga Guryakova (Amelia), Franz-Josef Selig (Fiesco). Conductor: James Conlon. Further information here.
Dmitri Hvorostovsky has said, that as Eugene Onegin he more or less acts like himself. I am not informed of his sayings on Simone Boccanegra, however, based on his performance in Paris, he more or less acts as in his Met Eugene Onegin minus the sparkle – that would be: Distanced and cool. And while suitable for Eugene Onegin, it doesn´t really suit the multifacetted Simone Boccanegra. Furthermore, Dmitri Hvorostovsky´s distanced and cool Simone Boccanegra combined with Olga Guryakova´s equally distanced and cool Amelia adds up to something very frosty indeed, needless to say without interpersonal drama.
Dmitri Hvorostovsky´s voice is extremely beautiful with a very individual timbre, and the ability to produce exquisitely beautiful and sustained legato-lines. His voice is not the largest, and very wisely, he doesn´t force it. That said, I don´t think these Verdi barytone roles (Posa apart) are ideal for him. According to an interview he will be repeating his Boccanegra at the Metropolitan Opera, which doesn´t really sound like a good idea to me. And Giorgio Germont and Rigoletto as well. With his dashing looks, why chose roles where he has to be made up to look like an old man? When the other characters grow older in this Boccanegra, they get grey hair. Obviously this doesn´t work with Dmitri Hvorostovsky, so they give him glasses…which he conveniently looses a couple of times in the third act. Good for us as the glasses didn´t really suit him.
Franz-Josef Selig is in strong voice as Fiesco – though he seems a bit distant, perhaps at the request of the director. Same applies for Evan Bowers as Gabriele Adorno.
Johan Simons´ production is very spartan with huge posters of Boccanegra and Fiesco placed in front of a background consisting of a golden carpet. According to present fashion (Konwitschny´s Lohengrin, Mielitz´ Parsifal), Simons choses to let the final scene play out on the naked stage with full view of the backstage. A symbol of emotional nakedness, I suppose.
