Anna Netrebko & Rolando Villazon: Duets

here we have two of the finest stars in the universe.boy!
can they sing,gloriously so what a pair wonderful,wonderful,wonderful a first rate cd.

These two singers are marvelous, and they well deserve all the hype they are getting. This record is also excellent, with my only reservations being that the Manon duet falls a little short, just a mite below the recorded competition, which admittedly is fierce. Also I was disappointed that the Iolanta duet was shorn of its initial portion, which is really beautiful and should have been included.

Anna Netrebko and Rolando Villazon have made a duets album, which includes famous duets by Puccini,Donizetti, Verdi,Gounod, Bizet and Massenet with less well known duets by Tschaikovsky and Luisa Fernanda.

Each duet is full of passion and the excitement of hearing two singers who are perfectly matched to sing with each other. Their voices are beautiful and blend beautifully with each other.

They may not be perfect, but I didn't notice because I was caught up in the passion and beautiful sound.

I highly recomend this recording.

This is the second cd I have. It shows Anna in a role quite different than her Russian album. She is quite capable of holding her own with a talent equal to her own. Which is quite stunning. The only thing better is to see her in person.

Anna Netrebko & Rolando Villazon: Duets

This wonderful CD of duets shared by Anna Netrebko and Rolando Villazon is glorious in its passion and musicality. The real gems are: Lucia Perdona...Sulla Tomba from Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor and Va! Je T'ai Pardonné ... Nuit D'hyménée from Charles Gounod's Romeo and Juliet and No.8 Chanson: 'De Mon Amie, Fleur Endormie' - No.9 Duo 'Léila! Léila! Dieu Puissant' from Bizet's "The Pearl Fishers" (Les Pêcheurs de perles). This last aria and duet is haunting in its presentation from an off-stage setting to full borne passion with impeccable diction by both performers.

Although the deluxe version of the CD includes a bonus DVD of Vincent Patterson's staging of Puccini's 'O Soave Fanciulla', this viewer found this rather contrived. The interview and commentary by Netrebko and Villazon however gives us some insight into these performers as people and the difficulty in singing operatic duets. One gets the impression that Rolando Villazon, discovered by Placido Domingo is a consummate artist with very high personal standards.

Ms. Netrebko has recorded duets with others such as Joseph Calleja and has performed live with Roberta Alagna, Marcello Giordani and Joseph Kaiser. Having witnessed Anna Netrebko sing and perform with Rolando Villazon the listener and viewer quickly realizes that these artists strive for vocal perfection without overshadowing their partner. One can only hope that Rolando Villazon will soon return to the stage with Ms. Netrebko and others as he has great charisma and vocal talent.

This listener would also reccommend: Anna Netrebko sings Opera arias [United Kingdom]as well as Viva Villazón (incl. bonus DVD) as they both serve well to highlight these performers both individually and together.