Seeing that this week marks the 200th anniversary of Giuseppe Verdi's birth, Classical 90.5 gives you many opportunities to enjoy the immortal operas of Verdi on "Exporing Music" and our feature album. It's also a good time to talk about the latest release by soprano Anna Netrebko, called "Verdi."
Her first studio album in 5 years, Netrebko has darkened her tone to fit the moods of the operatic excerpts, which include arias from Macbeth, Giovanna D'arco, I Vespri siciliani, Don Carlo and Il Trovatore. Transitioning from a coloratura soprano to the vocals necessary for Lady Macbeth is not an easy thing to do. But the Russian's vocal abilities rise to the occasion when she asks Macbeth "..will you be wicked enough?"
Netrebko was born in Krasnodar, Russia, in 1971. She studied vocal performance at the St. Petersburg Conservatory. She became an international sensation after her appearance at the 2002 Salzburg Festival in the role of Donna Anna in Mozart's Don Giovanni.