Track Listing

Disc 1:

1. Sinfonia - Ute Fesquet, Wiener Symphoniker, Fabio Luisi, Jeffrey Vanderveen, Christopher Alder, Rainer Maillard, Josef Schütz, Fridolin Stolz, Vincenzo Bellini
2. Aggiorna appena ed eccoci - Wiener Symphoniker, Fabio Luisi, Wiener Singakademie, Heinz Ferlesch, Ute Fesquet, Christopher Alder, Rainer Maillard, Josef Schütz, Fridolin Stolz, Jeffrey Vanderveen, Vincenzo Bellini
3. O di Capellio generosi amici - Joseph Calleja, Tiziano Bracci, Robert Gleadow, Wiener Symphoniker, Fabio Luisi, Wiener Singakademie, Heinz Ferlesch, Ute Fesquet, Christopher Alder, Rainer Maillard, Josef Schütz, Fridolin Stolz, Jeffrey Vanderveen, Vincenzo Bellini
4. E serbato a questo acciaro - Joseph Calleja, Tiziano Bracci, Robert Gleadow, Wiener Symphoniker, Fabio Luisi, Wiener Singakademie, Heinz Ferlesch, Ute Fesquet, Christopher Alder, Rainer Maillard, Josef Schütz, Fridolin Stolz, Jeffrey Vanderveen, Vincenzo Bellini
5. L'amo tanto, e m'e si cara - Joseph Calleja, Tiziano Bracci, Robert Gleadow, Wiener Symphoniker, Fabio Luisi, Wiener Singakademie, Heinz Ferlesch, Ute Fesquet, Christopher Alder, Rainer Maillard, Josef Schütz, Fridolin Stolz, Jeffrey Vanderveen, Vincenzo Bellini
6. Vanne, Lorenzo; e tu, che il puoi - Tiziano Bracci, Joseph Calleja, Wiener Symphoniker, Fabio Luisi, Wiener Singakademie, Heinz Ferlesch, Ute Fesquet, Christopher Alder, Rainer Maillard, Josef Schütz, Fridolin Stolz, Jeffrey Vanderveen, Vincenzo Bellini
7. Lieto del dolce incarco - Elina Garanca, Joseph Calleja, Tiziano Bracci, Wiener Symphoniker, Fabio Luisi, Wiener Singakademie, Heinz Ferlesch, Ute Fesquet, Christopher Alder, Rainer Maillard, Josef Schütz, Fridolin Stolz, Jeffrey Vanderveen, Vincenzo Bellini
8. Ascolta, se Romeo t'uccise - Elina Garanca, Wiener Symphoniker, Fabio Luisi, Ute Fesquet, Christopher Alder, Rainer Maillard, Josef Schütz, Fridolin Stolz, Jeffrey Vanderveen, Vincenzo Bellini
9. Riedi al campo - Tiziano Bracci, Elina Garanca, Joseph Calleja, Wiener Symphoniker, Fabio Luisi, Wiener Singakademie, Heinz Ferlesch, Ute Fesquet, Christopher Alder, Rainer Maillard, Josef Schütz, Fridolin Stolz, Jeffrey Vanderveen, Vincenzo Bellini
10. La tremenda ultrice spada - Elina Garanca, Tiziano Bracci, Joseph Calleja, Wiener Symphoniker, Fabio Luisi, Wiener Singakademie, Heinz Ferlesch, Ute Fesquet, Christopher Alder, Rainer Maillard, Josef Schütz, Fridolin Stolz, Jeffrey Vanderveen, Vincenzo Bellini
11. Andante maestoso - Wiener Symphoniker, Fabio Luisi, Ute Fesquet, Christopher Alder, Rainer Maillard, Josef Schütz, Fridolin Stolz, Jeffrey Vanderveen, Vincenzo Bellini
12. Eccomi in lieta vesta - Anna Netrebko, Wiener Symphoniker, Fabio Luisi, Ute Fesquet, Christopher Alder, Rainer Maillard, Josef Schütz, Fridolin Stolz, Jeffrey Vanderveen, Vincenzo Bellini
13. Oh! quante volte - Anna Netrebko, Wiener Symphoniker, Fabio Luisi, Ute Fesquet, Christopher Alder, Rainer Maillard, Josef Schütz, Fridolin Stolz, Jeffrey Vanderveen, Vincenzo Bellini
14. Proprizia è l'ora - Robert Gleadow, Anna Netrebko, Elina Garanca, Wiener Symphoniker, Fabio Luisi, Ute Fesquet, Christopher Alder, Rainer Maillard, Josef Schütz, Fridolin Stolz, Jeffrey Vanderveen, Vincenzo Bellini
15. Si, fuggire: a noi non resta - Elina Garanca, Anna Netrebko, Wiener Symphoniker, Fabio Luisi, Ute Fesquet, Christopher Alder, Rainer Maillard, Josef Schütz, Fridolin Stolz, Jeffrey Vanderveen, Vincenzo Bellini
16. Ah! crudel, d'onor ragioni - Elina Garanca, Anna Netrebko, Wiener Symphoniker, Fabio Luisi, Ute Fesquet, Christopher Alder, Rainer Maillard, Josef Schütz, Fridolin Stolz, Jeffrey Vanderveen, Vincenzo Bellini
17. Odi tu? - Elina Garanca, Anna Netrebko, Wiener Symphoniker, Fabio Luisi, Ute Fesquet, Christopher Alder, Rainer Maillard, Josef Schütz, Fridolin Stolz, Jeffrey Vanderveen, Vincenzo Bellini
18. Vieni, ah! vieni, e in me riposa - Elina Garanca, Anna Netrebko, Wiener Symphoniker, Fabio Luisi, Ute Fesquet, Christopher Alder, Rainer Maillard, Josef Schütz, Fridolin Stolz, Jeffrey Vanderveen, Vincenzo Bellini
19. Lieta notte, avventurosa - Wiener Symphoniker, Fabio Luisi, Wiener Singakademie, Heinz Ferlesch, Ute Fesquet, Christopher Alder, Rainer Maillard, Josef Schütz, Fridolin Stolz, Jeffrey Vanderveen, Vincenzo Bellini
20. Deh! per pietà t'arresta - Robert Gleadow, Elina Garanca, Wiener Symphoniker, Fabio Luisi, Wiener Singakademie, Heinz Ferlesch, Ute Fesquet, Christopher Alder, Rainer Maillard, Josef Schütz, Fridolin Stolz, Jeffrey Vanderveen, Vincenzo Bellini
21. Tace il fragor silenzio - Anna Netrebko, Elina Garanca, Wiener Symphoniker, Fabio Luisi, Ute Fesquet, Christopher Alder, Rainer Maillard, Josef Schütz, Fridolin Stolz, Jeffrey Vanderveen, Vincenzo Bellini
22. Io te lo chiedo - Elina Garanca, Anna Netrebko, Tiziano Bracci, Wiener Symphoniker, Fabio Luisi, Wiener Singakademie, Heinz Ferlesch, Ute Fesquet, Christopher Alder, Rainer Maillard, Josef Schütz, Fridolin Stolz, Jeffrey Vanderveen, Vincenzo Bellini
23. Che miro? Il perfido nemico ambasciator! - Joseph Calleja, Robert Gleadow, Anna Netrebko, Elina Garanca, Tiziano Bracci, Wiener Symphoniker, Fabio Luisi, Ute Fesquet, Christopher Alder, Rainer Maillard, Josef Schütz, Fridolin Stolz, Jeffrey Vanderveen, Vincenzo Bellini
24. Soccorso, sostegno accordagli - Anna Netrebko, Elina Garanca, Joseph Calleja, Robert Gleadow, Tiziano Bracci, Wiener Symphoniker, Fabio Luisi, Ute Fesquet, Christopher Alder, Rainer Maillard, Josef Schütz, Fridolin Stolz, Jeffrey Vanderveen, Vincenzo Bellini
25. Accoriam Romeo! - Joseph Calleja, Tiziano Bracci, Elina Garanca, Anna Netrebko, Robert Gleadow, Wiener Symphoniker, Fabio Luisi, Wiener Singakademie, Heinz Ferlesch, Ute Fesquet, Christopher Alder, Rainer Maillard, Josef Schütz, Fridolin Stolz, Jeffrey Vanderveen, Vincenzo Bellini
26. Se ogni speme - Anna Netrebko, Elina Garanca, Joseph Calleja, Robert Gleadow, Wiener Symphoniker, Fabio Luisi, Wiener Singakademie, Heinz Ferlesch, Ute Fesquet, Christopher Alder, Rainer Maillard, Josef Schütz, Fridolin Stolz, Jeffrey Vanderveen, Vincenzo Bellini

Disc 2:

1. Introduzione - Wiener Symphoniker, Fabio Luisi, Ute Fesquet, Christopher Alder, Rainer Maillard, Josef Schütz, Fridolin Stolz, Jeffrey Vanderveen
2. Nè alcun ritorna! - Anna Netrebko, Robert Gleadow, Wiener Symphoniker, Fabio Luisi, Ute Fesquet, Christopher Alder, Rainer Maillard, Josef Schütz, Fridolin Stolz, Jeffrey Vanderveen
3. Morte io non temo il sai - Anna Netrebko, Robert Gleadow, Wiener Symphoniker, Fabio Luisi, Ute Fesquet, Christopher Alder, Rainer Maillard, Josef Schütz, Fridolin Stolz, Jeffrey Vanderveen
4. Prendi, glistanti volano - Robert Gleadow, Anna Netrebko, Tiziano Bracci, Wiener Symphoniker, Fabio Luisi, Wiener Singakademie, Heinz Ferlesch, Ute Fesquet, Christopher Alder, Rainer Maillard, Josef Schütz, Fridolin Stolz, Jeffrey Vanderveen
5. Ah! non poss'io partire - Anna Netrebko, Tiziano Bracci, Robert Gleadow, Wiener Symphoniker, Fabio Luisi, Wiener Singakademie, Heinz Ferlesch, Ute Fesquet, Christopher Alder, Rainer Maillard, Josef Schütz, Fridolin Stolz, Jeffrey Vanderveen
6. Qual turbimento io provo! - Tiziano Bracci, Wiener Symphoniker, Fabio Luisi, Ute Fesquet, Christopher Alder, Rainer Maillard, Josef Schütz, Fridolin Stolz, Jeffrey Vanderveen
7. Deserto è il luogo - Elina Garanca, Wiener Symphoniker, Fabio Luisi, Ute Fesquet, Christopher Alder, Rainer Maillard, Josef Schütz, Fridolin Stolz, Jeffrey Vanderveen
8. Chi sei tu, che ardisci - Joseph Calleja, Elina Garanca, Wiener Symphoniker, Fabio Luisi, Wiener Singakademie, Heinz Ferlesch, Ute Fesquet, Christopher Alder, Rainer Maillard, Josef Schütz, Fridolin Stolz, Jeffrey Vanderveen
9. Quai voci! Oh Dio! - Elina Garanca, Joseph Calleja, Wiener Symphoniker, Fabio Luisi, Wiener Singakademie, Heinz Ferlesch, Ute Fesquet, Christopher Alder, Rainer Maillard, Josef Schütz, Fridolin Stolz, Jeffrey Vanderveen
10. Ella è morta, o sciagurato - Elina Garanca, Joseph Calleja, Wiener Symphoniker, Fabio Luisi, Ute Fesquet, Christopher Alder, Rainer Maillard, Josef Schütz, Fridolin Stolz, Jeffrey Vanderveen
11. Siam Giunti. Ah! - Wiener Symphoniker, Fabio Luisi, Wiener Singakademie, Heinz Ferlesch, Ute Fesquet, Christopher Alder, Rainer Maillard, Josef Schütz, Fridolin Stolz, Jeffrey Vanderveen
12. Ecco la tomba - Elina Garanca, Wiener Symphoniker, Fabio Luisi, Wiener Singakademie, Heinz Ferlesch, Ute Fesquet, Christopher Alder, Rainer Maillard, Josef Schütz, Fridolin Stolz, Jeffrey Vanderveen
13. Deh! tu, deh! tu, bell'anima - Elina Garanca, Wiener Symphoniker, Fabio Luisi, Ute Fesquet, Christopher Alder, Rainer Maillard, Josef Schütz, Fridolin Stolz, Jeffrey Vanderveen
14. O tu, mia sola speme - Elina Garanca, Anna Netrebko, Wiener Symphoniker, Fabio Luisi, Ute Fesquet, Christopher Alder, Rainer Maillard, Josef Schütz, Fridolin Stolz, Jeffrey Vanderveen
15. Ah! crudel! che mai facesti - Anna Netrebko, Elina Garanca, Tiziano Bracci, Robert Gleadow, Wiener Symphoniker, Fabio Luisi, Wiener Singakademie, Heinz Ferlesch, Ute Fesquet, Christopher Alder, Rainer Maillard, Josef Schütz, Fridolin Stolz, Jeffrey Vanderveen

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #35114 in Music
• Released on: 2009-02-23
• Number of discs: 2
• Format: Box set
• Dimensions: .50 pounds
• Running time: 128 minutes

CD Description
Bringing true youth to an archetypal tale of youthful passion, Anna Netrebko as Juliet and Elîna Garanèa as Romeo blow the dust off Bellini’s bel canto classic. Recorded under studio conditions in conjunction with concert performances at Vienna’s Konzerthaus, Anna’s and Elîna’s voices match like pearls from one oyster.

Customer Reviews

OK, but there are better choices
There is much to enjoy in this performance, but nothing to set it above other choices for this opera. Both Anna Netrebko and Elina Garanca are splendid. Ms Netrebko's full, warm tone and excellent technique, including some perfectly executed trills, are a joy to hear. The same can be said of Ms Garanca. Though her lower register hasn't the resonance of say, Jennifer Larmore or Vesselina Kasarova, her upper register is free and bright. Joseph Calleja brings a shining voice to Tebaldo. However at times he displays a laxity that turns dotted rhythms into slurred notes of equal value. The lower voices are fine, but not particularly noteworthy. Fabio Luisi's conducting is apt.
I could find no mention of which performing edition was used. I followed along with the standard Ricordi score and noticed a few very minor cuts - a repeat in the opening chorus and a few of the stretti passages are trimmed of their repeats. The essay in the libretto is complete rubbish. It reads like a poor parody of Peter Shaffer's "Amadeus" with Bellini and Vaccaj replacing Mozart and Salieri. The author writes in some detail about Bellini's rapid composition of the score by borrowing heavily from his failed opera "Zaira." However, he never mentions that the libretto is a recycled version of the book Felice Romani had provided earlier to that same Vaccaj, whom we're told Bellini "hated." Nor is any mention made of the performance practice of substituting the final scene by Bellini with that from Vaccaj's opera. Such slovenly scholarship cannot be condoned. Neither can the engineering of this recording.
There are extended passages that have an odd reverberation to them, perhaps from the acoustic of the concert hall in which this was taped. Where this recording really fails is in the sloppy editing. I understand that it was recorded live - or at least most of it. But it's painfully obvious that this was patched together from many sessions, perhaps in different locations, accounting for the presence - or lack - of the reverberant background. Worst of all, there are several places, especially in the second act, where the takes from different sessions were more botched than spliced together. The sudden shifting of aural gears takes this set out of the competition as far as I'm concerned. I can recommend the performance, but I can't recommend the recording.
There are other recorded performances that are just as good, if not better, than this effort, and which aren't marred by bad engineering. I particularly like Riccardo Muti's recording live from Covent Garden with Edita Gruberova, Agnes Baltsa and Dano Raffanti. Roberto Abbado's recording with Vesselina Kasarova, Eva Mei and Ramon Vargas also has much to recommend it, including Vaccaj's final scene as a bonus.

Superbly sung - just as at the ROH Covent Garden!
I bought this CD after having recently seen Anna Netrebko and Elina Garanca perform in this opera at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden.. The performance that evening had been my first taste of "I Capuleti e i Montecchi" and I was completely blown away by it, as was my wife. The music was extremely beautiful and the singing performances on the night were outstanding. We had recognised Anna Nettrebko's name, she is currently one of the "special" divas, and we had previously enjoyed her singing in Mozart's "Don Giovanni", but Elina Garanca had been a new name to us. If anything, she outshone Netrebko on the night, her soft mezzo timbre was absolutely divine.

Judged against that memorable evening, this CD does not disappoint. The music is everything my wife and I remember it to be and the singing on the disc is first class. Netrebko and Garanca sound as good here as they did at Covent Garden - sensational! They are joined by Joseph Calleja as Tebaldo: Joseph has a mellifluous tone and is an excellent ally to the girls' singing; the cast is well complemented by Tiziano Bracci as Capellio and Robert Gleadow as Lorenzo,

This recording was undertaken live at the Vienna Konzerthaus, although not in front of an audience. As you would expect from a Deutsche Grammophon recording the sound quality is excellent and there is a booklet containing brief but informative articles as well as the libretto in four languages.

Like all opera CDs, I can't really recommend this if you haven't seen the opera, as for me the theatre of the performance is a significant factor of the overall enjoyment - and having seen it you are then able to re-create those images in your mind's eye as you listen to the music. However, if you are looking for melodious and superbly sung music or if you are specifically looking for a recording of this opera then you really can't go wrong in buying this disc.

Excellent!

Beautiful singing!!
Though termed 'Tragedia Lirica in due atti', there's nothing tragic at all of the music. The work itself is full of the usual Bel Canto Bellinian and Rossinian fun.

Joseph Calleja (as Tebaldo) makes the first solo entry after the opening number from the chorus. I have read much of this tenor from magazines and websites and it is here I understand why his singing was praised to the heavens. For what a voice his is! The basic timbre is bright and recalls the late Alfredo Krauss. The voice is even through out the registers. The high notes ring freely without sounding stretched. The singing is stylish in the Bel Canto tradition.

The duo of Netrebko and Garanca did not disappoint. Both sing capably; softly at the tender moments and full of fearless bravura at the florid passages (sample the duet-Si fuggire; a noi non resta).

The booklet tells us this was a 'live' recording made in April 2008 at the Vienna Konzerthaus. We do not hear applause; suggesting studio touch-ups.

I Capuleti e i Montecchi was never a forerunner of the Bellini canon. But with a cast like this, it could well be for there is much to enjoy here from the singing alone. A must for all Bel Canto fans!