ANNA NETREBKO'S NEWEST RECORDING ON DEUTSCHE GRAMMOPHON, LA BOHÈME WITH ROLANDO VILLAZÓN, DEBUTS AT NUMBER 2 ON THE BILLBOARD CLASSICAL CHART


“The reigning new diva of the early 21st century.”- Associated Press

The new full-length recording of Puccini's La bohème with soprano Anna Netrebko and tenor Rolando Villazón has debuted at number two on the Billboard classical chart, a rare distinction for a multi-disc opera recording.

Released on June 10, the recording has already received universal acclaim:

“On these new discs, 'La Bohème' comes to us fresh and inspired. This is not a hackneyed work, but a superb one,” - Jay Nordlinger in the New York Sun

“A starry pairing in golden form help elevate this Bohème to classic status.”- Gramophone [Editor's Choice, June 2008]

“[Anna Netrebko] is in excellent voice, her gleaming soprano filling out Mimì's wistful phrases with grace and sensitivity.”- Associated Press

The album was recorded live at concert performances in Munich in April 2007. French conductor Bertrand de Billy leads the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra and an international cast that also features Nicole Cabell as Musetta, Boaz Daniel as Marcello, Stéphane Degout as Schaunard, and Vitalij Kowaljow as Colline.

This new recording of is also the soundtrack for a film version of the opera directed by Robert Dornhelm starring Netrebko and Villazón, to be released this fall.

Duets, the "dream team's" most recent joint recording, topped the Billboard classical chart in the US and debuted high on the pop charts in several European countries (#3 on the pop charts in Germany and #4 in Austria). The album went on to be one of the best-selling classical releases worldwide for 2007.

On June 27, the Friday preceding the Euro 2008 Soccer Championship, Anna Netrebko teamed up with Plácido Domingo and Rolando Villazón, in a concert at Vienna's majestic Schönbrunn Palace, the former home of the Hapsburgs, for an audience of 10,000 - a repetition of the the three singers' performance at Berlin's Waldbühne in 2006, an event that coincided with the World Cup soccer championship. The concert from Vienna's Schönbrunn Palace was broadcast live on Ö2 television in Austria and on ZDF television in Germany.

Netrebko sang music from her coming solo recording on Deutsche Grammophon, "Souvenirs. Slated for worldwide release in November selections will include “Heia in den Bergen” from Emmerich Kálmán's operetta Die Csárdásfuerstin, Luigi Arditi's coquettish “Il bacio,” and the more well-known “Les filles de Cadix” by Delibes.

On a more personal note, Netrebko and her fiancé, bass-baritone Erwin Schrott, are expecting a baby boy this September. The Schönbrunn concert will be the soprano's last appearance before she takes a well-earned break from the stage to have her first child. She plans to be on maternity leave for the remainder of the summer and most of the fall.

CLICK ON TITLE BELOW to hear an audio clip from the opera's most popular arias:

TRACK #	TITLE
8	"Che gelida manina" (Act 1)
9	"Si mi chiamamo Mimi" (Act 1)
16	"Quando men vo" (Act 1)

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