The real deal: Anna Netrebko's new CD is a triumphantly Fach-defying mix of chestnuts and rarities.(Sound Recording Review)

OPERA NEWS Editor's Choice:

Anna Netrebko "OPERA ARIAS" by Mozart, Bellini, Donizetti, Massenet, Gounod, Berlioz, Dvorak, Puccini. Vienna Philharmonic, Noseda. Texts and translations. Deutsche Grammophon CD 474 240-2

At first I mistook Anna Netrebko's photo-stuffed press packet for a fashion magazine. The spectacular singing, however, took the edge off my instinctive fear of sopranos on furry rugs. The promo disc starts out with Musetta's waltz, normally not a piece to make anyone drop the coffeepot and stare open-mouthed at the stereo. Netrebko, however, with a major-league voice and a full-sized musical temperament to power it, makes this old favorite sound brand new. With a deliberate, unhurried tempo, the soprano pours out her dark, deluxe sound with confidence

in the big musical gesture. (The commercial CD, with liner notes by OPERA NEWS features editor Brian Kellow, takes a roughly chronological route through the repertoire, placing this aria at the end of the program, but listeners--having put down any breakable objects--may opt to jump-start their acquaintance with a future superstar right here.)

The entire recital bears the mark of an old-fashioned diva, with a Fach-defying mix of chestnuts and rarities, material the young Netrebko already has honed onstage. She applies her larger-than-life vocalism, dramatic sureness and finely detailed phrasing to just nine arias, but each one seems to undergo a personal spa treatment, resulting in a succession of gorgeous, richly finished, gleaming jewels.

Right off the bat, Netrebko turns the extended recitative before "Padre, germani, addio" (from Mozart's Idomeneo), consisting mostly of plot orientation and character background, into a commanding, revelatory piece of vocal acting. This scene, as well as Donna Anna's "Non mi dir" (from Mozart's Don Giovannni), is colored with a pervasive sadness, informing and shaping the resolve of both characters. As in "Quando me'n vo'," Netrebko's tempos are unexpected--she takes her time confidently with both the larghetto ("Non mi dir') and the allegro moderato ("Forse, forse un giorno"); in both sections the figuration is treated as a natural development of the musical line.

The bel canto repertoire would seem another obvious choice for this soprano. In both "Regnava nel silenzio," from Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor (she brings her seasoned Lucia to Los Angeles Opera this month), and the final scene from Bellini's La Sonnambula, the ...