Kunstlergesprache at the Vienna Staatsoper
Watch several parts of the Talk Show on the video
Latest releases
SIMON BOCCANEGRA -
DVD Teatro alla Scala
ARTHAUS
Catalogue No: 101595
January, 1 2012
MACBETH - DVD Opera National de Paris
BEL AIR CLASSIQUE
BAC054
April, 28 2011
SIMON BOCCANEGRA - DVD Live from the Royal Opera House
assics
5099991782595
November 2010
IOAN HOLENDER
FAREWELL CONCERT
Live from the Vienna Staatsoper
Deutsche Grammophon
November 2010
DON CARLO - DVD Live from the Royal Opera House
EMI Classics
5099963160994
September 2010
RECORDING NEWS
Don Quichotte for Grammy
The recording of Mariinsky label was nominated
Published on December 7 2012
The recording of Jules Massenet’s opera 'Don Quichotte', released by the Mariinsky Label in March was nominated for the Grammy Awards. Recorded at Mariinsky concert hall with Ferruccio Furlanetto in the title part it was selected as Editor’s Choice by BBC Music Magazine in the category Opera Recording of the Month, receiving lavish praise and a five-star rating. “Basso cantante Ferruccio Furlanetto attains a supreme combination of richness and softness in perfect French…” The reviewer of the Obserwer was “stanned” by Ferruccio Furlanetto performance and Tim Ashley of The Guardian finds Furlanetto "quite astonishingly moving." “Furlanetto is raison d’etre of this production… Massenet’s touching portrait of Cervantes’s knight is a favorite role for the Italian bass and he is moving in Quichotte’s prayer and death scene”, - writes Sunday Times.
Right now Ferruccio Furlanetto started rehearsals for the new production of the Massenet opera staged by Yannis Kokkos at the Mariinsky Theater. At the premier on December 28 the same brilliant cast as at the recording can be heard and seen: Anna Kiknadze - Dulcinee, Andrey Serov - Sanco. Valery Gergiev will be leading Mariinsky Orchestra.
Mozart Arias CD
The famous Mozart: Bass Arias CD of Ferruccio Furlanetto recorded in 90-s and long ago out of stock was released again by Newton Classics. The studio recording done with Weiner Symphoniker (Conductor - Ion Marin) includes 15 arias from the Mozart operas. “Here is a private portrait gallery for Ferruccio Furlanetto: all his Mozart roles rising up and meeting him in person and showing, in close focus, the quick intelligence and versatility of this bass-baritone”, - wrote Gramophone in the review of this recording.
“Representing the pinnacle of Mozarts mature style, these arias run the full gamut of emotions and reveal Furlanetto’s range of technical and expressive virtuosity. To find the same artist singing such a wide variety of roles in his career, let alone on the same disc, is a rare thing: this recording is a fine addition to the Newton Classics vocal library”, - from the description of the CD.
The much anticipated new release is available in the all major web-stores
"Winterreise" CD in the Austrian Press
The recent release of Schubert’s Winterreise on Prestige Classics Vienna is receiving great response in Austria. It is highly praised in the press and raise growing interest among the public. “When Ferruccio Furlanetto and his pianist Igor Tchetuev play Schubert’s Winterrise, is it a real pleasure for the ears!, - writes Doris Schleider –Hoderl in MoMag magazine. - The Italian Bass Star knows like nobody else how to intonate the summit of the art of the lied. One said these songs are frightful and indeed it’s not an easy cycle which we hear here. But all the human nature belongs in those Lieder: disappointed, wasted love are the themes of the cycle. Thank you for that terrific interpretation.”
Renate Wagner in Der Nuer Merker devotes the big feature to Ferruccio Furlanetto’s interpretation of “Winterreise”. Here is few extracts:
“We know and appreciate Ferruccio Furlanetto as the great Italian bass of our time, thankfully, a regular guest at the Vienna State Opera, as King Philip, Guardiano, and Mustapha or Fiesco, only to mention the roles he recently sung there. But also Boris and Gremin. An Italian who sings perfect Russian is not the rule. Indeed the clearness of the the words he brings in Schubert's "Winterreise", is as perfect as for many "natives". But not only the pronunciation is important for the Italian as lieder singer.
Furlanetto has, a beautiful dark and deep bass voice which never sounds “fat”. This is an essential requirement for singing Lieder, otherwise you can not chase all musical refinement ot these songs.
Some artists think that the “Schoene Mullerin” is perhaps even sadder than the "Winterreise", but there is no other songs cycle, with a darker mood then Winterreise... This is one of the roles of the pianist very sensitive and listening to the singer: Igor Tchetuev, with whom Furlanetto already recorded songs by Rachmaninov and Mussorgsky - and who underlines the different colors of the voice according to the mood of the songs. Furlanetto shows that he didn’t only learn notes but that he perfectly knows what he sings!
By the dark and tragic passages the voice sounds dry, hard and cold: The “heisse Traennen” makes one almost breathless. In the "Lindenbaum" he sung in a very contemplative mood, and when he dreams of the bird’s cries, he’s able to make the voice quite light and immediately after to switch abruptly to the gloom of raven.
Just the last Lied is interpreted differently than it’s often usual. Here also the pianist has a big role: it is not an existential study of loneliness, it does not end in nihilism and pessimism, but in a new way of life. And it’s pure intention.
With this recording s Furlanetto belongs without doubt to the great interpreters of the cycle. This CD is a wonderful result which goes far beyond the beautiful voice (which we will never enough say how we esteem it).
Opera Recording of the Month
The recording of Jules Massenet’s opera Don Quichotte, released by the Mariinsky Label at the start of this month, was selected as Editor’s Choice by BBC Music Magazine in the category Opera Recording of the Month, receiving lavish praise and a five-star rating. “Basso cantante Ferruccio Furlanetto attains a supreme combination of richness and softness in perfect French…” The reviewer of the Obserwer was “stanned” by Ferruccio Furlanetto performance and Tim Ashley of The Guardian finds Furlanetto "quite astonishingly moving." “Furlanetto is raison d’etre of this production… Massenet’s touching portrait of Cervantes’s knight is a favorite role for the Italian bass and he is moving in Quichotte’s prayer and death scene”, - writes Sunday Times.
Simon Boccanegra Arthaus release
On January, 1 "Simon Boccanegra" from the Teatro alla Scala will be released by ArtHause. Simon Boccanegra – Placido Domingo; Jacopo Fiesco – Ferruccio Furlanetto; Paolo Albiani – Massimo Cavaelletti; Amelia Grimaldi (Maria) – Anja Harteros; Gabriele Adorno – Fabio Sartori. Milan La Scala Chorus and Orchestra (chorus master: Bruno Casoni); Daniel Barenboim, conductor; Federico Tiezzi, stage director; Recorded live from Teatro alla Scala, Milan, 2010. Also available in Blue-Ray.
Don Quichotte CD release at Mariinsky label
The Massenet’s Don Quichotte recorded this spring in St.Petersburg will be released on March 2012 by Mariinsky label. Ferruccio Furlanetto sings leading part, Dulcinee – Anna Kiknadze, Sanco Panca – Andrei Serov, Mariinsky Academy of Young Singers Ensemble, Mariinsky orchestra and Chorus, conductor – Valery Gergiev. From the official press-release:
Italian bass Ferruccio Furlanetto is one of the most sought-after interpreters of French, Italian and Russian repertoire. Here he joins Valery Gergiev and the Mariinsky orchestra for a sumptuous recording of Massenet’s final great opera. Gergiev is no stranger to conducting Massenet, having recorded an outstanding performance of Herodiade in 1995 with Renee Fleming and Placido Domingo. Don Quichotte, Massenet’s comedie-heroique, is a tale of heroism, adventure and unrequited love. The plot relates only indirectly to the great novel by Miguel de Cervantes and more likely refers to the play Le chevalier de la longue figure, by the poet Jacques Le Lorrain. Massenet, nearing the end of his career, probably personally identified with the character of Don Quichotte, and fell in love with the mezzo-soprano Lucy Arbell, who played Dulcinee in the first performance of the work.
Praised for his vast range, thundering vocal power, and exceptional acting ability, Ferruccio Furlanetto has performed at the world’s leading opera houses, including La Scala, the Royal Opera House, the New York Metropolitan Opera and the Mariinsky Theatre in St Petersburg. The 2011-12 season is dominated by performances of Boris Godunov with the Chicago Lyric Opera, Vienna Staatsoper and the Teatro Massimo (Palermo). Furlanetto will also sing Mephistopheles in Gounod’s Faust, Don Basilio in Il Barbiere di Siviglia and Silva in Ernani, with the Metropolitan Opera.
Valery Gergiev and the Mariinsky will tour extensively in 2012, visiting Israel, Germany, Italy, France, Poland, the UK, Switzerland and Finland. Gergiev also conducts the Vienna Philharmonic, Filharmonica della Scala and Teatro Regio di Torino. His performances with the LSO include a festival of music by Stravinsky and tours to South Korea, China and Europe. Gergiev will conduct Massenet with Anna Netrebko and the Mariinsky at the Salzburg Festival in May. "