Live Recording 1994-2016

Dmitri Hvorostovsky stands out above all on this album as a true Verdi baritone: as Posa (Don Carlos), for example, or in Simon Boccanegra in the finale of Act I of Verdi’s eponymous and all too rarely performed opera. By then, Hvorostovsky’s cancer was far advanced, and yet, the depth of his characterisation remains as flawless as ever. The climax is his moving aria as Anckarström in the original Swedish version of Un ballo in maschera, in which he fears he has lost the love of his wife. It ends with the bitter-sweet resignation of 'O dolcezze perdute, o speranze d’amor'. Before that, Hvorostovsky is to be heard in the role of a father convinced of himself and of his own moral standards, Padre Germont (La Traviata), who persuades Violetta (Marina Rebeka) to renounce her beloved Alfredo. The performance is that of November 29, 2016; scarcely a year later, Hvorostovsky succumbed to the cancer with which he had wrestled for so long – aged just 55. Here we hear the pitiless rigour with which, despite feigned sympathy, he pronounces the fate of a dying woman and takes from her the best thing she had ever known – true love.

Bellini:
 Ah! Per sempre io ti perdei (from I Puritani)
 I Puritani

Rossini:
 All'idea di quel metallo (from Il barbiere di Siviglia)
 Il barbiere di Siviglia

Tchaikovsky:
 Eugene Onegin
 Pique Dame
 Vy mne pisali…Kogda by zhizn domashnim krugom (from Eugene Onegin)
 Ya vas lyublyu 'Yeletsky’s aria' (from Pique Dame)

Verdi:
 Alzati…Eri tu che macchiavi quell'anima (from Un Ballo in Maschera)
 Don Carlo
 La Traviata
 Pari siamo! (from Rigoletto)
 Plebe! Patrizi! Popolo! (from Simon Boccanegra)
 Pura siccome un angelo (from La Traviata)
 Rigoletto
 Signora! Per vostra maestà (from Don Carlo)
 Simon Boccanegra
 Un ballo in maschera

"The late Dmitri Hvorostovsky is presented in a selection of scenes from the Staatsoper, ranging from a smooth Puritani for his debut performance in 1994 to a dignified Germont in Traviata, caught on the last evening he sang in the house in 2016. His mastery of rich-toned legato is wonderful to hear, and this is a moving tribute."
Opera Now - October 2018