A performance in a big theatre. “For a second it seemed like we were really in the desert. “For a second it felt like we were really in the desert.”

Puccini’s “Manon Lescaut” appeared in the repertoire of the main theater of the country at the personal request of our prima donna - the theater wanted to get the singer, but she was only satisfied with this opera. The director was also chosen according to her - so that he would not be too avant-garde, the diva does not like cool experimenters. Nevertheless, it was not a benefit performance of a superstar, but a performance of the highest class.

An inclined panel spans the entire stage, on it is a snow-white toy city (the buildings are somewhere up to the actors’ waists). The story of Manon Lescaut - a girl from a decent family who was brought up in a monastery, and then rushed between great love and big money - is told by director Adolphe Shapiro as the story of a woman-toy. This white town - Amiens, where the young poet de Grieux wanders and where he meets Manon traveling with her brother - is an absolutely fabulous place. It is inhabited by some cheerful people in colorful (dwarven?) caps, the means of communication between Amiens and Paris is not a trivial horse-drawn carriage, but a hot air balloon, romantic snow is falling from the sky - and in general it seems that this story will certainly be happy. Here is this girl - and Netrebko here plays just a girl in a doll’s fur coat and with a doll in her hands - and this young man (39-year-old Eyvazov, a gentleman with no child’s build, perfectly reproduces youthful plasticity - impetuosity, inability to cope with one’s own hands, the desire to approach to the object of love and dying fear) should be happy in this New Year's fairy tale, right?

True, Puccini's music, in which there is too much passion for a happy-candy story, hints to us that there will be no happiness - but the young conductor Yader Binyamini slightly holds back this passion for now. And no one is forbidden to hope, is it? And while the scenery is being rearranged between the first and second acts behind a closed curtain (where at this moment fragments of the book by Abbot Prevost about Manon and the Chevalier des Grieux, which inspired many authors for operas and ballets - including Puccini in 1893), are projected, she did not bother to read libretto, the secular public rejoices at the plot in which no one, it seems, is going to die tragically (not like in other works by Puccini like “Tosca” or “Madama Butterfly”).

There is a lot of secular audience, “going to Netrebko” gives not only a chance to listen to a wonderful voice, but also a feeling of belonging to the “cream of the cream”. (It’s not for nothing that tickets for 15 thousand rubles flew away on the day sales began). The secular public is upset: no one is going to tell them fairy tales. When the curtain opens in the second act, the audience first gasps, then begins to applaud nervously: Manon’s Parisian apartment (which she has already left her poor lover des Grieux and settled with Geronte, a very rich lover) makes a frightening impression. The gigantic - almost to the grate - mirror is tilted so that the reflection of the most expensive part of the stalls also falls into it: yes, yes, dear viewers, some of you live exactly like this, say director Adolf Shapiro and set designer Maria Tregubova. And next to this mirror sits an equally gigantic doll - the baby doll that was in the hands of the girl Manon has turned into a monster, turning its head and carefully examining the heroine and her visitors. This doll has cosmetic flies stuck on it... but no, they are not cosmetic at all. Huge black flies sit on this toy - some kind of surreal, Buñuelian horror.

Photo: Kirill Kallinikov / RIA Novosti

Actually, this is all just a makeup table: jewelry is thrown here, a pearl necklace is on the doll (each pearl is like a cannonball). There has simply been a dramatic change in scale: whereas in the first act people were larger than houses, now they are smaller than precious trinkets. This house, where Geront (the colorful role of Alexander Naumenko, the cane in the hands of his character turns into some kind of spider's paw, emphasizing the danger of this man), was designated by Manon - a specially designed doll's house with such terrible amusements. The elderly man clearly wanted to keep his little girl, his little property - but the girl in an evening dress with seductively bare shoulders is no longer a girl, she looks differently - she learns to take advantage of the situation. When des Grieux appears, she, however, remembers what it means to be sincere and to be happy - and Netrebko amazingly plays all this: both in her voice and in her plasticity, Manon is again a girl. But at the decisive moment, when she needs to escape from the cursed house, Manon rushes to collect jewelry - and wastes time, and gets caught by the police, who were set on her by a “benefactor” enraged by her escape attempt.

If the first and second acts took a long time to unfold the picture, introduce the characters, and let you look at the details - the third and fourth acts are in a hurry, the characters will soon run out of time. The scene in Le Havre, where de Grieux unsuccessfully tries to arrange the escape of Manon, who is being sent to hard labor in America, is filled with such rapid despair that even the stalls stop rustling the candy wrappers. This is a very colorful despair - with a wild parade of Manon’s “comrades in misfortune”, where next to the heroine there are clearly inexpensive workers in the sex industry, a hefty transvestite, sufferers from the “circus of freaks” and for some reason a black girl in a wedding dress. The moment of the ship's departure is fantastically done: a triangular piece with the heroes suddenly breaks out of the previously flat stage and, swaying like an ice floe, travels into the darkness. Uncertainty, danger, the unnaturalness of this fate - everything is in this piece of floor, which suddenly ceased to be reliable and firmly standing in place.

The entire final act is Netrebko and Eyvazov alone on stage. The stage is empty; According to the plot, Manon and des Grieux wander through an endless wasteland in America, having escaped from the commandant who harassed the heroine (these circumstances are behind the scenes). In Shapiro’s play they are “in the middle of nowhere”: a bare floor, dark backstage, and only in the backdrop do ragged phrases appear, as if written by hand - “help”, “I don’t want to die”. Phrases melt, as if washed away by tears, letters flow, disappear completely, new ones appear in their place, until the entire backdrop turns into a jumble of half-erased words and phrases written on top of them. This is the incredible mental and physical fatigue of the heroine, who is exhausted on the way and close to death: from Manon’s gloomy, gentle, masterly monologue (Netrebko was even better than herself here), the main desires and emotions are highlighted. Replies from de Grieux, who consoles the unfortunate woman and tries to ask for help from the Almighty, emphasize the deafness of the surrounding world and the deafness of heaven; they are also erased by tears. All games end here - Manon is no longer a toy, Manon is already dead.

Recently, inviting drama directors to stage opera performances has been the policy of the Bolshoi Theater. This policy did not always bring success: next to the subtle and precise “Don Pasquale” by Timofey Kulyabin in the repertoire now stands the disappointingly vague “Iolanta” by the excellent director Sergei Zhenovach. But in the case of “Manon Lescaut,” the Bolshoi emerged victorious: Adolf Shapiro (not a debutant in opera - at the Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko Theater he staged “Lucia de Lammermoor,” which received the “Golden Mask”) managed to convey both the nerve and tenderness of this operas by Puccini. It is clear that Anna Netrebko was magnificent. Another victory of the performance is the work of Yusif Eyvazov: he sings a lot on the first world stages, but until now he has been slightly shielded from the Russian public by his wife (he and Anna Netrebko got married last December). Now his work could be fully appreciated - and his des Grieux became one of the important successes of the current season. Thus, the project, which began in the spirit of “we will do everything for the star, as long as she sings,” turned into a triumph for the theater. It would be good if the theater remembered him - and did not hesitate to continue inviting stars of the first row. Even if they set fairly strict conditions.

Anna Netrebko. Photo – IZVESTIA/Pavel Bednyakov

The star of the world opera stage will appear on the stage of the Bolshoi Theater for the first time in his favorite opera “Manon Lescaut”.

On October 16, 2016, the opera “Manon Lescaut” by Giacomo Puccini will be presented for the first time on the stage of the Bolshoi Theater.

The main roles in it will be performed by Anna Netrebko (Manon) and her husband Yusif Eyvazov (Chevalier Rene Des Grieux).

Tickets have been sold out for a long time. And as the director of the Bolshoi Theater, Vladimir Urin, says, he hasn’t picked up the phone for several days, because he won’t be able to give out the counterbrand even to his friends.

“Manon Lescaut” is a special event for music lovers. The project was not in the plans of the Bolshoi. A year ago, the theater management began negotiations with world opera star Anna Netrebko. She was offered any production on the Bolshoi Historical Stage. Prima chose Manon Lescaut. On the eve of the premiere, a press conference was held at the Bolshoi Theater by the creators of the opera.

“It is an honor for me to perform on the stage of the Bolshoi Theater: I have never been here before. Manon Lescaut is one of my favorite operas. It’s dramatic, about love, and I perform it with great happiness and delight,”

– Anna stunned those gathered.

Anna Netrebko, Yusif Eyvazov. Photo – IZVESTIA/Pavel Bednyakov

“For me, working with Anna is not only pleasure, but also learning. Although she doesn’t sing to me at home,

- said Eyvazov. It turned out that Eyvazov is not the only one studying with Anna.

“I learn a lot from Anna and Yusif, and I admire the patience with which they approach their work. Despite the fact that they are masters of the highest level, they very often ask me for advice and some recommendations. We worked in an atmosphere of mutual respect,”

– says Yader Binyamini, specially invited from Italy.

The opera “Manon Lescaut” was staged by the director of the drama theater Adolph Shapiro. His track record includes productions at the Chekhov Moscow Art Theater, Tabakerka, and the Theater named after. Mayakovsky, RAMT, etc. It is also in demand abroad. Working on the opera stage is a kind of discovery for him. And the world-famous star is just a student at work.

“I work a lot abroad, from Shanghai to Sao Paulo, and for me there is no difference between our artists or foreign ones, just as there is no difference between Smoktunovsky, Netrebko or a student. If I adapt to them, there will be nothing left of me.

As for working with Anna, I am inspired by the way she sings. She is a great artist. The very fact of such an artist being on stage becomes art. Even if she went the wrong way and did the wrong thing. I’m interested in her plasticity, reaction, nature,”

– Adolf Shapiro admitted.

Unlike the singer, the director visited the Bolshoi Theater more than once. According to Adolf Yakovlevich, in his youth as a student he looked at Borodin’s “Polovtsian Dances” from the third tier. And now he comes to work at Bolshoi as if it were home. Since he has been spending days and nights here for more than one month.

“It’s difficult to make a good production, but thanks to Adolf Shapiro, working on the play was a pleasure. If I don't like the director's approach and his vision of the role, I just leave.

Vladimir Urin, Anna Netrebko, Yusif Eyvazov. Photo – IZVESTIA/Pavel Bednyakov

– says Anna Netrebko. This didn't happen here. Anna and Yusif flew to Moscow a few days ago. And when she first appeared on the theater stage, she was literally shocked.

“The acoustics on the Bolshoi stage are very difficult for singers. Due to the massive scenery and large space, the sound does not return to the performer. We have to work twice as hard. In the first days of rehearsals, I was in real shock. Well, then we somehow got used to it.”

The ending of the opera is tragic.

There are singers who love to die on stage, they live for it. I don’t like it, but when necessary, I enter this state. It's costing me a lot because I'm really, really stressed. Then it affects my body. Well, what can I do, I chose this profession,

Adolph Shapiro. Photo – IZVESTIA/Pavel Bednyakov

– says Netrebko. As Anna jokes, after the performance is played on October 22, she and her husband will get drunk for the occasion.

And the theater management is already making plans for further projects with the couple. Anna and Yusif will return to the Bolshoi more than once; in their absence, the second cast will take the stage - Ainoa Arteta (Spain) and Riccardo Massi (Italy).

For those who cannot get to the Bolshoi Theater, the Culture channel will broadcast a broadcast of the opera Manon Lescaut on October 23, 2016.

Anna Netrebko sang for the first time in a performance at the Bolshoi Theater. For the viewer, as well as for the critic, this fact alone is enough to clap their hands - Netrebko or any other artist from the conventional top ten gives both the production and the theater a completely different status in the world table of ranks. The performance for Anna Netrebko was staged by director Adolf Shapiro, artist Maria Tregubova and conductor Yader Benjamin.

For her debut at the Bolshoi, the singer proposed Puccini's opera Manon Lescaut. For her, this is a significant work, and not only in creative terms. While working on this opera in Rome, she met her future husband, tenor Yusif Eyvazov. They had already sung a duet from “Manon Lescaut” at the Bolshoi at a concert in honor of Elena Obraztsova’s anniversary, so the choice of the name of the performance, as well as the choice of a stage partner, apparently came naturally. The Italian conductor Yader Benjamin was also suggested by Netrebko. His work, it must be said, left an ambivalent impression: having underestimated the acoustic properties of the Bolshoi Theater, the maestro muffled the choir too much, and in addition, there was a feeling that there was simply no contact between the orchestra and the soloists on stage, the verticals regularly “floated”. But as for the sound of the orchestra, one should note here both tartness, passion, and Italian “sweetness”.

No matter how you feel about the theory of ensemble theater (that is, one where performances are staged based on their own artists), in which the leadership of the Bolshoi Theater believes, practice proves that all the successes of the theater in this situation remain local in nature. If we talk about opera, of course.

Another thought that came to mind after the premiere: artists of this level need a director who will only direct and place accents. Especially when it comes to Puccini, whose music sometimes does not require words, it expresses feelings so completely. Two black figures in a huge empty space - this is the starting point of the last action. But how Netrebko and Eyvazov fill this emptiness with energy alone! However, this energy is not something ephemeral, it is mastery: behind it are years of work, perfect mastery of the voice, impeccable quality, and absolute confidence.

The artists just move towards the proscenium and in the finale they practically enter the space of the hall, hovering on the edge, but how sad, how tragic this path is! (So ​​you can sympathize with the future performers of these roles, will they cope, will they “take” the stage, won’t they get lost?).

The set design of this performance is built on the principle of freeing up space following the dramaturgy of the opera, which moves from plot polyphony to love. The artist Maria Tregubova, a student of Dmitry Krymov, in the best traditions of her school, includes meaning in the scenography. A “toy” French town cut out of paper occupies the entire scene: the red and green caps of cheerful students look like bright spots on a white background. Manon also looks like a part of the toy world: she looks like an enlarged copy of her favorite doll, which she does not let go of. Here two players appear: a gambler (Manon’s brother was played by Elchin Azizov) and a collector of lovely dolls, Geronte de Ravoir (Alexander Naumenko) - a remarkable figure, given his attire, where a hat with a veil is added to the fashionable (today) short trousers and patent leather moccasins.

The set design of the second act continues the toy theme, but with a change in the figurative vector: what at first seemed cute, here looks rather repulsive. The exaggerated size of the doll occupies most of the room, an integral attribute of the coquette Manon’s room—a mirror that “absorbs” both the inhabitants of the home and the entire orchestra pit. The cosmetic flies that Manon requires to be “planted” on her face will be literally planted in the form of disgusting insects on the doll. The set design literally conveys the disgust that, frankly speaking, you feel both for the decaying society of which Manon has become a part, and for the heroine herself, especially at the moment of her fatal mistake, when in her desire to grab the little piece of gold (his role is played by those same beetles and spiders on doll) she misses the moment to escape. This one will cost her her life.

The third act is equally impressive. The black emptiness of the stage is the one that will swallow Manon. The white wedge in the foreground is a small island, hope for salvation. Here the show of the outcasts begins: a transvestite, a prostitute, a black bride, a dwarf, a bodybuilder are exiled to dysfunctional America from decent Europe... They line up in a tight wedge, and the “boat” is disconnected from the “pier” and, swaying, begins its journey into the depths of the stage - into the frightening unknown, nowhere. The last action was described above, with the exception of one detail. Four disparate (as the director perceives them) actions are “interrupted” by a black curtain, but “stitched together” by fragments from the Abbé Prevost’s novel, which are broadcast on the curtain. Thus, Shapiro bypasses the need to explain to the viewer why suddenly, having run away with De Grillet, Manon ends up in the rich home of Geronte de Ravoir, or why the captive ends up with her lover in the desert. (In Puccini’s time this, obviously, was not necessary; the contents of the novel were known to visitors to opera houses). In some ways, this technique really helps, in others it hinders. For example, the famous intermission to the third act, which is often performed as a separate number in concert programs, does not require additions, one just wants to erase all these letters and let this passionate farewell to life sound alone. The same goes for the finale. During the last duet, confused inscriptions appear on the backdrop, made by de Grillet's hand. The even, neat handwriting changes following the characters’ experiences, tears fall, blots appear, until the entire text is drowned in ink. Remove the letters and nothing will change... At least when Anna Netrebko and Yusif Eyvazov are on stage.

In 1993 she became the winner of the All-Russian Vocal Competition named after. M. I. Glinka (1st prize, Smolensk).
In 1996 - laureate of the II International Competition for Young Opera Singers. N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov (III prize, St. Petersburg).
In 1998, she became a laureate of the Russian music award “Casta diva” in the category “Role of the Year” (for the role of Suzanne in “The Marriage of Figaro”).
In 2004 - laureate of the State Prize of the Russian Federation. Awarded the Austrian music award “Amadeus” for the album “Opera Arias” (Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, conductor G. Noseda, 2003).
In 2006 she won the Bambi Award in the Classics category.
In 2007, she was awarded the title “Musician of the Year” by Musical America magazine.
In 2008 she was awarded the title of People's Artist of Russia.
Winner of the highest theater award of St. Petersburg “Golden Sofit” (1998-2001, 2003, 2005, 2009).
Winner of the Classical BRIT Awards in the category “Singer of the Year” (2007, 2008).
Winner of the ECHO Klassik award in the category “Singer of the Year” (2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2014, 2016).
Inducted into the Gramophone Magazine Hall of Fame.

Biography

Born in Krasnodar. In 1988 she entered the Leningrad Music College in the vocal department. Two years later she entered the St. Petersburg Conservatory named after N.A. Rimsky-Korsakov, where she studied in the class of Professor T. Novichenko.

After winning the competition named after M.I. Glinka was invited to join the Mariinsky Theater troupe in 1993. Her debut role in this theater was Suzanne in “The Marriage of Figaro” by V.A. Mozart (1994). Soon, already as a leading soloist, she performed the following roles on the Mariinsky stage: Lyudmila (“Ruslan and Lyudmila”), Ksenia (“Boris Godunov”), Martha (“The Tsar’s Bride”), Louise (“Betrothal in a Monastery”), Natasha Rostov (“War and Peace”), Rosin (“The Barber of Seville”), Amin (“La Sonnambula”), Lucia (“Lucia di Lammermoor”), Gilda (“Rigoletto”), Violetta (“La Traviata”), Musetta and Mimi (“La Boheme”), Antony (“The Tales of Hoffmann”), Donna Anna and Zerlina (“Don Juan”) and others.

In 1994, as part of the Mariinsky Theater troupe, she began touring abroad. The singer performed in Finland (festival in Mikkeli), Germany (festival in Schleswig-Holstein), Israel. In the same year she performed the role of the Queen of the Night in The Magic Flute (Riga Independent Opera Avangarda Akadēmija).

In 1995 she made her debut at the San Francisco Opera as Lyudmila in M. Glinka's opera Ruslan and Lyudmila. In 1999-2001, she continued her collaboration with the theater, taking part in productions of the operas “Betrothal in a Monastery”, “The Marriage of Figaro”, “Idomeneo”, “La Boheme” and “Elisir of Love”.

In 2002, together with the Mariinsky Theater, she made her debut on the stage of the Metropolitan Opera as Natasha (War and Peace, Andrei - Dmitry Hvorostovsky). She also performed this role, one of the best in her repertoire, on the stages of the Madrid Teatro Real, Milan's La Scala, London's Royal Opera House Covent Garden and at the Moscow Easter Festival. In 2002, she performed for the first time on the stage of the Philadelphia Opera House, performing the role of Juliet (Capulets and Montagues by V. Bellini). In the summer of the same year she made her debut in the role of Donna Anna in the opera “Don Juan” by V.A. Mozart, which took place as part of the Salzburg Festival under the direction of Nikolaus Harnoncourt.

After her triumphant performance at the festival in Salzburg, Anna Netrebko began to appear on the stages of the most famous opera houses, including the Metropolitan Opera, the San Francisco Opera House, the Royal Opera House Covent Garden (Donna Anna in “Don Giovanni” by W.A. Mozart, 2003 ), Vienna State Opera, Paris National Opera, Berlin State Opera and Bavarian State Opera (Violetta in La Traviata by G. Verdi, with Rolando Villazon, 2003), Los Angeles Opera (title role in Lucia di Lammermoor by G. Donizetti , 2003). Also in 2003, she entered into an exclusive contract with Deutsche Grammophon.

Anna Netrebko performs with major conductors - Valery Gergiev, James Levine, Seiji Ozawa, Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Zubin Mehta, Colin Davis, Claudio Abbado - on the most famous stages in the world. She can be heard both in legendary music halls - New York's Carnegie Hall, London's Barbican Center and Royal Albert Hall - and in stadiums, where she sings for tens of thousands of spectators. Anna Netrebko's open-air concerts with Placido Domingo and Rolando Villazón in Berlin's Waldbühne for the World Football Championship and in Vienna's Schönbrunn Palace for the European Football Championship were broadcast on television to millions of people around the world. At the opening ceremony of the XXII Winter Olympic Games in Sochi, she performed the Olympic anthem.

In 2013, at the Verbier Festival, she performed for the first time the role of Desdemona in Act I of G. Verdi's Othello (conducted by Valery Gergiev) and made her debut in the title role in Verdi's Joan of Arc at the Salzburg Festival (concert performance, with the participation of Placido Domingo and Francesco Meli). Together with Thomas Hampson and Ian Bostridge, Anna Netrebko performed “War Requiem” by B. Britten (conducted by Antonio Pappano).

Recent engagements include: the role of Leonora in Il Trovatore by G. Verdi (Metropolitan Opera, Paris Opera, Berlin State Opera, Salzburg Festival), title roles in Macbeth (Metropolitan Opera, Munich Opera Festival) and Joan of Arc "G. Verdi (La Scala Theatre), "Manon Lescaut" by G. Puccini (Rome Opera House, Vienna Opera, Salzburg Festival), "Anne Boleyn" (Zurich Opera House, Vienna State Opera), "Iolanta" (Monte Opera Carlo), Tatiana in Eugene Onegin (Vienna State Opera, Munich Opera Festival); also in 2016, for the first time, she performed the role of Elsa in R. Wagner’s Lohengrin (Mariinsky Theatre, Dresden State Opera, director Christina Militz).

In 2016, at the Bolshoi Theater, she took part in the production of the opera “Manon Lescaut” by G. Puccini, performing the title role (conductor-producer Yader Binyamini, production director Adolf Shapiro).

Discography

CD
1997 - M. Glinka “Ruslan and Lyudmila”, part of Lyudmila (conductor Valery Gergiev, Philips).
1998 - S. Prokofiev “Betrothal in a Monastery”, as Louise (conductor Valery Gergiev, Philips).
2001 - S. Prokofiev “The Love for Three Oranges”, Ninetta (conductor Valery Gergiev, Philips).
2003 - “Opera Arias” (V. Bellini, G. Donizetti, J. Massenet, G. Berlioz, A. Dvorak and others, conductor Gianandrea Noseda, Deutsche Grammophon).
2004 - “Sempre Libera” (arias from operas by V. Bellini, G. Donizetti, G. Verdi, G. Puccini, conductor Claudio Abbado, Deutsche Grammophon).
2005 - G. Verdi “La Traviata” (conductor Carlo Rizzi, Deutsche Grammophon).
2005 - S. Prokofiev “Betrothal in a Monastery” (conductor Valery Gergiev, Deutsche Grammophon).
2006 - “Mozart Album” (Deutsche Grammophon).
2006 - Violetta: arias and duets from La Traviata by G. Verdi (with Rolando Villazon, T. Hampson, Deutsche Grammophon).
2007 - “Russian Album” (M. Glinka, P. Tchaikovsky, N. Rimsky-Korsakov, S. Rachmaninov, S. Prokofiev, conductor Valery Gergiev, Deutsche Grammophon).
2007 - “Duets” (with Roland Villason, Deutsche Grammophon).
2008 - “Souvenirs” (M.-A. Charpentier, L. Arditi, E. Grieg, A. Dvorak, N. Rimsky-Korsakov, J. Offenbach and others, Deutsche Grammophon).

2008 - G. Puccini “La Bohème” (conductor Bertrand de Billy, Deutsche Grammophon).
2008 - V. Bellini “Capulets and Montagues”, Juliet (conductor Fabio Luisi, Deutsche Grammophon).
2010 - “In The Still Of Night” (N. Rimsky-Korsakov, P. Tchaikovsky, A. Dvorak, R. Strauss, Concert at the Berlin Philharmonic, 2010; piano part - Daniel Barenboim, Deutsche Grammophon).
2011 - G. Rossini “Stabat Mater” (conductor Antonio Pappano, EMI).
2011 - G. Pergolesi “Stabat Mater” (conductor Antonio Pappano, Deutsche Grammophon).
2013 - “Verdi”, arias from the operas “Don Carlos”, “Joan of Arc”, “Macbeth”, “Il Trovatore”, “Sicilian Vespers” (with Rolando Villazon, conductor Gianandrea Noseda, Deutsche Grammophon).
2013 - B. Britten “War Requiem” (conductor Antonio Pappano, Warner Classics).
2014 - G. Verdi “Joan of Arc”, (conductor Paolo Carignani, Deutsche Grammophon).
2014 - R. Strauss “Four Last Songs” and “The Life of a Hero” (conductor Daniel Barenboim, Deutsche Grammophon).
2015 - P. Tchaikovsky “Iolanta” (conductor Emmanuel Vuillaume, Deutsche Grammophon).
2016 - “Verismo”, arias from operas by G. Puccini, F. Cilea, R. Leoncavallo and others (with Yusif Eyvazov, conductor Antonio Pappano, Deutsche Grammophon).

2003 - M. Glinka “Ruslan and Lyudmila” (conductor Valery Gergiev, Philips).
2003 - “Anna Netrebko. Woman. Voice" (directed by Vincent Patterson, Deutsche Grammophon).
2005 - S. Prokofiev “Betrothal in a Monastery” (conductor Valery Gergiev, Philips).
2006 - G. Donizetti “Elisir of Love” (conductor Alfred Eswe, Virgin).
2006 - G. Verdi “La Traviata” (conductor Carlo Rizzi, Deutsche Grammophon).
2007 - V. Bellini “The Puritans” (conductor Patrick Summers, Deutsche Grammophon).
2008 - J. Massenet “Manon” (conductor Daniel Barenboim, Deutsche Grammophon).
2008 - V.A. Mozart "The Marriage of Figaro" (conductor Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Deutsche Grammophon).
2008 - “Concert in Berlin” (with Plácido Domingo and Rolando Villazón, conductor Marco Armigliato, Deutsche Grammophon).
2009 - G. Puccini “La Bohème” (film, directed by Robert Dornhelm).
2010 - G. Donizetti “Lucia di Lammermoor” (conductor Marco Armigliato, Deutsche Grammophon).
2011 - G. Donizetti “Anne Boleyn” (conductor Evelino Pido, Deutsche Grammophon).
2011 - G. Donizetti “Don Pasquale” (conductor James Levine, Deutsche Grammophon).
2012 - G. Puccini “La Bohème” (conductor Daniele Gatti, Deutsche Grammophon).
2014 - G. Verdi “Il Trovatore” (conductor Daniel Barenboim, Deutsche Grammophon).
2014 - “Anna Netrebko at the Salzburg Festival” (G. Verdi “La Traviata”, W.A. Mozart “The Marriage of Figaro”, G. Puccini “La Bohème”, conductor Daniele Gatti, Deutsche Grammophon).
2014 - P. Tchaikovsky “Eugene Onegin” (Metropolitan Opera, conductor Valery Gergiev, Deutsche Grammophon).
2015 - G. Verdi “Macbeth” (conductor Fabio Luisi, Deutsche Grammophon).
2015 - V.A. Mozart “Don Giovanni” (La Scala, conductor Daniel Barenboim, Deutsche Grammophon).

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- a Russian singer who has been applauded by the whole world for many years - performed for the first time at the Bolshoi Theater. The performer chose the piece for her debut on the most famous stage in the country herself, appearing before the public in the title role in “”. This wonderful opera by G. Puccini had not been staged before at the Bolshoi Theater, but it occupies a special place in her life: while performing it at the Rome Opera, she met Yusif Eyvazov, who later became her husband. In the Bolshoi Theater performance, this singer performed the role of the Chevalier de Grieux. Equally wonderful performers performed in other roles: Lesko - Elchin Azizov, Geront - Alexander Naumenko, Marat Gali - Dance Teacher, Yulia Mazurova - Singer.

One of the main difficulties of the role of Manon Lescaut is the contradiction between the heroine’s youth and the vocal part, which requires a strong voice and considerable experience. Both appear in singers at a fairly mature age. She has these qualities - the artist delighted the audience with the richness of all registers, the richness of timbre colors, the subtlety of nuance and phrasing, and her amazing plasticity allows the experienced singer to look convincing in the image of a young girl. Having initially appeared very young - half a child, in the second act the heroine already looks like a seductive young woman, but as soon as her lover appears - and again in all her movements the features of a girl appear, so spontaneous in the sincerity of her feelings. 39-year-old Yu. Eyvazov looks just as convincing in the role of an impetuous young man in love. True, the singer’s voice did not always sound smooth, although on the whole the performer coped with the part.

Manon Lescaut - Anna Netrebko. Chevalier des Grieux - Yusif Eyvazov. Photo by Damir Yusupov

The performance was conducted by Yader Binyamini. The conductor's work made a pleasant impression on both the audience and the audience, who believe that singing with an orchestra under his direction is very convenient. The orchestra, choir and soloists' voices sounded balanced and clear, delighting listeners with the richness and subtlety of nuances. The cello solo was beautifully performed by B. Lifanovsky. The choreographic scenes staged by Tatyana Baganova looked very elegant.

The weak point of the play "" turned out to be the direction. Director Adolf Shapiro - like - is collaborating with the Bolshoi Theater for the first time, but - unlike the singer - he did not show his best side. The director’s idea in itself is not bad: to emphasize in the image of the heroine the features of a girl who has not completely left childhood and has found herself in a cruel “adult” world, where she can be used as a toy. But instead of psychologically working out the role with the performer, the director is carried away by demonstrating symbols - such as, for example, a doll in the hands of Manon, dressed in the same dress and hat as the heroine herself. Carried away by such external attributes, the director seems to forget about the performers - and as a result, Manon looks somewhat cold. But she knows how to create such lively, emotional images on stage - just remember her Natasha Rostova! One can only regret that the director ignored this side of her talent. In some moments of the performance, the director reaches outright surrealism, completely out of harmony with G. Puccini’s music: a giant doll with a rotating head and moving eyes in the second act, a “freak show” in the third act, more appropriate in a circus than in an opera house...

Despite such directorial mistakes, the debut at the Bolshoi Theater can be considered successful. I would like to believe that the singer’s first role on the main stage of Russia will not be her last, and the audience of the Bolshoi Theater will discover new facets of her talent.