Sondra Radvanovsky and Vincenzo Scalera

Overview

Sondra Radvanovsky is a star soprano, renowned for her exceptional dramatic presence and a voice of rich, luscious colour and depth. In this programme, accompanied by Vincenzo Scalera, she alternates arias and songs by Bellini, Verdi and Puccini, showcasing her affinity for the Italian bel canto and verismo repertoire. Demonstrating her remarkable versatility, these are set alongside songs by Rachmaninov, the famous Letter Scene from Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin, and three great songs by tonal master Richard Strauss.

Programme

Vincenzo Bellini (1801–1835)

“Casta diva,”

La ricordanza,

Per pietà, bell’ idol mio,

Ma rendi pur contento

Sergei Rachmaninov (1873–1943)

Ne poy, krasavitsa,

Zdes’ khorosho,

Ya zhdu tebya

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840–1893)

“Letter Scene” from Eugene Onegin

Interval

Richard Strauss (1864–1949)

Befreit,

Allerseelen,

Heimliche Aufforderung

Giacomo Puccini (1858–1924)

“Mi chiamano Mimì,”

Sole e amore,

E l’uccellino

Giuseppe Verdi (1813–1901)

“Tacea la notte,”

In solitaria stanza, Stornello,

“Pace, pace mio Dio”

Artists

Sondra Radvanovsky  

Sondra Radvanovsky trained at the Metropolitan Opera in the late 1990s in the Lindemann Young Artists’ Development Programme. After performances in smaller roles there, she caught the attention of critics as Antonia in Les Contes d’Hoffmann. Since then, she has performed in all the world’s major opera houses, including the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, the Teatro alla Scala, the Metropolitan Opera, New York, Opernhaus Zürich and numerous others, and has appeared in concerts throughout the world, singing with leading orchestras.

In addition to this, Radvanovsky has collaborated with various record labels. Her debut recording, Verdi Arias, was released in April 2010 on the Delos label. The album quickly became a critical hit and made several season-best lists, including those of NPR and The New Yorker. In 2011 Delos released a CD of Verdi opera scenes with Radvanovsky and her frequent artistic partner, the late Dmitri Hvorostovsky, recorded with the Philharmonia of Russia and Constantine Orbelian. Recent highlights of her discography include the title role in Turandot for Warner Classics, with Jonas Kaufmann as Calaf and the Orchestra and Chorus of the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia conducted by Antonio Pappano.

No stranger to the screen, Radvanovsky appears on a Naxos DVD of Cyrano de Bergerac alongside Plácido Domingo, and in Il trovatore, Un ballo in maschera, Roberto Devereux and Medea for the very popular Met: Live in HD series. She has also been an enthusiastic host for the Live in HD transmissions of La fanciulla del West, Otello and Francesca da Rimini.

Radvanovsky is a co-creator and co-host of the podcast Screaming Divas, where she and her friend the soprano Keri Alkema talk about their lives and operatic careers with friends and colleagues. The duo has recently launched the fourth season of this podcast.

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Vincenzo Scalera

Vincenzo Scalera was born into an Italian-American family in New Jersey and began playing the piano at the age of five. He was educated at the Manhattan School of Music and worked as an assistant conductor at the New Jersey State Opera. He continued his studies in Italy and was appointed a coach and pianist at La Scala, Milan, where he worked with conductors such as Claudio Abbado, Carlos Kleiber, Riccardo Chailly and Gianandrea Gavazzeni.

Scalera has played at many major festivals including Edinburgh, Martina Franca, Jerusalem, Istanbul and Les Chorégies d’Orange, as well as the Carinthian Summer Music Festival, the Salzburg Festival and the Rossini Opera Festival in Pesaro. He has accompanied many renowned singers including Carlo Bergonzi, Andrea Bocelli, Montserrat Caballé, José Carreras, Juan Diego Flórez, Leyla Gencer, Vittorio Grigolo, Sumi Jo, Raina Kabaivanska, Katia Ricciarelli, Renata Scotto, Cesare Siepi and Lucia Valentini Terrani and has performed in all the world’s prominent musical centres.

His discography includes recordings with Sumi Jo (La promessa), Renata Scotto (complete songs of Verdi), Carlo Bergonzi (Canzone: the Art of Bel Canto) and Carlo Bergonzi and José Carreras in concert as well as a recently released recital. Scalera is a Steinway Artist and is currently on the staff of the Academy for the Performing Arts at La Scala.