Sondra Radvanovsky and Vincenzo Scalera

ARAB WORLD PREMIERE

Overview

The incomparable Sondra Radvanovsky, opera’s greatest living diva, graces Abu Dhabi for an exclusive recital of breathtaking range and emotional depth. In this programme, accompanied by Vincenzo Scalera, she alternates arias and songs by Bellini, Verdi and Puccini, showing her affinity with the Italian bel canto and verismo repertory. Demonstrating her exceptional versatility, these are set against songs by Rachmaninov and the famous Letter Scene from Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin, and three great songs by the tonal master, Richard Strauss.

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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 One gin

Interval  

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Richard Strauss (1864–1949)

Befreit,  

Allerseelen,  

Heimliche Aufforderung

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Giacomo Puccini (1858–1924)

Mi chiamano Mimì,  

Sole e amore,  

E l’uccellino

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Giuseppe Verdi (1813–1901)

Tacea la notte,

In solitaria stanza, Stornello,  

Pace, pace mio Dio

Artists

Sondra Radvanovsky  

Sondra Radvanovsky is an American-Canadian soprano, born in Berwyn, Illinois. She trained at the Metropolitan Opera in the late 1990s as a member of the Lindemann Young Artists’ Development Programme and first drew critical attention there as Antonia in Les Contes d’Hoffmann.

She has since appeared at major opera houses worldwide, including the Metropolitan Opera, New York; the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden; Teatro alla Scala and Opernhaus Zürich, performing regularly in concert with leading orchestras. Her recordings include the critically acclaimed Verdi Arias (Delos, 2010), a 2011 Verdi scenes album with the late Dmitri Hvorostovsky and the title role in Turandot for Warner Classics, conducted by Antonio Pappano.

A regular presence on screen, Radvanovsky has appeared in filmed productions of Cyrano de Bergerac alongside Plácido Domingo for Naxos, as well as in Il trovatore, Un ballo in maschera, Roberto Devereux and Medea for the Metropolitan Opera’s Live in HD series. She has also hosted Live in HD, transmissions of La fanciulla del West, Otello and Francesca da Rimini.

Radvanovsky is the co-creator and co-host of the podcast Screaming Divas, in which she and soprano Keri Alkema discuss their lives and careers in opera with friends and colleagues. The podcast has recently launched its fourth season.

Vincenzo Scalera

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

Scalera has appeared at major international festivals such as Edinburgh, Martina Franca, Jerusalem, Istanbul, Les Chorégies d’Orange, the Salzburg Festival, the Rossini Opera Festival in Pesaro and the Carinthian Summer Music Festival. He has collaborated with many of the world’s leading singers, among them Carlo Bergonzi, Andrea Bocelli, Montserrat Caballé, José Carreras, Juan Diego Flórez, Vittorio Grigolo, Sumi Jo, Raina Kabaivanska, Katia Ricciarelli, Renata Scotto, Cesare Siepi and Lucia Valentini Terrani, and has performed in major musical centres worldwide.

His discography includes recordings with Sumi Jo (La promessa), Renata Scotto (The 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.