Anna Netrebko – “the Russian-Austrian darling of the Salzburg Festival” (Tagesspiegel) – has once again triumphed at this year’s festivities. With her “unstinting and sensuous vocalism” (Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung), Anna delivered a winning portrayal of Susanna in Claus Guth’s new production of Le nozze di Figaro, which reopened the newly renovated Kleines Festspielhaus (now the House for Mozart) on July 26.

Anna Netrebko was part of a cast that “ensured musical splendour and radiance” (Zeit online) led by Nikolaus Harnoncourt with the Wiener Philharmoniker. Critical acclaim for Anna’s performance was rhapsodic: “The Russian pearl with the servant’s apron is part of the whole, flying along as if weightless, as light as a wisp of smoke, wholly individual,” reported Die Welt. “As a character she is pure delight, her vocal style simply bowls you over.”

“Guth and Harnoncourt have opened up a new perspective on an opera that is normally staged as a lightweight, turbulent farce”, wrote the Zeit online, while Die Welt described Harnoncourt as “a sorcerer able to conjure up magical sounds”. Bloomberg echoed the positive accolades: “This Marriage of Figaro should go down in history as departing director Peter Ruzicka’s greatest Salzburg achievement . . . four hours of perfection.”


DVD Format: DVD-9
Picture Format: 16:9 / NTSC / Colour
Region Code: 0 (worldwide)
Sound Format: pcm stereo / dts 5.1
Subtitles: I/E/G/F/S

Total Playing Time: 202 min. + 26 min. (Bonus)

CAST LIST
Figaro ILDEBRANDO D’ARCANGELO
Count Almaviva BO SKOVHUS
Countess Almaviva DOROTHEA RÖSCHMANN
Susanna ANNA NETREBKO
Cherubino CHRISTINE SCHÄFER
Marcellina MARIE MCLAUGHLIN
Bartolo FRANZ-JOSEF SELIG
Basilio PATRICK HENCKENS
Barbarina EVA LIEBAU
Antonio FLORIAN BÖSCH
Don Curzio OLIVER RINGELHAHN
Cherubim ULI KIRSCH

Wiener Philharmoniker • Nikolaus Harnoncourt
Staged by Claus Guth
Directed by Brian Large
From the House for Mozart, Salzburg Festival 2006

Bonus: Making of