Odyssey in St. Petersburg
I have never been to St. Petersburg, and it is certainly a historic city. This DVD allows one to explore the interesting aspects of the city AND… to hear some terrific music by two amazing singers.
Reneé Fleming and one of her favorite singing partners, Dmitri Hvorostovsky, explore the origins of 19th-century European opera performance in the theatres of St. Petersburg, presenting a three-part program of Verdi duets, songs by Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninov and Medtner, and Tchaikovsky opera.
The 90 minute film is hosted by Reneé Fleming herself, as she takes the viewer on a journey through the musical locations and history of “The Venice of the North”. The DVD will also include 23 minutes of additional performance footage, including Reneé Fleming singing Bellini’s “Casta Diva” from the opera, Norma.
The two singers did selections which may not be familiar to casual opera fans or newcomers, but they were easy to listen to, and, of course, the sub-titles made it a snap to understand what they were singing about. The palaces and other sites were beautiful and interesting.
Here are Renee Fleming and Dmitri Hvorostovsky as they sing ‘La ci darem la mano’ from Act I of Mozart’s Don Giovanni.
And here are Renée Fleming and Dmitri Hvorostovsky singing the final scene from Eugene Onegin by P. I. Tchaikovsky at their concert in Moscow, 2006
Tags: Renee Fleming, Dmitri Hvorostovsky, St. Petersburg