Album: Anna Netrebko, Live at the Metropolitan Opera (Deutsche Grammophon)

This compilation of highlights from Anna Netrebko's Metropolitan Opera roles makes a distinctive introduction to her talents.

Her weightless serenity through "Qui la voce sua soave" from Bellini's I Puritani shows her effortless command of the emotional thrust of the piece; and she's in no way outgunned in her passionate flow by Verdi's storm-tossed orchestration in a three-hander from Rigoletto. She seems to find her most natural foil in Roberto Alagna's Romeo, though it's her solo aria from Roméo & Juliette that proves one of the stand-out performances here, the other being a dazzling showstopper from Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor, "Il dolce suono", which has the audience justly bawling its acclaim.

DOWNLOAD THIS: Il dolce suono; Qui la voce sua soave; Dieu! Quel frisson