Duets

1	La Bohčme: O soave fanciu
2	Lucia di Lammermoor: Sull
3	Rigoletto: E' il sol dell
4	Roméo et Juliette: Nuit d
5	Les pęcheurs de perles: D
6	Manon: Toi! Vous!...N'est
7	Iolanta, Op. 69: Wondrous
8	Luisa Fernanda: Cállate c
Duets
1.	La bohčme, opera: Act 1. Duet: "O soave fanciulla" 4:10
	Composed by Giacomo Puccini
	Performed by Dresden Staatskapelle, Anna Netrebko and Rolando Villazón
	Conducted by Nicola Luisotti
2.	Lucia di Lammermoor, opera: Part 1. No 4. Scene and Duet: "Lucia perdona" - "S 12:40
	Composed by Gaetano Donizetti
	Performed by Dresden Staatskapelle, Anna Netrebko and Rolando Villazón
	Conducted by Nicola Luisotti
3.	Rigoletto, opera: Act 1. No. 5. Scene and Duet:"Giovanna, ho dei rim 8:19
	Composed by Giuseppe Verdi
	Performed by Dresden Staatskapelle, Anna Netrebko, Rolando Villazón, Nicola Luisotti and Nadine Weissmann
	Conducted by Nicola Luisotti
4.	Roméo et Juliette, opera: Act 4. Scene 1. No. 14. Duet: "Va! je t'ai pardonn 13:23
	Composed by Charles Gounod
	Performed by Dresden Staatskapelle, Anna Netrebko and Rolando Villazón
	Conducted by Nicola Luisotti
5.	Les Pęcheurs de perles, opera in 3 acts: Act 2. No. 8. Chanson: "De mon amie!" - No. 9 Duet 9:00
	Composed by Georges Bizet
	Performed by Dresden Staatskapelle, Anna Netrebko and Rolando Villazón
	Conducted by Nicola Luisotti
6.	Manon, opera in 5 acts: Act 3. Scene 2. Duet: "Toi! Vous!" / Oui, c'est mo 8:04
	Composed by Jules Massenet
	Performed by Dresden Staatskapelle, Anna Netrebko and Rolando Villazón
	Conducted by Nicola Luisotti
7.	Iolanta, opera, Op. 69: No. 7. Duet: "Tvoyo molcan'ye neponyatno" 10:03
	Composed by Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky
	Performed by Dresden Staatskapelle, Anna Netrebko and Rolando Villazón
	Conducted by Nicola Luisotti
8.	Luisa Fernanda, zarzuela: Act 3. No. 13. Duet: "ˇCállate, corazón!" 5:27
	Composed by Federico Moreno Torroba
	Performed by Dresden Staatskapelle, Anna Netrebko and Rolando Villazón
	Conducted by Nicola Luisotti

All Music Guide

Soprano Anna Netrebko and tenor Rolando Villazón are paired here in "opera's greatest love duets," music that allows their ample and expressive voices to soar. Villazón has been compared to Domingo for the quality of his tone, his vocal discipline, and the expressiveness of his interpretations, and these elements are all in evidence here. In "Č il sol dell'anima," from "Rigoletto," the intensity of his characterization is especially penetrating. The purity of Netrebko's tone and the youthful innocence she expresses so persuasively are hugely touching; in her final lines of the first scene of "La bohčme," before Mimě and Rodolfo leave the stage, she sounds so blissfully and simply happy that the awareness of the couple's fate makes the moment unbearably poignant. One intriguing element of the album is having each singer join in a duet from the repertoire that's the other singer's specialty, so there is a selection from Tchaikovsky's "Iolanta" in Russian, and from Torroba's 1932 zarzuela "Luisa Fernanda" in Spanish. Netrebko and Villazón are well matched in their vocal weight and in the depth of their investment in their roles, and the equality of their partnership makes the album especially satisfying. The collection should be of strong interest to Netrebko's and Villazón's fans, and to opera lovers who enjoy old-fashioned, larger-than-life moments of high passion. Nicola Luisotti (who also sings the brief lines of Ceprano and Borsa in the "Rigoletto" excerpt) leads the orchestra of Staatskapelle Dresden in lively and polished performances. Deutsche Grammophon's sound is clean, with fine balance between the singers and orchestra. Stephen Eddins

All Music Guide

Soprano Anna Netrebko and tenor Rolando Villazón are paired here in "opera's greatest love duets," music that allows their ample and expressive voices to soar. Villazón has been compared to Domingo for the quality of his tone, his vocal discipline, and the expressiveness of his interpretations, and these elements are all in evidence here. In "Č il sol dell'anima," from "Rigoletto," the intensity of his characterization is especially penetrating. The purity of Netrebko's tone and the youthful innocence she expresses so persuasively are hugely touching; in her final lines of the first scene of "La bohčme," before Mimě and Rodolfo leave the stage, she sounds so blissfully and simply happy that the awareness of the couple's fate makes the moment unbearably poignant. One intriguing element of the album is having each singer join in a duet from the repertoire that's the other singer's specialty, so there is a selection from Tchaikovsky's "Iolanta" in Russian, and from Torroba's 1932 zarzuela "Luisa Fernanda" in Spanish. Netrebko and Villazón are well matched in their vocal weight and in the depth of their investment in their roles, and the equality of their partnership makes the album especially satisfying. The collection should be of strong interest to Netrebko's and Villazón's fans, and to opera lovers who enjoy old-fashioned, larger-than-life moments of high passion. Nicola Luisotti (who also sings the brief lines of Ceprano and Borsa in the "Rigoletto" excerpt) leads the orchestra of Staatskapelle Dresden in lively and polished performances. Deutsche Grammophon's sound is clean, with fine balance between the singers and orchestra. Stephen Eddins

Gramophone

Netrebko and Villazón are certainly among the most justly celebrated opera singers of their still young generation, and the combining of their voices here appeals to the imagination. John Steane

BBC Music Magazine

There's something undeniably special here. Netrebko and Villazón deliver enough sheer charisma to justify the fuss. Michael Scott Rohan

San Francisco Chronicle

[Villazón's] lustrous voice, dramatic projection and vaulting high notes shine in sharply distinct roles and temperaments.... Netrebko sings powerfully throughout. Steven Winn

Newark Star-Ledger

They make a charming, mutually challenging pair. The program is non-stop soprano/tenor ecstasy. Bradley Bambarger

Daily Telegraph

The two glorious voices match each other well in style and phrasing.... Best of all, perhaps, is the duet from Iolanta, ecstatically sung. Richard Wigmore

Toronto Star

1/2 A fabulous, 71-minute wallow in 19th-century melodrama rendered in musical Technicolor.... Villazón's iron-fist-in-a-velvet-glove tenor is a perfect match for Netrebko's raw-silk coloratura. Neither singer holds back either musically or emotionally, giving each duet great dramatic immediacy. John Terauds