Edita Gruberova: Great Singers Live (CD, Br-Klassik)

Edita Gruberova her name alone is a sensual euphony. The Slovak coloratura soprano is undisputedly one of the most famous interpreters of the ornate opera singing of today, especially the Italian bel canto. She made her debut as Queen of the Night in Mozart’s Magic Flute at the Vienna State Opera (1970); Since appearing in the same role at the Glyndebourne and Salzburg Festival (1974), she has become an integral part of the most important international music theater stages and concert stages. Flattering epithets such as queen of coloratura, Slovak nightingale or prima donna assoluta are hardly exaggerated; they literally and truly stand for what Edita Gruberova has embodied for almost half a century, for what she is celebrated all over the world: her perfect mastery of vocal technique, the sleepwalking confidence, the most difficult coloratura and the highest peak notes, a clear and unambiguous intonation and in addition, outshining and transfiguring everything: the seductive, beguiling timbre of her voice. The CD released by BR-KLASSIK on the occasion of her 50th stage anniversary (21-year-old Gruberova made her debut as Rosina in Rossini’s Barber of Seville at the National Theater in her hometown Bratislava on February 19, 1968) presents nine recordings made between October 1983 and June 2000 at Bavarian Radio concerts. We are also celebrating 40 years of artistic attachment to her that has existed since she began the Abduction from the Seraglio in 1978. In addition to well-known and less familiar arias from operas by Handel (Alcina), Rossini (Il barbiere di Siviglia), Donizetti (Lucia di Lammermoor and Linda di Chamounix) and Bellini (Beatrice di Tenda) as well as Adele’s couplet from Johann Strauss’ operetta Die Fledermaus is Edita Gruberova in interpretations of Mozart’s Exsultate, jubilate and together with the Regensburger Domspatzen his Laudate Dominum from the Vesperae solennes de confessore as well as Michael Haydn’s Christmas cantata Lauft, her shepherd, all too seldom played on the new CD. This CD is more than a historical portrait; it offers a representative musical cross-section through the wide-ranging repertoire of Edita Gruberova with a few surprises that complement and enrich her rich discography. A perfect gift for every lover of beautiful voices, not only for Christmas or for Edita Gruberova’s 50th stage anniversary.