Summer tour with Anna Netrebko
This July and August, the Prague Philharmonia will take part in a grand tour featuring three of the most acclaimed opera soloists of the present day. The three young opera stars - the soprano ANNA NETREBKO, the bass-baritone ERWIN SCHROTT and the tenor JONAS KAUFMANN - will be performing at open-air concerts accompanied by the PRAGUE PHILHARMONIA and conducted by Switzerland’s Marco Armiliato, where they will sing classic opera arias together. The tour kicks off on 29 July at the Königsplatz in Munich. 
The Russian-Austrian soprano Anna Netrebko is one of the most successful divas of the present time. Her partner, the superlative Uruguayan singer Erwin Schrott, with his exquisitely timbred baritone, will appear opposite Anna Netrebko at all the concerts. The second concert will take place at Vienna’s Stadthalle on 6 August, the third ten days later, on 16 August at the Waldbühne in Berlin. The other singer accompanying Anna Netrebko on the tour will be the tenor Jonas Kaufmann, who has dazzled opera audiences worldwide with his strongly emotive voice and natural vocal performance.
The summer 2011 concerts have been prepared by Peter Schwenkow, Chairman of the Board of Directors of DEAG Classics AG: “I am delighted that these exceptional artists have placed their trust in us and together we can pay homage to classical music in these three wonderful European cities.”
The Prague Philharmonia has become a traditional partner to world-renowned opera stars, accompanying them not only during their visits to Prague but also on prestigious stages in Paris, Paris, Hamburg, as well as Petra, Jordan, where in 2008 the orchestra appeared at a mega-concert in honour of the opera legend Luciano Pavarotti. The Prague Philharmonia has collaborated with Anna Netrebko on previous occasions. The diva’s fourth and most popular album, “Souvenirs”, recorded for Deutsche Grammophon, has deep Prague connections. Not only was it recorded at the Rudolfinum, the songs featured on it include a work by the most distinguished Czech classical composer, Antonín Dvořák (Songs My Mother Taught Me, from the cycle Gypsy Songs, Op. 55). In the booklet, Netrebko says that she selected the compositions herself and that the songs, melodies and arias are close to her heart.
Anna Netrebko is an icon of international opera who receives rapturous audience responses, and her appearance opposite Erwin Schott, the world’s finest Leporello, is a concert-goer’s dream come true. The two artists recently dazzled at this year’s Salzburger Festspiele; Anna as Juliette in Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette, Erwin as Leporello in Mozart’s Don Giovanni. Jonas Kaufmann is currently one of the world’s most distinguished and versatile singers. His charismatic voice has garnered plaudits at the most prestigious opera houses and stages worldwide, including in New York and Zurich, as well as at the Bayreuth, Salzburg and other festivals.
The concert visitors can look forward to pearls from the operatic repertoire and other surprises the soloists have in store. The Berlin concert will be broadcast by the ZDF television channel and the tour will be recorded for a DVD release.
Concert schedule:
29 July 2011, 8 pm – Königsplatz, Munich
6 August 2011, 7.30 pm – Stadthalle, Vienna
16 August 2011, 8 pm – Waldbühne, Berlin
