Anna Netrebko and Yusif Eyvazov to perform Puccini highlights

A master of female characters and dramatic passions, Giacomo Puccini's oeuvre is associated with some of the most beautiful and poignant melodies in the operatic repertoire. For more than a century, these melodies have served as a powerful attraction for both newcomers to opera and the genre’s most devoted admirers. For Anna Netrebko, arguably the most famous soprano of our time, and the internationally acclaimed tenor Yusif Eyvazov, Puccini’s works have also marked significant milestones in their careers. Their professional and personal relationship began with a Manon Lescaut production in Rome in 2014.

Over the past decade and a half, the Russian star soprano has been a distinguished interpreter of these heroines, including Mimì (La Bohème), Tosca, and Turandot, while the arias and duets of Cio-Cio San (Madama Butterfly) have also been an essential part of Netrebko’s concert repertoire. Similarly, the Azerbaijani tenor has portrayed Des Grieux (Manon Lescaut), Rodolfo (La Bohème), Cavaradossi (Tosca), and Calaf (Turandot) in the world’s most prestigious opera houses, from New York’s Metropolitan Opera to Moscow’s Bolshoi Theatre—including a performance at the Budapest Opera House last November. Although the two star singers have not been a couple in their personal lives since last summer, their decade-long shared history continues to infuse their joint performances with deep emotional intensity, making each of these occasions a truly exceptional experience.

At their first joint gala evening at the Opera House, Anna Netrebko and Yusif Eyvazov will perform excerpts from the above mentioned Puccini works, complemented by intermezzos from Manon Lescaut and Le Villi, played by the Hungarian State Opera Orchestra. As their guests, South African soprano Pumeza Matshikiza and French baritone Jérôme Boutillier will also take part in the gala, joining them for a selection from La Bohème. Pumeza Matshikiza, who will also perform Liù's aria during the evening, is an acclaimed performer in European and American opera houses. She has released two solo albums under the Decca label and most recently contributed to Bryn Terfel's Christmas album, released last year. Jérôme Boutillier, who will sing an aria from Puccini’s lesser-known opera Edgar, is a regular guest at leading theaters in French- and German-speaking regions, from the Paris Opera to the Bavarian State Opera. Hungarian audiences have also had the opportunity to hear him, most notably in the role of Karnak in the National Philharmonic’s concert performance of King Ys last January.

Conducting the Puccini gala is Michelangelo Mazza, who has been an internationally recognised interpreter of Italian opera for more than a decade. He first conducted the OPERA Orchestra in 2017 at Anna Netrebko and Yusif Eyvazov’s grand gala at Berlin’s Waldbühne. In 2018, he led the orchestra for the Erkel Theatre premiere of Un ballo in maschera, and a year later, he conducted the company during Olga Peretyatko’s aria recital at Müpa.

Anna Netrebko and Yusif Eyvazov's collaboration with the Hungarian State Opera began in August 2017 with the aforementioned gala evening at Berlin’s Waldbühne. Later that same year, in December, the two world stars performed in a concert version of Andrea Chénier at the Erkel Theatre, organized by the OPERA. Their next joint appearance came in 2021, when they worked with the ensembles of the Hungarian State Opera in a concert performance of Tosca at Müpa. In 2022, the Russian soprano gave a piano-accompanied aria evening at the Opera House, while in 2023, the OPERA Orchestra accompanied their performance at VeszprémFest. In 2024, they sang the lead roles in Il trovatore in an OPERA production at the Eiffel Art Studios, and most recently, Yusif Eyvazov performed the role of Calaf in the new Turandot production staged last autumn.

Photo: Vladimir Shirokov