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Russian Recital at the Wiener Staatsoper

Ferruccio Furlanetto will sing Rachmaninov and Mussorgsky in Vienna

Published on May 16 2013

Don’t miss Ferruccio Furlanetto in debut in the recital at the Wiener Staatsoper on May 28. This time he will appear with Russian program which was born with Alexis Weisenberg in 90-s. It was the first approach of Furlanetto to Russian music and language… Now he is performing with the talented young pianist Igor Tchetuev. Watch fragments from the Russian TV program filmed during the St.Petersburg concert in 2010.

The Russian lieder program was recorded by Prestige Classic Vienna and was praised by reviewers. "Furlanetto is a fine, detailed actor and an artist willing to take on challenges in other languages… voice fully expressive over a wide tonal and dynamic range… vocal power at big moments, and reasonable balance between legato and declamatory fervor." Opera News

In advance of the recital Ferruccio Furlanetto gave an interview to the Prologue, monthly Wiener Staatsoper magazine, where he told how the recital was born and about his approach to Rachmaninov and Mussorgsky works. You can download May issue here.

Buy tickets for the Vienna recital

During the next season you can hear Ferruccio Furlanetto in the recital in

Grand Theater of Geneve on January 12, 2014

Berlin Philharmonia on February 26, 2014

Teatro alla Scala, Milan on March 3, 2014

Big Conservatory Hall, Moscow on March 6, 2014

 

“A Magnificent Constant of the Production”

More reviews are coming on ROH's 'Don Carlo'

Published May 12, 2013

More and more reviews about successful Don Carlo at the Royal Opera House with the all-stellar cast are coming out. “A magnificent constant in this production, however, remains Ferruccio Furlanetto as Philip II of Spain”, - writes Cara Chanteau for The Independent. Furlanetto indeed sang both ROH and Met’s premiers of Nickolas Hytner production and all the revivals. His Philipp has many angles: “merciless as despot, heartsick as he accepts his wife has never loved him, and chilling as he plots his own son's death with the poisonous Grand Inquisitor”.

“As Philip II, Ferruccio Furlanetto boasts a powerful stage presence and a voice both charged with authority and haunted by inner demons.” – adds Barry Millington in the London Evening Standard.

“Ferruccio Furlanetto's Philip is already a known quantity, but he has added to the depths of a tyrant only Verdi could make sympathetic. The beginnings are already there when a sob, a crack in the voice reveals his anguish to Rodrigo, the son he would have wanted. Prefaced by Pappano's typically human ROH orchestral cello, Furlanetto takes us straight to the heart of the king's interior anguish in the study scene. The ensuing psychic battle with the formidable if physically frail Grand Inquisitor of Eric Halfvarson … matches inky-black voices and baleful orchestral lower brass.” – commented David Nice in The Art’s Desk.

“Furlanetto is one of those rare basses who can reach down to any note, however low, with a formidable amplitude that fills the house.” – states Daily Mail.

«Ferruccio Furlanetto’s King Philip is imposing yet vulnerable” - states Time Out London, giving 5 star rating to the performance.

“Verdi's much revised masterpiece demands world-class singers at the peak of their powers. … With the experienced Ferruccio Furlanetto, pensive, surly, snide and in growling, robust voice as Philip II… the balance of male voices worked beautifully.” – writes Fiona Maddocksin in The Observer

You can read all press here

 

In the Interview

Ferruccio Furlanetto speaks with Terri Knudsen from Operafocus

Published on May 11 2013

“OPERAFOCUS met with renowned bass Ferruccio Furlanetto at the Royal Opera House in London a day before the opening night of “Don Carlo” on the 4th of May. If I´m being perfectly honest, I was feeling really rather nervous before this interview, mainly because I have so much respect for Maestro Furlanetto as an artist and as a singer. He´s always struck me as very… authoritative, and rightly so. I wasn´t sure what to expect – but he showed up right on time, dressed in a beautiful tailor-made suit, started chatting to us straight away as we waited to be taken to the press room of the opera house. Not only that, he really is a rare breed of old-fashioned gentleman: opened doors, ladies first (even down to sitting taking his seat last) and he gave very generously of his time. He was utterly charming, relaxed and witty.

Ferruccio Furlanetto is a King, not only on the stage – and when the King speaks, you listen respectfully.”

Read the interview

 

‘Don Quichotte’ at The Stars of White Nights

Ferruccio Furlanetto will sing his favorite character in St.Petersburg

Published 10.05.2013

The program of The XXI Stars of White Nights Festival in St.Petersburg has been announced. Ferruccio Furlanetto will be singing title part in Massenet’s ‘Don Quichotte’ on hereJune 29. The brand new production of Yannis Kokkos staging of Massenet’s opera was done on Furlanetto “from scratch” and received high critical acclaim.

“Don Quichotte is one of the best Furlanetto’s parties where excellent vocal is combined with performance that resembles of Feodor Shaliapin for whom this party was written in 1910.” Buisness Petersburg

“Furlanetto delivered a sumptuous performance, making the most of his stage presence and charisma. With a round tone and fine phrasing, the Italian offered an iconic treatment of the ill-fated romantic knight.” The St. Petersburg Times.

You can find all the press here

To the Mariinsky Theater

 

Simon Boccanegra from Lyric on the Air

Lyric Opera of Chicago rebroadcasting internationally their season

Published on May 10 2013

‘Simon Boccanegra’ with Ferruccio Furlanetto as Fiesco will open the series of international broadcasts beginning on Saturday, May 18, and continuing every Saturday through July 13. The Lyric Opera Broadcasts of the 2012/13 Lyric Opera of Chicago season will be rebroadcast internationally by The WFMT Radio Network and heard locally on 98.7WFMT. The eight performances at the Lyric Opera in October and November became an expected triumph for Ferruccio Furlanetto “today’s reining Fiesco” (Chicago Tribune).

“Furlanetto alone invests so much humanity into his part — not to mention strength and warmth throughout its wide range — that the idea that Verdi is only about blood vengeance is pushed far out of mind. Furlanetto’s performance as he handles the old man’s many changing moods and encounters is like a great master class.” – points Andrew Patner in Chicago Sun Times.

You can tune in for “Simon Boccanegra at 1:30pm May 18 CDT. Check local listings for exact times and dates outside the Chicago area. The broadcasts can also be heard anywhere in the world on www.wfmt.com

And you can still attend live performance of ‘Simon Boccanegra’ with Furlanetto as Fiesco this season at the Royal Opera House in June and July. There are still some ticlkets left.

To the broadcast

To the Royal Opera House

 

“A Philosophical Prince of Darkness Commanding Events”

Ferruccio Furlanetto stars as King Philip at the Covent Garden

Published May 9, 2013

The premiere of the second revival of Nickolas Hytner production in the Royal Opera House in London became stunning success with the big ovation at the curtain call and stellar reviews. Ferruccio Furlanetto was “singing with an imposing authority that embraced equally Philip II’s fearsome power and his inner weakness,” – as Richard Fairman at the Financial Times states.

“Ferruccio Furlanetto radiated desperate trapped humanity rather than despotic savagery: his lament for loveless loneliness, sung with impeccable legato, was heart-rending.” - adds Rupert Christiansen in the review for the Telegraph.

And he is still the center of the show “…a philosophical prince of darkness commanding events with baleful demeanour and a burnished tone; his self-tormenting soliloquy was imbued with a massive sadness, and in his duet with the Grand Inquisitor (Eric Halfvarson) the two bass voices meshed in intensely dramatic combat.” As Michael Church writes for The Independent.

And from Opera Today’s review: “Ferruccio Furlanetto was outstanding. His years of experience in the part give him authority. … Furlanetto sings with force, but with color and tenderness.”

A BBC3 broadcast of one of the performances is scheduled for October. The exact date to be announced later.

More reviews you can find here

 

King Philip returns to ROH

Ferruccio Furlanetto will sing seven performances of 'Don Carlo'

Published April 23, 2013

Ferruccio Furlanetto returns to the Covent Garden as King Philip in Nicholas Hytner’s production of ‘Don Carlo’, which was done on him “from scratch, - as he recently stated to Opera News, - I was allowed to do whatever I felt — my own choices.”

The first run of this production in 2008 was filmed for DVD and was named a best opera DVD of the year by Gramophone and Ferruccio Furlanetto was nominated for the Laurence Olivier award. He returned for the first production revival in 2009, again with great critical acclaim. In 2010 Hytner’s ‘Don Carlo’ travelled to the Met, where became part of HD-live season, again with stellar reviews and success with the public. This season it was revived at the Met.

“There, in a revival of Verdi’s “Don Carlo” that opened on Friday, the great bass Ferruccio Furlanetto is giving a spellbinding master class on the adage, – wrote The New York Times. - Whether in his stentorian public declarations in the auto-da-fe scene or in the private outpouring “Ella giammai m’amo” (“She never loved me”), his Filippo is exhausted by his power yet frantic to keep it. Mr. Furlanetto meets Verdi’s demanding, wrenching music with commanding power and moving vulnerability in both voice and gesture.” The last performance of the run marked Ferruccio Furlanetto’s 200’s appearance at the Met.

Now Don Carlo returns to the Covent Garden again with Furlanetto as King Philip and with Antonio Pappano in the pit (the production was born with him and now he returns to one of the deepest Verdi’s scores). This time in the cast: Don Carlo –Jonas Kaufmann/ Roberto Aronica, Elizabeth of Valois - Anja Harteros/ Lianna Haroutounian, Posa - Mariusz Kwiecien, Eboli - Béatrice Uria-Monzon, Grand Inquisitor - Eric Halfvarson. All the performances (only few tickets left for the very last one) are sold out. Luckily one of them will be broadcasted on BBC 3 (time and date will be announced later).

To the ROH

To the BBC 3

 

The Lion Speaks to the Opera News

Cover story in the May issue

Published April 18, 2013

Don’t miss Ferruccio Furlanetto on the cover of the May issue of Opera News and inside feature “The Lion Speaks”: “For decades, Ferruccio Furlanetto has exemplified the highest performing standard in opera. As he prepares to sing Filippo in Covent Garden's Don Carlo, the Italian bass speaks to BARRY SINGER about maintaining that standard — and where he fears the opera world is heading”

Read the feature at the Opera News

 

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