Sondra Radvanovsky and Vincenzo Scalera

Sondra Radvanovsky is a soprano with exceptional dramatic presence and a voice of richly luscious color and depth. In this program, accompanied by Vincenzo Scalera, she alternates arias and songs by Bellini, Verdi, and Puccini, showcasing her affinity with the Italian bel canto and verismo repertory. Demonstrating her exceptional versatility, she sets these against songs by Rachmaninov, the famous Letter Scene from Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin, and three great songs by the tonal master Richard Strauss.

Program

VINCENZO BELLINI (1801–1835) “Casta diva” from Norma La ricordanza Per pietà, bell’ idol mio Ma rendi pur contento

SERGEI RACHMANINOV (1873–1943) Ne poy, krasavitsa Zdes’ khorosho Ya zhdu tebya

PYOTR ILYICH TCHAIKOVSKY (1840–1893) “Letter Scene” from Eugene Onegin

INTERMISSION

RICHARD STRAUSS (1864–1949) Befreit Allerseelen Heimliche Aufforderung

GIACOMO PUCCINI (1858–1924) “Mi chiamano Mimì” from La bohème Sole e amore E l’uccellino

GIUSEPPE VERDI (1813–1901) “Tacea la notte” from Il trovatore In solitaria stanza Stornello “Pace, pace mio Dio” from La forza del destino

Sondra Radvanovsky

Sondra Radvanovsky trained at the Metropolitan Opera in the late 1990s in the Lindemann Young Artist Development Program. After performances in smaller roles there, she caught the attention of critics as Antonia in Les Contes d’Hoffmann. Since then, she has performed in all the world’s major opera houses, including the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, the Teatro alla Scala, the Metropolitan Opera, Opernhaus Zürich, and numerous others. She has appeared in concerts throughout the world, singing with leading orchestras. 

Radvanovsky has collaborated with various record labels. Her debut recording, Verdi Arias, was released in April 2010 on the Delos label. The album quickly became a critical hit and made several season-best lists, including those of NPR and The New Yorker. In 2011, Delos released a CD of Verdi opera scenes with Radvanovsky and her frequent artistic partner, the late Dmitri Hvorostovsky, recorded with the Philharmonia of Russia and Constantine Orbelian. Recent highlights of her discography include the title role in Turandot for Warner Classics, with Jonas Kaufmann as Calaf, and the Orchestra and Chorus of the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, conducted by Antonio Pappano. 

No stranger to the screen, Radvanovsky appears on a Naxos DVD of Cyrano de Bergerac alongside Plácido Domingo, and in Il trovatore, Un ballo in maschera, Roberto Devereux and Medea for the very popular The Met: Live in HD series. She has also been an enthusiastic host for the Live in HD transmissions of La fanciulla del West, Otello, and Francesca da Rimini. 

Radvanovsky is a co-creator and co-host of the podcast Screaming Divas, where she and her friend, the soprano Keri Alkema, talk about their lives and operatic careers with friends and colleagues. The duo has recently launched the fourth season of this podcast. 

Vincenzo Scalera

Vincenzo Scalera was born into an Italian-American family in New Jersey and began playing the piano at the age of five. He was educated at the Manhattan School of Music and worked as an assistant conductor at the New Jersey State Opera. He continued his studies in Italy and was appointed a coach and pianist at La Scala, Milan, where he worked with conductors such as Claudio Abbado, Carlos Kleiber, Riccardo Chailly, and Gianandrea Gavazzeni. 

Scalera has played at many major festivals including Edinburgh, Martina Franca, Jerusalem, Istanbul, and Les Chorégies d’Orange, as well as the Carinthian Summer Music Festival, the Salzburg Festival, and the Rossini Opera Festival in Pesaro. He has accompanied many renowned singers including Carlo Bergonzi, Andrea Bocelli, Montserrat Caballé, José Carreras, Juan Diego Flórez, Leyla Gencer, Vittorio Grigolo, Sumi Jo, Raina Kabaivanska, Katia Ricciarelli, Renata Scotto, Cesare Siepi, and Lucia Valentini Terrani, and has performed in all the world’s prominent musical centres. 

His discography includes recordings with Sumi Jo (La promessa), Renata Scotto (complete songs of Verdi), and Carlo Bergonzi (Canzone: the Art of Bel Canto), as well as a recently released recital and a filmed concert with both Carlo Bergonzi and José Carreras.

Scalera is a Steinway Artist and is currently on the staff of the Academy for the Performing Arts at La Scala.