Any list of great current singers conspicuously missing from New York’s opera scene will include Italy’s Anna Caterina Antonacci, a stunning woman with a nonpareil voice and a remarkable sense of theater and style. In demand for a wide range of roles internationally (she tackles both mezzo and soprano heroines), she’s never sung opera in New York. The Met famously blew its chance with Antonacci, buying out her contract in favor of an arrogant star who predictably cancelled.
Fortunately, some of Antonacci’s sizzling stage appearances are available on live DVDs. High on the list are a whip-cracking Elizabeth I opposite supreme bel canto diva Mariella Devia in Donizetti’s Maria Stuarda; a shattering Cassandre in John Eliot Gardiner’s fascinating production of Berlioz’s Les troyens; and an utterly confident Carmen opposite Jonas Kaufmann at Covent Garden.
This week, Lincoln Center’s “Art of the Song” series helps to redress New York’s losses with Antonacci’s local recital debut. Her program with pianist Donald Sulzen, titled “Echoes of the Belle Epoque,” promises a typically fascinating choice of repertory. On the French side, she explores FaurŽ’s rich, original song legacy and the often-mesmerizing creations of Venezuelan-Jewish composer Reynaldo Hahn, one of Proust’s lovers. After intermission, audiences can savor the little-known art songs of verismo and post-verismo composers Mascagni, Cileˆ, Tosti, Respighi and Licinio Refice. Prepare to be bedazzled. –David Shengold