Recent News
06-29-08
And one more Don Carlo review:
"What can I say? The unusually loud and long ovation he (Furlanetto) received after 'Ella giammai m’amò' says it all. At 59 he sang the best Filippo II we could dream of. This is, of course, the result of both acting and singing convincingly: his voice is simply perfect for the role, as it sounds both mature and still fresh; his acting perfectly portrayed the duality of his character, torn between his remorse and his impulses. One thousand times bravo."
- Mundoclasico
06-18-08
Be sure to tune in to BBC Radio 3 on Saturday, June 28, for a broadcast of the Royal Opera's Don Carlo.
06-18-08
Some additional reviews for Don Carlo:
"Ferruccio Furlanetto's all encompassing voice and daunting manner make for a formidable Philip."
- International Herald Tribune
"Ferruccio Furlanetto’s majestic Philip II held the house spellbound for his gloomy interior monologue of self-recrimination. Finally, the music had found a near-ideal interpreter — a voice of stature and a charismatic actor deeply inside the psychology of his role." - Times Online
"The evening derives its necessary gravitas from Italian veteran Ferruccio Furlanetto, whose wonderfully rich bass complements the noble but profoundly troubled bearing he brings to the role of King Philip II." - Guardian
"Furlanetto's Philip is faultlessly sung and fascinating to watch even when still and silent." - The Independent
06-11-06
There's an interview with Furlanetto in Classical Source.
06-11-08
More reviews for Don Carlo at the Royal Opera House:
"Although the opera is called "Don Carlo," whenever Ferruccio Furlanetto is onstage, one believes it should have been titled "Philip II." Furlanetto brings immense status to this stern ruler of previously unshakable conviction, suddenly plunged into moral conflict. His glowering, measured physicality provides a compelling contrast with so sonorous a sound." - Variety
"Ferruccio Furlanetto’s solid, resonant and oaken voice is just perfect for King Philip II, and his long experience makes him an impressive exponent of the role." - Classical Source
"Ferruccio Furlanetto's Philip must be one of the great operatic interpretations of the modern age. He seamlessly integrates words, music and gestures to create a believable character." - MusicWeb
"Furlanetto’s handsomely intoned, intelligently acted Philip emerges as a complex figure who, beneath the trappings of power, yearns to love and be loved." - Financial Times
"Ferruccio Furlanetto’s proud Philip II mesmerised with his intelligence and vocal beauty."
- This Is London
"Ferruccio Furlanetto's Philip II is a great creation of booming intensity. He stoops slightly, his tyranny born of fear, and his head-to-head with Eric Halfvarson's excellent Grand Inquisitor, all trembling confrontation, is electrifying." - MusicOHM
"Ferruccio Furlanetto was a haunted, fearsome Filippo, locked in the misery of his supreme power." - Telegraph
"Ferruccio Furlanetto's profoundly troubled Philip dominates."
- Gardian
"The most complete and impressive performance came from Ferruccio Furlanetto as Philip II. Vocally, he was as intense and powerful as you could possibly want, while his stage presence and complex understanding of the role helped lift the production to another level during his scenes."
- MusicalCriticism.com
"The drama's centre of gravity is Ferruccio Furlanetto's King Philip, a commanding presence conveying as much by his stillness as by his gloriously resonant voice." - The Independent
06-04-08
"The Stand-in Takes Over on Centre Stage" -
a brief article on Furlanetto can be found in The Independent.
06-01-08
Ferruccio Furlanetto is profiled in the June 2008 issue of Opera magazine. (Subscription required for digital access.)
05-14-08
"Equally thrilling in a different way was Ferruccio Furlanetto's Fiesco - an interpretation in the grand old Italian style, full of the authoritative nobility and majesty that only a true bass can provide." - Telegraph
"Ferruccio Furlanetto won the biggest cheer of the night as Jacopo Fiesco; he has real weight of vocal tone and stage presence; he was also standing in (as he had done three days earlier) for an indisposed Orlin Anastassov - and it has now been announced that Furlanetto will stay in this role for the rest of the run." - The Opera Critic (subscription required)
More reviews of the Royal Opera's Simon Boccanegra:
"It is two other stunning performances, however, that steal the vocal honours in this Royal Opera revival. One is the Fiesco of Ferruccio Furlanetto, who wasn’t even supposed to be in the cast. Is there another Verdi bass in the world who conveys such gravitas, anguish, menace and nobility in such magnificently sepulchral timbres?"
- TimesOnline
"Ferruccio Furlanetto . . . showed in an instant why he's among the world's leading Verdi basses . . . From his first entrance, with an imposing and moving 'Il lacerato in spirito' sung in a voice dark, voluminous and pleasingly worn by experience, to his final pronouncement of Simon's death, he commanded the stage at every turn. - MusicalCriticism
"Standing in at short notice as Fiesco, the marvellous Ferruccio Furlanetto made his bass notes carry the weariness and resilience of a lifetime's heartache. Every word resonated." - The Independent
"Ferrucio Furlanetto, a luxury last-minute cover for illness, excelled as Fiesco."
- ThisIsLondon
And this from The Guardian
05-08-08
More on San Diego's 2008-09 season from the North County Times.
05-07-08
Ferruccio Furlanetto will be participating in a concert performance of Simon Boccanegra at St. Petersburg's "Stars of the White Nights Festival" in June.
05-06-08
The Los Angeles Times offers a few notes on the upcoming season at the San Diego Opera.
05-03-08
Rumor confirmed:
Deutsche Grammophon plans to release Eugene Onegin on DVD in July 2008. This is the 2007 Salzburg Festival production with Furlanetto as Gremin. Availability in North American is typically delayed by several months.
05-02-08
Furlanetto's recent Verdi Requiem at the Royal Festival Hall was broadcast and can be heard online (for a limited time only) courtesy of BBC Radio 3.
"An emotionally-gripping performance of Verdi's Requiem. . . .
Ferruccio Furlanetto's craggy, weathered bass unfolded like a vintage Barolo."
- The Times
04-11-08
Reviews for the Met's Ernani:
"Ferruccio Furlanetto – soon to be Covent Garden's Philip II in the new Don Carlo – had perhaps the biggest stage presence and voice of the four lead singers, bursting into the trio in Act I, Scene II with arresting vigour as a scheming and tortured Silva." - MusicalCriticism.com
"Bass Ferruccio Furlanetto . . . sang Silva with alternately proper outrage, unbridled anger and sadness, all with full, rich, tone; indeed, his was the most complete interpretation of the evening." - ClassicsToday.com
" . . . Italian basso Ferruccio Furlanetto, with bracing insight and a voice like granite, presses the drama toward its inexorable conclusion." - The New Yorker
"The lower voices had the best of it: Furlanetto showed off his wonderfully expressive bass." - New York Post
"Ferruccio Furlanetto . . . turned in his usual model performance. As Silva, he was all authority. He practically defined "basso cantabile." And he provided a strong definition of "singing actor" . . . elegant in outrage, dignified in misfortune.
Also, does anyone sing a more beautiful Italian than Mr. Furlanetto?" - New York Sun
"Ferruccio Furlanetto, a villain among villains, upstaged his male colleagues as Silva." - New York Times
"Silva . . . is perhaps the only multi-dimensional part - part old man, part thwarted lover, part revolutionary, part royalty, part vengeful mover - and Furlanetto was complete in every respect. It was difficult to dislike a man whose "Infelice! E tu credevi” was so painful and so real. - Concerto.net
04-04-08
The 2008 New Year's Concert of the Teatro la Fenice has been released on DVD. Soloists are Ferruccio Furlanetto, Barbara Frittoli, and Walter Fraccaro. Availability is somewhat limited in North America, but VIA and Amazon both appear to offer the item. (N.B., Bassnotes.net does not endorse a particular retailer.)
The program includes La calunnia and O tu Palermo.
04-02-08
PlaybillArts.com has posted photos from the Met's Ernani.
03-23-08
The 2007 broadcast of the Vienna State Opera's production of Boris Godunov (with Ferruccio Furlanetto in the title role) can be heard on National Public Radio's World of Opera.
03-21-08
Decca is releasing the Metropolitan Opera gala "An Evening with Joan Sutherland and Luciano Pavarotti" on DVD. Ferruccio Furlanetto makes an appearance as Sparafucile in Act III of Rigoletto. The DVD is scheduled for release on April 8, 2008, in North America.
03-19-08
And one belated review of Palermo's Mefistofele production:
“Whereas most basses go in here for hollow posturing, Ferruccio Furlanetto managed to suggest, through both voice and gesture, the inner torment and psychological complexity of a fallen angel. He brought real conviction to Boito’s occasionally surreal libretto, and his oaken voice truly filled the theater. . . Throughout the opera Furlanetto proved a fascinating, charismatic presence, as masterly in silence as in song, in stillness as in movement, making every gesture tell." - Opera News (April 2008)
03-14-08
Ferruccio Furlanetto will be singing in the Metropolitan Opera's matinée broadcast of Ernani on March 29, 2008, at 1:30 pm (ET). Click here to find a participating radio station.
And the OÖNachrichten's archives yield another interview with Furlanetto (dated 2003; in German). Thanks to LL for the link.
03-20-08: A rough English translation is now available.
03-09-08
Rhapsody.com offers the Deutsche Grammophon recordings of Le nozze di Figaro and Don Giovanni, with Ferruccio Furlanetto as Figaro and Leporello, respectively. (N.B., Figaro displays the wrong album cover.) Listening is free if you install their player.
Site news:
An additional Don Basilio gallery has been added: screencaps from the Met's 1988 telecast. The images are small, but - as always - they may take a moment to load if you have a slower connection.
02-28-08
Concerning the Opera Orchestra of New York's recent La sonnambula, Martin Bernheimer of the Financial Times writes:
"Completing the stellar triumvirate, Ferruccio Furlanetto imbued the aristocratic platitudes of Rodolfo with rolling basso amplitude and suave savoir faire. If he has a rival in this repertory today, I cannot name him."
The full review is available here.
Update:
Additional reviews have been published by the New York Times and Classics Today.
"It's hard to fault the solid Rodolfo of Ferruccio Furlanetto in any way, even if the tone itself seemed a little hoarse. For the most part it rode majestically over the exciting contours of his big numbers, with his native Italian diction conferring authority and grace. This practiced Don Giovanni made you forget that the flirtatious inn scene was merely semi-staged." -Opera News
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02-09-08
The Schedule page has been updated to include Ferruccio Furlanetto's future performances at the San Diego Opera. Of special note is his first Baron Ochs in Der Rosenkavalier in 2011, where he will be joined by Anja Harteros as the Marschallin, Marina Domashenko as Octavian, and Patrizia Ciofi as Sophie, with Christof Perick conducting.
Thank you to IC for the information.
02-03-08
Teatro Massimo has posted some photos from the recent Mefistofele production.
"Majestic and grotesque, Ferruccio Furlanetto was the undisputed protagonist, both vocally and on stage."
- il Giornale della Musica
01-13-08
Mr. Furlanetto's recital has been rescheduled for February 17th. Please visit La Scala's website for further information.
We all wish Mr. Furlanetto a quick and full recovery.
01-01-08
Here is Ferruccio Furlanetto's recital program for January 14th, according to La Scala:
Sergey Rachmaninov:
Fate - Op. 21 No. 1
A dream - Op. 5 No. 8
The lilacs - Op. 21 No. 5
In the silent night - Op. 4 No. 3
How fair this spot - Op. 21 No. 7
I came to her - Op. 14 No. 4
This time - Op. 14 No. 12
Stay my love, don't leave me - Op. 4 No. 1
Spring water - Op. 14 No. 11
Modest Mussorgsky:
The leaves are sadly rustling
For you the words of love
Song of the old man
The night
The winds are howling
Songs and Dances of Death (Trepak, Lullaby, Serenade, & The Field-Marshal)
01-01-08
Happy New Year to all! Results of the latest survey have been posted.
12-16-07
Fiction to Become Reality?
Rumor has it that Deutsche Grammophon has plans to release the recent Salzburg Festival's Eugene Onegin on DVD next year. The BassNotes.net webmaster flatly denies any foreknowledge of this when creating the current survey, but perhaps other readers were not so unenlightened: Eugene Onegin has a huge lead in the 'most-likely' category thus far.
Thanks to MK for the heads-up on this.
12-15-07
And the Schedule page has been updated again to include a New Year's concert in Venice and next summer's Don Carlo at Covent Garden.
Ferruccio Fulanetto will also be singing in a performance of Verdi's Requiem in April at London's Royal Festival Hall.
Many thanks to VK for the info.
12-12-07
And the Schedule page has been updated again to include a New Year's concert in Venice and next summer's Don Carlo at Covent Garden. Many thanks to VK for the info.
12-11-07
If you are willing to install Rhapsody's free player, you can listen to the Metropolitan Opera broadcasts of Don Giovanni (Feb. 2003) and La Juive (Dec. 2003), with Ferruccio Furlanetto as Leporello and Cardinal Brogni, respectively.
12-08-07
The Schedule page has been updated to include Boris Godunov and Nabucco in fall 2008.
12-01-07
It's back! The fun page has emerged from semi-retirement to offer a new survey. Take a look and cast your vote. Results will be posted after the holidays.
Archived News
11-14-07
Tickets for Ferruccio Furlanetto's La Scala recital in January 2008, are now available for purchase.
10-01-07
Ferruccio Furlanetto will be the bass soloist in a performance of Verdi's Requiem on October 11th in Rome. The performance is part of the sixth International Festival of Sacred Music and Art. More details.
09-03-07
Ferruccio Furlanetto is scheduled to give a recital at La Scala on January 14, 2008. Tickets go on sale November 14th.
09-01-07
On the Salzburg Festival's recent Eugene Onegin:
. . .Ferruccio Furlanetto turns the role of older husband Gremin into a sophisticated, likeable figure. . .
- Bloomberg.com
. . . Bass Ferruccio Furlanetto, an audience favourite, as Prince Gremin brought down the house with his aria.
- theOperaCritic.com
08-17-07
The Salzburg Festival "Daily" offers the following brief note:
"Ferruccio Furlanetto was the featured artist at the second of five public conversations that Jay Nordlinger, a journalist and music critic based in New York (National Review, New York Sun), is moderating for the Salzburg Festival Society (SFS). The great Italian bass Ferruccio Furlanetto made his Salzburg debut in 1986 as Figaro, was Herbert von Karajan’s Leporello the following year, and is currently presenting a deeply impressive character study of Prince Gremin in Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin. At the Festival Pavilion, he spoke to Jay Nordlinger about his great career as a singer."
Photo and original German available at: http://www.salzburgfestival.at/downloads/daily12.pdf
Thanks to MK for the link.
07-11-07
On their website the Metropolitan Opera notes that the 1988 telecast of Il Barbiere di Siviglia (with Ferruccio Furlanetto as Don Basilio) is to be released on DVD by Deutsche Grammophon; however, they have informed Bassnotes.net that they do not have an actual release date at this time.
07-01-07
Site news:
Anyone wishing to contact the webmaster is henceforth advised to include "Bassnotes" or "Furlanetto" in the subject line of the email. If that is impossible, at the very least do not mention "free software" or "financial advice" or "prescription medications", etc., if you desire a reply. A recent deluge of spam has necessitated a tightening of the filter restrictions.
JEK, Webmaster
06-24-07
Plans are in the works for a new recording (in 2008) of Verdi's Requiem with the WDR Symphony Orchestra Cologne. The expected solists are Violeta Urmana, Olga Borodina, Ramón Vargas and Ferruccio Furlanetto. The press announcement (in German) is available here.
06-13-07
Furlanetto to become honorary member of the Viennese State Opera
"KS Ferruccio Furlanetto will be appointed an honorary member of the Viennese State Opera next Sunday (June 17, 2007), after the performance of Boris Godunov. Cultural minister Schmied and director Ioan Holender will honor Furlanetto on-stage, the State Opera announced on Wednesday.
"Furlanetto is regarded as one of the best basses of the world and is brilliant in his interpretation of the Italian repertory. He was born on May 16, 1949, in Sacile (Italy), and has collaborated with conductors such as Abbado, Barenboim, von Karajan, Levine, and Muti. He has performed at La Scala di Milano (debut 1979 in Macbeth under Abbado/Strehler), the Covent Garden Opera in London, the Opéra de Bastille Paris, and the Metropolitan Opera of New York (debut 1980/81), and has been a guest at all renowned festivals.
"He debuted at the Viennese State Opera in 1985, in the title role of Le nozze di Figaro. Since then he has given performances in 17 roles on a total of 189 evenings, including Il viaggio A Reims (1988), Herodiade (1995), I vespri siciliani (1998) und Simon Boccanegra (2002)."
You can read the original press release here. Thanks to RP for the translation.
05-10-07
La Scala's 1994 production of Don Pasquale will be released on DVD by TDK on May 29th. The cast includes Ferruccio Furlanetto in the title role, Lucio Gallo as Malatesta, Gregory Kunde as Ernesto, and Nuccia Focile as Norina.
04-17-07
From a review of the Metropolitan Opera's Simon Boccanegra:
"As for Furlanetto, his great oaken bass in itself would have guaranteed him a success. But this was only a starting point for a portrayal of extroardinary fervor. In "Il lacerato spirito," he moved from thundering rage to heartreanding grief through incisive, lucid inflection." - Fred Cohn, May 2007 issue of Opera News
03-02-07
The Metropolitan Opera has posted some images from Simon Boccanegra, including this one of Fiesco and this one of Fiesco with Boccanegra.
02-27-07
Ferruccio Furlanetto will be returning to the Metropolitan Opera for Verdi's Ernani in the 2007-08 season.
02-21-07
And the reviews start for the Met's Simon Boccanegra:
In the role of Fiesco was the Italian bass Ferruccio Furlanetto. He is a splendid singer, and, more to the point, a splendid singing actor. His King Philip (from Verdi's "Don Carlo") is one of the great portrayals in opera; and his Fiesco is not dissimilar. The aria "Il lacerato spirito" was duly lacerating. And, throughout the night, Mr. Furlanetto's voice — elegant, glowing — easily filled the house. In fact, his volume was startling: Almost all the singers around him sounded muted, though their voices were higher. - The New York Sun
[Furlanetto's] deep, inky-black bass and rich, spontaneous presence owned the stage all evening as Fiesco . . .
"He has to have something inexorable, prophetic in his voice," Verdi wrote. Furlanetto is a powerhouse of humanity who melts into painful tenderness as Fiesco and Boccanegra realize they are bound by blood — and at the end, again friends who can forge peace among the warring factions of their medieval Italy. - Associated Press
02-18-07
According to this article, Mr. Furlanetto will be singing in a concert performance of La sonnambula in New York on February 27, 2008.
02-09-07
And another Boris review:
Ferruccio Furlanetto lent great authority to his portrayal of Boris Godunov as the tortured monarch. His acting and his magnificent sound were impressive and full of emotion. . . . He clearly loves his craft and his character’s heartbreaking anguish came through in his voice with wrenching honesty. His performance was pitch-perfect in tone, emotion and action. - OperaClick
02-05-07
Some more Boris reviews:
Playbill Arts
La Jolla Village News
Opera Warhorses
02-02-07
Check out Ferruccio Furlanetto's DVD picks in the San Diego Reader.
02-01-07
The 2002 Vienna State Opera production of Simon Boccanegra will be released on DVD in the United States on March 27th. This production stars Thomas Hampson, Ferruccio Furlanetto, Cristina Gallardo-Domas, and Miroslav Dvorsky.
01-31-07
Reviews of Boris Godunov:
[Furlanetto] imbues the role with a weighty grief that grows into madness followed by a fearless death scene that most opera singers wouldn't attempt. And his huge, resonant bass voice is in perfect control but ripples with pain and emotion . . . . but never has he commanded the stage more impressively than as Boris. - North County Times
It's not every day you see a 57-year-old intentionally hurl himself down steep stairs. But Italian bass and crowd favorite Ferruccio Furlanetto did just that in the title role of "Boris Godunov" and stole the show at the San Diego Opera season's opening night. . . .The cast is, quite simply, superb. Furlanetto's Boris successfully embodies the regal Czar, slowly overcome by tormenting guilt. Furlanetto really hits his stride in Act II as madness descends upon the Czar. - Voice of San Diego
This is the kind of bel canto in which the soul of the singer is stripped bare in floods of beautiful singing. And oddly enough, even if you cannot understand a word of Russian, you can tell that Furlanetto's diction is superb. Furlanetto seems to have been born to sing Boris. - Opera West
Furlanetto, a company favorite who has performed the role in Europe and Russia, was compelling in his character's almost Shakespearean struggle with guilt, spurred by the murder of the rightful heir to the throne. His voice glinted with dark-hued basso brilliance, whether rumbling with rage or quaking in fear. - The San Diego Union Tribune
"Ferruccio Furlanetto sang his first U.S. Boris Godunov to open the San Diego Opera season Saturday at the downtown Civic Theatre. It was a resounding success. . .
His Boris was strongly detailed, youthfully powerful, persuasive in the warmth of the family scenes as well as in his imperial authority and in the progression of a guilt-ridden conscience that leads to death." - Los Angeles Times CalendareLive.com