Soprano Sondra Radvanovsky - album Puccini: Heroines - Opera, a whole world, May 3^rd, 2026

("Lyric Opera of Chicago" Orchestra, conductor Enrique Mazzola, recital recorded in February 2025)

Premiere album released on March 27^th, 2026

I would like to present the album Puccini: Heroines, recorded during the series of recitals performed by soprano Sondra Radvanovsky in February, last year, in Chicago. An album released by Pentatone on March 27^th, included in the Discs of the Year 2026 project.

Puccini Heroines (with this very album title) have been recorded many times before, over the years; I will only mention the recordings by Leontyne Price, Maria Callas, or the collective album that also includes the name of Ilena Cotrubaş. But no soprano has ever dared to tackle, in a single program, almost all of Puccini's operas. Only The Cloak is missing from the current production, but Giorgetta's aria would also have required a stage partner. So, there are 11 titles, but 12 characters, with both heroines from La Bohème being interpreted. Thus, we applaud Sondra Radvanovsky's endeavor, especially since we're not talking about a studio recording where you can catch your breath from time to time, and where the result can be carefully controlled. The tour she presents to us was performed live, in front of her familiar audience, that is, at the Chicago Opera, where she was recently appointed artistic advisor, Sondra Radvanovsky already being active in the mentoring program for young opera artists. Pentatone has included all the applause, so as we listen, we can feel as if we are right there in the concert hall. With a successful career covering three decades, Sondra Radvanovsky has portrayed over time various Puccini Heroines, starting with Mimi and most recently taking on the role of Turandot. A debut as Minnie in The Damsel of the West is also part of her plans (in December, at the MET), and there are still some roles, such as Anna in Le villi or Fidelia in Edgar, that she has never performed on stage. Therefore, this program performed by Sondra Radvanovsky is both new and old for her, lyrical and dramatic at the same time. Of course, we cannot expect performances of the same high caliber for every aria presented, but we appreciate this album as a whole. Now in her prime, the singer is currently tackling a spinto-dramatic repertoire, very different from the lyricism of the youth, and Puccini's Heroines encompass a wide range of vocal types. For me, the touching performance of the aria Vissi d'arte - a particularly expressive plea that reveals Tosca's pain in a continuous crescendo of emotional intensity, as well as Senza mamma from Suor Angelica - where Sondra Radvanovsky showcases her full timbre, with rounded sounds, outlining a wide range of colors and emotional states, culminating in a splendid final pianissimo, these are the exceptional moments in this recording, which demonstrate the artistic mastery of Sondra Radvanovsky. I would also like to highlight the encores, two arias through which the singer detached herself from the accumulated tension, first as a charming and sensual Musetta in the well-known waltz, and then as a… robust Lauretta, playing with the note durations, much to the delight of the audience, who were thus rewarded with Puccini's most frequently performed aria, O, mio babbino caro. She was accompanied by a distinguished musical partner, the Chicago Opera Orchestra, conducted by the acclaimed conductor Enrique Mazzola - the musical director of the opera house. The ensemble also performed several well-executed orchestral pieces: the preludes from Le villi, The Damsel of the West and Edgar, as well as the intermezzos from Madama Butterfly and Manon Lescaut.