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She is surely vocally ideal for [Carmen], offering both character and taste in numbers that can sound overblown, or even clichéd. Instead, Akhmetshina supplies delicacy and grace, though she... — BBC Music Magazine, October 2024, 5 out of 5 stars (Performance) / 4 out of 5 stars (Recording) More…

Release Date: 26th Jul 2024
Catalogue No: 4870262
Label: Decca
Length: 52 minutes

Presto Recording of the Week

26th July 2024
Gramophone Magazine

September 2024

Editor's Choice
International Opera Awards

2024

Shortlisted - Recording (Solo Recital)

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Bizet: Carmen, Act I

Work length8:49

$2.20

$3.00

$4.10

Aigul Akhmetshina (mezzo-soprano), Freddie De Tommaso (tenor), Genevieve Ellis (chorus conductor)
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Apollo Voices
Daniele Rustioni, Genevieve Ellis
Recorded: 2023-11-19
Recording Venue: St. Jude-On-The-Hill, London

Habanera. L'amour est un oiseau rebelle

Track length4:21

$1.10

$1.50

$2.05

Seguidilla. Près des remparts de Séville

Track length4:28

$1.10

$1.50

$2.05

Bizet: Carmen, Act III

Work length7:10

$2.20

$3.00

$4.10

Aigul Akhmetshina (mezzo-soprano), Elisabeth Boudreault (soprano), Kezia Bienek (mezzo-soprano)
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
Daniele Rustioni
Recorded: 2024-02-06
Recording Venue: St. Jude-On-The-Hill, London

Trio. Mêlons! Coupons!

Track length3:22

$1.10

$1.50

$2.05

Carreau! Pique!... La mort!

Track length3:48

$1.10

$1.50

$2.05

Massenet: Werther, Act III

Work length9:32

$2.20

$3.00

$4.10

Aigul Akhmetshina (mezzo-soprano)
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
Daniele Rustioni
Recorded: 2023-11-19
Recording Venue: St. Jude-On-The-Hill, London

Werther! Werther! Qui m'aurait dit la place...

Track length7:09

$1.10

$1.50

$2.05

Va! Laisse couler mes larmes

Track length2:23

$1.10

$1.50

$2.05

Bellini: I Capuleti e i Montecchi, Act I

Work length6:10

$2.20

$3.00

$4.10

Aigul Akhmetshina (mezzo-soprano), Genevieve Ellis (chorus conductor)
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Apollo Voices
Daniele Rustioni, Genevieve Ellis
Recorded: 2024-02-06
Recording Venue: St. Jude-On-The-Hill, London

Ascolta! Se Romeo t'uccise un figlio

Track length2:34

$1.10

$1.50

$2.05

La tremenda ultrice spada

Track length3:36

$1.10

$1.50

$2.05

Bellini: I Capuleti e i Montecchi, Act II

Work length3:47

$1.10

$1.50

$2.05

Aigul Akhmetshina (mezzo-soprano)
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
Daniele Rustioni
Recorded: 2024-02-06
Recording Venue: St. Jude-On-The-Hill, London

Deh! Tu, bell'anima

Track length3:47

$1.10

$1.50

$2.05

Rossini: La Cenerentola, Act II

Work length6:33

$2.20

$3.00

$4.10

Aigul Akhmetshina (mezzo-soprano), Genevieve Ellis (chorus conductor)
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Apollo Voices
Daniele Rustioni, Genevieve Ellis
Recorded: 2024-02-05
Recording Venue: St. Jude-On-The-Hill, London

Aria. Nacqui all'affanno

Track length3:19

$1.10

$1.50

$2.05

Non più mesta

Track length3:14

$1.10

$1.50

$2.05

Rossini: Il barbiere di Siviglia, Act I

Work length6:02

$2.20

$3.00

$4.10

Aigul Akhmetshina (mezzo-soprano)
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
Daniele Rustioni
Recorded: 2024-02-06
Recording Venue: St. Jude-On-The-Hill, London

No. 5a, Cavatina. Una voce poco fa

Track length2:21

$1.10

$1.50

$2.05

No. 5b, Cabaletta. Io sono docile

Track length3:41

$1.10

$1.50

$2.05

trad.: The Nightingale (Orch. Rachimov)

Work length4:18

$1.10

$1.50

$2.05

Aigul Akhmetshina (mezzo-soprano)
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
Daniele Rustioni
Recorded: 2023-11-19
Recording Venue: St. Jude-On-The-Hill, London

About
Reviews
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About

Interview, Aigul Akhmetshina on 'Fifty Shades of Carmen'

5th August 2024

The Bashkir mezzo talks about tapping into Carmen's vulnerability in Damiano Michieletto's recent production at Covent Garden, how she recharges between performances of such an emotionally-demanding role - and why she wishes casting-directors would give her more opportunities to quite literally wear the trousers...

Recording of the Week, Aigul Akhmetshina's debut album on Decca

26th July 2024

The Bashkortostan-born mezzo turns in finely-characterised snapshots of Carmen, Rosina, Cenerentola, Charlotte and Romeo, with a multi-hued voice that glows from top to bottom and atmospheric support from the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra on top form under Daniele Rustioni.

Aigul Akhmetshina is the fiery young mezzo taking the opera world by storm. In her debut album Aigul, the illustrious young opera singer Aigul Akhmetshina finds her voice in the role of Carmen and traces a path through her own remarkable journey. Her story is one of determination and perseverance against the odds, starting in a rural village in the mountains of Bashkortostan. She left home aged 14 to pursue her singing career. Despite facing rejection from a conservatory in Moscow, where she was told she lacked the right voice and appearance, at the age of 27 Aigul has already etched her name in history. She has become the youngest artist ever to take on the title role of Bizet’s Carmen at both the Royal Opera House and the Metropolitan Opera, both of whom have created new productions around her. Performing the role all over the world, Aigul feels an affinity with the character.

Reviews

October 2024

She is surely vocally ideal for [Carmen], offering both character and taste in numbers that can sound overblown, or even clichéd. Instead, Akhmetshina supplies delicacy and grace, though she can summon up richer colours when she needs to, as in the melancholy central section of the ‘Card Trio’.

24th July 2024

Some operatic voices do not respond well to the recording process, but Akhmetshina sounds as gloriously full-voiced from high to low as she does in the opera house...Her Carmen is vivid primarily for the glowing vocal colours, sensuously teasing in the “Seguidilla” (with Freddie De Tommaso as Don José), dark enough to bring fateful shades to the Card Trio.

September 2024

She has a superb voice, no question, warm and even in tone, admirably agile, with a full, effortless top, and a tangy lower register...It all adds up to a fine recital, and a most auspicious debut.

26th July 2024

What’s most striking about Akhmetshina’s Carmen here is her introversion: we always get the sense that this is a woman with a rich and complex inner life, even in the scenes where she’s ostensibly playing to the gallery…Her wide-ranging mezzo is beautifully integrated and secure from top to bottom, with a ringing top D capping Romeo's aria from I Capuleti and a distinctive coppery lower register which never sounds artificially darkened or pressurised.

1st August 2024

A striking aspect of her debut solo recording, which unsurprisingly kicks off with three extracts from Bizet’s opera, is how at ease with herself she sounds: her insouciance is irresistible. The most arresting thing, though, is her voice. It’s glowingly expansive in Charlotte’s soliloquy from Massenet’s Werther, poised and electric as Rossini’s caged Rosina, entreating and then swaggering as Bellini’s Romeo, with big high notes any soprano would be proud of.

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Contents

Interview, Aigul Akhmetshina on 'Fifty Shades of Carmen'

Recording of the Week, Aigul Akhmetshina's debut album on Decca

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