Spain’s Ritmo magazine has praised Sondra Radvanovsky’s new Pentatone recording Puccini: Heroines, calling it one of the most interesting tributes to Puccini on disc in recent memory.
The album captures three nights in February 2025 at Lyric Opera of Chicago, where Radvanovsky — marking one year since the centenary of Puccini’s death — performed a program spanning nearly all of his great heroines, from Anna to Turandot, in a single sitting. Ritmo notes the feat echoes a similar achievement the soprano accomplished years earlier with Donizetti’s three queens, also preserved on disc by Pentatone.
The review credits Radvanovsky’s solid technique for keeping her voice’s qualities intact across such a demanding program, highlighting her delicacy in Angelica and Mimì, her heightened lyricism in Butterfly, and her abandon in Tosca and Manon. Her Turandot, which she is currently performing on tour to great success, is singled out as especially striking.
Ritmo also praises conductor Enrique Mazzola’s contribution, calling him a fine connoisseur of the repertoire, the American orchestra, and the soprano’s resources.
Puccini: Heroines is out now on PENTATONE.
