Rolando Villazon: Italian Opera Arias

Rolando Villazon: Italian Opera Arias

Rolando Villazon: Italian Opera Arias
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Music CD Cover

Composer: Francesco Cilea
Composer: Gaetano Donizetti
Composer: Pietro Mascagni
Composer: Giacomo Puccini
Composer: Giuseppe Verdi
Conductor: Marcello Viotti
Orchestra: Munich Radio Orchestra
Performer: Rolando Villazón
Edition: Music CD
CD Release Date: 2004-02-10
Music Label: EMI Classics
Soundtracks:
  1. Lamento: E La Solita Storia
  2. Recitativo E Romanza: Inosservato...Angelo Casto E Bel
  3. Aria: Quanto E Bella
  4. Aria: Una Furtiva Lagrima
  5. Recitativo Ed Aria: Tombe Degli Avi Miei...Fra Poco
  6. Aria: Il L'ho Perduta...Io La Vidi
  7. Aria: Io L'ho Perduta...Io La Vidi
  8. Aria: O Figli...Ah! La Paterna Mano
  9. Scena Ed Aria: Ella Mi Fu Rapita...Parmi Veder
  10. Canzone: La Donna E Mobile
  11. Scena, Aria E Cabaletta: Lunge De Iei...De' Miei Bollenti...O Mio Rimorso
  12. Aria: Che Gelida Manina
  13. Aria: E Lucevan Le Stelle
  14. Aria: Anche Tu Beppe Giungi...O Amore
  15. Aria: Vergini, Muse...Quando Al Soave Anelito

Free Music Notes for Rolando Villazon: Italian Opera Arias

Free Music Review: At Last--The Fourth Tenor
Hit: 5 Stars

For all those who have been waiting for the true successor to Domingo/Pavarotti and Carreras, he has arrived in the handsomely virile presence of Mexican tenor, Rolando Villazon. In Italian music, this is the most significant tenor recital since the young Pavarotti's first Decca solo LP in the late 60s. I first heard Villazon in the NYCO's telecast of LA BOHEME. His Rodolfo was simply sensational--poetic, ardent, with a handsome lyric tenor of many colors and vocal spin. He wasn't afraid to sing with tonal variety--in fact, I've seldome encountered a voice of this type who is as willing to sing softly, and as often as is artistically viable. I've been collecting videos of his performances in L'ELISIR, LUCIA DI LAMMERMOOR, and LA TRAVIATA. Villazon is a first-rate actor, not at all afraid to throw himself--heart and soul--into the characters he plays. His stage appearance is handsome--he's as slender as a dancer, and his expressive face with those large, dark eyes of his compellingly add to his acting abilities.

This first CD, the first of what I hope will be many recordings, includes many excerpts that have been recorded by so many of his great predecessors--Bjoerling, Caruso, Gigli, Di Stefano, Bergonzi, Pavarotti, Domingo--to name only a few. He's got Bergonzi's aristocratic musicanship. He's got the dark timbre of a Caruso or Domingo. He can phrase with imagination, as di Stefano was able to, and he's got a naturally beautiful sound--that many describe as akin to a young Domingo. That's true, but the timbre has that lovely soft texture of Carreras in his early young prime.

Unlike Domingo and relatively early into his Carreras's career, Villazon's top has a lovely bloom to them, and there's no lunging for top notes. He sings at least three top Cs on this CD, and only in "Che gelida manina," does the microphone capture that note with a bit glare on it. Well you gotta quibble at least once!

My favorite items on this disc are "E la solita storia," from Cilea's L'ARLESIANA, where his vocal control is exemplary. "Angelo casto e bel," recorded by Caruso and Pavarotti, is from Donizetti's IL DUCA D'ALBA. Villazon admirably commands its long-lined lyricism. I'm looking forward to his Duke in RIGOLETTO. "Parmi veder le lagrime," the most interesting of this character's three arias, is also very difficult to sing well. Villazon sings it superbly. Some may think his voice a bit small for Don Carlo or Cavaradossi, but his voice's glamorous spinning tone is ideal in both scenes. Marcello Viotti, the conductor, offers well-rountined support.

Let's watch this young tenor's progress in the next few years. He's a huge talent and could go far. I don't take anything away from such fine contemporary tenors as Roberto Alagna, Marcello Alvarez, or Ramon Vargas. But I do think Villazon's the most important of these four in the lyric tenor category. He can sing beautifully, act up a storm, and really connects with the music. I understand there's a French aria recital in his recording future, and I look forward to hearing him on record and in the opera house for many seasons to come.

Rolando Villazon: Italian Opera Arias Poster

This is a glorious debut recital by a tenor, from whom, if he sings the right roles and keeps way from jet-setting and too much singing, might just be the lyrico-spinto tenor we've been waiting for. He has the class of Carlo Bergonzi and a ringing tone which is somewhere between Domingo's big, dark sound and Pavarotti's brightness; he sings with a true mezza voce (not a falsetto); he always obeys the composer's markings and delineates character. He seems incapable of vulgarity, refusing to gulp or sob when a musically expressive gesture will do. The opening aria here--from L'Arlesiana--is so beautifully, touchingly sung that it's a heartbreaker; he doesn't take the usually opted-for high note near the end, but never fear: in the Traviata and Bohème excerpts, Villazon offers big, whopping high Cs. This CD is a knockout; let's hope it's only the beginning of an illustrious career, both recorded and live. --Robert Levine

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