Jules Massenet, Giuseppe Verdi, Munich Radio Symphony Orchestra Ramón Vargas - L'amour, l'amour / Viotti Genre:Classical Mexican tenor Ramón Vargas is in the midst of a fine international career, where he is in demand for and concentrates on the purely lyric tenor repertoire. His smallish, well-focused voice is attractive and distingui... more »shed, his top notes free and easy, and his ability in coloratura admirable, making him particularly valuable in the operas of Rossini. He is also an intelligent musician and has a natural feel for a melodic line. On this CD, he tackles the occasional aria that is a bit too heavy for him, i.e., Rodolfo's aria from La Bohème, an excerpt from Verdi's Un Ballo in Maschera, and Lensky's aria from Eugen Onegin, but on disc, at least, he finds no need to force, and the results are good. In general, he's ardent without being overly sentimental, and except for a vaguely desperate sounding high D flat(!) (as at the end of the fine scene from Donizetti's Roberto Devereux), he keeps the tone lovely. And his selection of arias here contains enough rarities among the chestnuts to make this CD particularly valuable. If you haven't heard Vargas, you should. --Robert Levine« less
Mexican tenor Ramón Vargas is in the midst of a fine international career, where he is in demand for and concentrates on the purely lyric tenor repertoire. His smallish, well-focused voice is attractive and distinguished, his top notes free and easy, and his ability in coloratura admirable, making him particularly valuable in the operas of Rossini. He is also an intelligent musician and has a natural feel for a melodic line. On this CD, he tackles the occasional aria that is a bit too heavy for him, i.e., Rodolfo's aria from La Bohème, an excerpt from Verdi's Un Ballo in Maschera, and Lensky's aria from Eugen Onegin, but on disc, at least, he finds no need to force, and the results are good. In general, he's ardent without being overly sentimental, and except for a vaguely desperate sounding high D flat(!) (as at the end of the fine scene from Donizetti's Roberto Devereux), he keeps the tone lovely. And his selection of arias here contains enough rarities among the chestnuts to make this CD particularly valuable. If you haven't heard Vargas, you should. --Robert Levine
CD Reviews
A TRUE LYRIC TENOR VOICE
Michael E. Brady | rome, ny United States | 11/01/2003
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Mr.Vargas has a true lyric tenor voice and, in pointed disagreement with Mr. Levine's otherwise excellent review, I point out that both Riccardo in Un Ballo in Maschera and Rodolfo in La Boheme are lyric tenor roles that were sung by such lyric tenors as Bonci and McCormack (Rodolfo). Another very important point is that we have, as opera lovers, developed a very disagreeable habit of proclaiming, through lack of historical perspective, every tenor "the greatest tenor of all-time" forgetting minor voices from the past like Lauri-Volpi, Caruso, Tucker, Gigli, etc.
With these points developed I can point out that the singing on this CD is on an exceptionally high order. Try the arias from Romeo, Lucia di Lammermoor, and La Favorita to see what I'm talking about. The top notes have, at times, almost a Bjoring like sheen and freedom (I should point out to the power nuts that Bjoring's voice was NOT LARGE)while his approach recalls the the great american tenor Jan Peerce. Bravo Vargas!!!!"
Ramón Vargas - For Tenor Connoisseurs!!
J. Poss | Pahrump, Nevada | 03/23/2003
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I've been looking for a great tenor voice for some time now. Most new tenors, with a few exceptions, sound more like high singing baritones with little high frequency overtones to their voice. Pavarotti is by far the greatest tenor of our time with a beautiful upper register with high frequency overtones. But Pavarotti's overtones are not as attractive or present in his middle and lower registers. Ramon's a fairly new tenor (42 years old) that finally sounds like a tenor, because he has gorgous high frequency overtones. What makes Ramon so unique is that his overtones are consistant and beautiful throughout his entire range. If I had to discribe his voice in one word it would be "Intoxicating". His singing sounds effortless, romantic and very sensitive which touches the heart. The only thing he needs to work on is instilling more drama into the dramatic lines. With this one CD I have fallen in love with Ramon's voice. I can't wait until he is ready to do more Puccini. This CD is a MUST HAVE!"
Thoughtful and musical tenor
J. Poss | 05/28/2001
(4 out of 5 stars)
"I loved his Italian song recital (Canzoni), which led me to purchase this CD. The 'Canzoni' performance demonstrated a rich, beautifully controlled voice, producing the most lovely pianissimi since diStefano in his prime; definitely a voice to cherish. While this performance shows much the same, the voice seems thinner and effortful in production during the more dramatic moments. Of course, this is probably due to the fact that his lyric voice has to push a bit to be heard over an orchestra playing full force. However, his approach to this music is dead-on, and in many cases revelatory. I look forward to many more offerings from this very talented singer."
True Mexican colour
Abel | Hong Kong | 04/17/2007
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Needless for me to remind, some top tenors around today come from Mexico.
Placido Domingo started off as a baritone. Vargas on the other hand is an out-and-out tenor. Yes, his voice is most beautiful in its upper register. Don't for once let those young or supposedly good looking tenors steal ALL the show. Vocally, guys like Vargas and Alvarez top the current tenor line up.
Why ask Pavarotti the question about his successor?
We know the answer ourselves - Ramon Vargas.
The new big 3 tenors? Vargas succeeding Pav, Alvarez succeeding Carerras, Heppner succeeding Domingo.
