The 'wrong' voice does right by Verdi
Joy Fleisig | New York, NY United States | 05/09/2002
(5 out of 5 stars)
"For the past 10 years or so, the marvelous Mexican tenor Ramon Vargas has been one of the leading lights of the bel canto repertory. His voice has the sweet, rich, juicy quality shared by many contemporary Mexican and South American tenors. By and large, Vargas has until now limited himself to roles for light voices. Now that he has turned 40, he has decided that he is ready to move on into the fuller lyric repertory, including Verdi. While I do think Vargas' big, bright voice is a bit light for a lot of the 'major' Verdi roles, most of the repertory he sings on this disc suits him to a tee, and at least on record or in a small theatre is well worth hearing. I also give him credit for singing comparative rarities, including alternates for arias from `Ernani', `Attila' and `Les Vepres Siciliennes'.There are a great many opera fans who, unfortunately, judge fitness for singing Verdi only on the volume and power of the voice, and most of these people would not consider a lyric tenor, certainly a light lyric tenor like Vargas, appropriate to sing Verdi's music. Verdi himself might actually disagree. The 'big' sound that we now associate with Verdi has more to do with 20th Century performance practice than with what was actually done in Verdi's time. Verdi's early work essentially is bel canto in style, far more similar to Bellini and Donizetti than to his later work. In fact, the alternate `Ernani' and `Attila' arias Vargas sings were written for the noted Rossini tenor Nikolai Ivanoff - at Rossini's request.The `Ernani' selection (which Verdi later reworked into `Ah si, ben mio' in `Il Trovatore') actually does show a slight degree of strain, with some passagio notes and even high notes on the 'o' vowel sounding pinched and nasal, but this is rarely evident anywhere else on the CD. Actually, this nasality is also common among the new generation of Hispanic tenors. With "I Due Foscari", Vargas is in marvelous vocal fettle once again. His rendition of the aria and cabaletta from "Alzira" makes me eager to hear the recording of the entire opera he has made. Throughout the disc he sings with superb legato, great sensitivity, fine diction, and excellent technique. Certainly Vargas' bel canto experience makes coloratura passages easy for him. It is a pity that so few tenors today have these virtues in Verdi, and it is particularly a joy to hear them in the `Il Trovatore' excerpt, even though I think the entire role is beyond Vargas on stage. All the sixteenth-notes in `Di quella pira' are beautifully articulated and he has a fine trill. `Rigoletto', in which I have seen Vargas three times at the Met, seems to be my `unlucky' opera with him - difficult to believe considering his superb performance here. Not only does he sing both verses of `Possente amor' with great elan, but he gives the Duke a sympathetic characterization he rarely gets today. He also produces genuinely sweet, heady tone in the `Falstaff' aria. Finally, Vargas shows great aplomb with the two French selections from `Jerusalem' and `Les Vepres Siciliennes', more so than in the previous work I have heard from him in that language.I very much appreciate that this CD gives us extended scenes instead of just arias, giving Vargas ample chance to interact with other singers and chorus, especially in `I Masnadieri'. Although James Anderson does a fine job with all the comprimario tenor parts, the shrill and wobbly Annegher Stumphius proves herself totally wrong for the 'Trovatore' Leonora even in her limited contribution. I suspect the production team realized this because they didn't record 'Il dolci suoni mistici'. The men of the Munich Radio chorus do a fine job, although they are miked from a bit too far away and that hurts their diction a bit, especially in the 'Rigoletto' scene. Conductor Eduardo Muller is sympathetic to and supportive of Vargas and keeps the music going at an exciting clip. He also has the Bavarian Radio Orchestra shine in some brief prelude passages. He conducted some very fine performances of 'Rigoletto' and 'I Puritani' at the Met, and I eagerly await his 'La Cenerentola' there in September 2002.There are only a few negative points. With the exceptions of Fenton and the Duke of Mantua, roles that he has sung often onstage, Vargas really doesn't make any of these characters that different from each other. Admittedly most Verdi heroes are noble, troubled, and hot-headed, but the situations they deal with here aren't always identical. Along those lines, I wish Vargas had done slightly more with dynamics, especially since we do hear some lovely diminuendi in several selections. It would have been nice, for example, if he had contrasted the two verses of 'Quando le sere al placido' a bit more. None of this is enough to detract from a firm recommendation. Full texts and translations are provided. There is also an essay on how both Verdi and his compositions are very different than a lot of contemporary myths would indicate, brief notes on the composition of each opera and synopses of the arias (these last a bit scrunched together), and biographies of Vargas and Muller.
Although I enjoyed this album immensely, I advise Vargas to proceed further into this and similar repertory with extreme caution. I admit that I'm not entirely pleased that he is taking on heavier Verdi than this (the Italian version of 'Don Carlo' and the Requiem), albeit in relatively small spaces. If Roberto Alagna, whose voice is a size larger than Vargas' and whose middle voice is more solid and baritonal, must go very slowly and carefully into this repertory, all the more so for Vargas. Still, this is one of the loveliest tenors of our time, who merges a beautiful voice with grace and dignity."
Splendid!
Rosomax | Boulder, CO United States | 12/19/2002
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Indeed, this disc is a treasure of tenor singing. Ramon Vargas once again demonstrates his mastery of Verdian line (listen to Alzira on Philips under Luisi for a complete role). He has a voice that easily lends itself to recordings; it's light, but incredibly bright, clear, and focused. He pays a great deal of attention to the texts, it's remarkably easy to understand every word. One thing that stood out for me was the care with which Vargas approaches every phrase, I am certain he worked relentlessly on polishing each note, each line, to make it just right. In this day & age when half-baked "tenors" are popping up everywhere, it's marvelous to hear a singer whose love and care for the music is so genuine.
Like several folks here, I find Vargas most at home at purely lyric repertoire. But the way Verdi created some of his characters, it's not obvious under what vocal fach do they fall. Case in point - the Troubadour. The part is essentially lyric, but there are some outbursts, such as relating the duel with the Count, or Di Quella Pira that call for dramatic delivery. Lyric tenors have a bit more freedom in Verdian roles than spinto or di forza tenors in a sense that they can negotiate the legato lines with dazzling control, yet some, like Vargas, are able to muster enough power to deliver exciting dramatic moments. Yes, there might a slight lack of dramatic punch to some moments, but all selections impress with a great deal of commitment.
The absolute favorite for me on this CD is "Quando la sere al placido", thankfully sang without the "ohime" at the end. The scene from "I Masnadieri" is fantastic too with some insightful vocal acting. Vargas makes his Duca really sympathetic in "Parmi veder le lagrime", just keep telling yourself "it's the bad guy!" He even adds some nuance at the end (before Borsa et al march in), but, alas, does not sing "per te che le sfere agl'angeli" on a single breath (that makes Duca sound possessed, which he is). Can't wait for the full version, hopefully with Hvorostovsky in title role.
Do yourself a favor and get this disc, there are treasures to be discovered there and old favorites done in fresh ways to be enjoyed."
Even Better
Rosomax | 03/13/2002
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I agree that Mr. Vargas' voice is best heard live. However, this album reveals the character of his voice better than some of his early recordings. He is also gifted with an elegant and intelligent singing style. Of the young tenors he is by far my favorite."
Track Listings (12) - Disc #1