Rolando Villazon : Cielo e Mar. Opera Arias

Rolando Villazon

Cielo e Mar. Opera Arias

Ponchielli, Cilea, Mercadante, Boito, Pietri, Gomes, Verdi, Donizetti

Coro Sinfonico & Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano Giuseppe Verdi

Daniele Callegari

Gianluca Alfano, baritone, tracks 8, 14

"I like to be challenged. In fact I need challenges," says Rolando Villazon, his eyes burning with hunger as if to prove it. "I'm always struggling against the limits of performing opera, against what is familiar. That's why so much is unfamiliar on this recording. It's a string of forgotten pearls." For his groundbreaking first solo recital on Deutsche Grammophon, the Mexican tenor has delved into some of the secret byways of opera and discovered, not just pearls, but a whole treasure chest of brilliant gems. "I did lots of research, and found lots of pieces. If my heart beat faster and my skin prickled - then I chose it," he says with a laugh that pops out of him like a champagne cork. "If it didn't speak to my skin, then - bah," he adds with a dismissive wave.

The journey he has created is certainly a dramatic one. "The first part of the recital is about an ideal world of love - ecstatic and dreamy, like a beautiful crystal palace. Then we see how this love can transform into anger or despair, and how the whole palace can splinter and crush us and cause us to bleed."

So fast do the images, metaphors, musical phrases and joyous laughs hurl out of Villazon, meeting him is like stepping into a wind tunnel. It's all part and parcel of his questing and questioning nature, continually eager for stimulation.

Projects don't come much more stimulating than this recital. The initial inspiration came from a biography of the Brazilian composer Antonio Carlos Gomes (1836-1896). Almost completely forgotten now, in his day Gomes had several major successes at La Scala and was greatly admired by Verdi. The book sparked Villazon's curiosity, and he immediately began to track down the composer's work. When he played through the aria from Fosca (1873) he felt the necessary prickle and rush on his skin. And he was hungry for more.

"What I want to do is create a connection of souls," says the singer. "When I hear a piece like this amazing aria from Fosca, it has such a powerful effect on me. I want to take it and connect it to the emotions of my audience. I want to create a catharsis, a shock, a musical explosion."

Gramophone Magazine : Editor's Choice : July 2008

01. Ponchielli: La Gioconda : Atto II, Aria "Cielo e mar!" [05:14.74] 02. Cilea : Adriana Lecouvreur : Atto I, Romanza "La dolcissima effigie sorridente" [02:09.18] 03. Mercadante : Il giuramento : Atto I, Cavatina "La dea di tutti i cor!" [04:12.35] 04. Boito : Mefistofele : Atto I, Romanza "Dai campi, dai prati" [02:33.30] 05. Pietri : Maristella : Atto I, Romanza "Io conosco un giardino" [02:01.30] 06. Gomes : Fosca : Atto IV, Romanza "Intenditi con Dio! .. [05:01.36] 07. Verdi : Simon Boccanegra : Atto II, Scena ed Aria "O inferno! Amelia qui! .. [05:22.51] 08. Donizetti : Poliuto : Atto II, Scena ed Aria "Veleno a l'aura ch'io respiro! .. [08:24.02] 09. Mercadante : Il giuramento : Atto II, Scena ed Aria "Compita e omai [03:40.49] 10. Cilea : Adriana Lecouvreur : Atto II, Aria "L'anima ho stanca" [01:48.14] 11. Ponchielli: Il figliuol prodigo: Atto IV Recitativo e Romanza "Il padre! ..."  [04:40.73] 12. Boito : Mefistofele : Epilogo, Romanza "Giunto sul passo estremoi" [02:37.69] 13. Verdi : Luisa Miller : Atto II, Scena ed Aria "Oh! fede negar potessi .. [05:35.64] 14. Verdi : Luisa Miller : Atto II, Finale "L'ara o l'avello apprestami" [03:17.56]

Gramophone 7/2008 : Patrick O'Connor

The superstar tenor adds a sprinkling of rarities and hints at great roles to come

This is a well chosen selection of tenor arias with a few comparative rarities to offset the more obvious favourites. In its way it is a mini-history of a century of Italian opera, from Donizetti's Poliuto (1838) to Pietri's Maristella (1934). The Donizetti is the longest item and well though Villazón copes with this, I really cannot imagine him in this part, beloved of tenore di forza of the past including Tamagno and Corelli. In fact he has not sung any of these roles on stage yet; in a note he explains that the repertory here is something "with more spontaneity…without the burden of history". Be that as it may, the parts for which he would seem to be destined are Gabriele Adorno in Simon Boccanegra, Rodolfo in Luisa Miller and Viscardo in Il giuramento. Mercadante's opera is based on the same Victor Hugo play as Ponchielli's La Gioconda, so it is a good idea to contrast these two very different interpretations of the same character.

The little romanza from Pietri's opera is the only piece by him that we ever get to hear. It was a favourite with Gigli, and several other tenors have recorded it: I wonder what else there may be among Pietri's 20 or so other works for the stage. The aria from Brazilian composer Carlos Gomes's 1873 opera Fosca is a high-voltage outpouring of emotion, as is the aria for Azael in Ponchielli's Il figliuol prodigo.

Villazón sings them all with admirable intensity, his diction is excellent, and he can float a pianissimo when necessary, as in the opening "Cielo e mar" from La Gioconda that gives the disc its title. Recording quality is first-rate, and the accompaniment provided by the Giuseppe Verdi orchestra under Daniele Callegari is always sympathetic. The aria from Boccanegra is one of the best things Villazón has done so far on disc. Let's hope he gets to sing the whole part soon.

ClassicsToday.com : Robert Levine

This CD was recorded in March, 2007; in June, Rolando Villazon withdrew from the stage for six months, presumably because he was "burnt out". I suspect that this was not hype of any kind: Villazon is the most intense tenor currently on the scene and I have never heard him give a performance in which he has held anything back. This occasionally leads to a bit of strain at the top of his voice, but he is never unmusical, lackadaisical, or thoughtless; indeed, if I had to name one, I'd say he was the finest tenor currently on the scene.

This is not to say that Juan Diego Florez is not a superb singer; in fact, what he does he does better than anyone. But his voice seems born to sing high, fast music in a perfect tenore di grazie manner and without seeming effort. Villazon is out to do more--his repertoire starts at Monteverdi and moves up through, apparently, all the French and Italian Romantic composers, and he treats them all with style, honesty, and dramatic thrust. His desire to master a broad repertoire is working well. And, as mentioned above, aside from the occasional high note that sounds under pressure, this recital is simply glorious.

This is Villazon's first CD with his new label, DG, and only a few of the arias are familiar. From the very first notes of the well-known "Cielo e mar" we hear his signature warmth and involvement. There is true wonder here as Enzo contemplates the heavens and sea and his nuanced repetitions of "o sogni d'or" show true rapture. As the tempo increases toward the aria's conclusion, so does Villazon's excitement; his high B-flat at its close is thrilling. He caresses the opening phrases of Maurizio's "La dolcissima effigie" with love and works his way around the melody like a poet. "Bella, adorata incognita", from Mercadante's Il giuramento, is a real beauty, lyrically sung; José Carreras recorded it 30-plus years ago (at his prime) and I've been wanting to hear it again.

Arias from Pietri's Maristella and Gomez's Fosca are rarities; Villazon gives the former, a serenade, a bit too much voice, but pulls out the proper dramatic stops for the latter. Two arias from Boito's Mefistofele are handsomely sung and Gabriele's big scene from Simon Boccanegra is so passionately delivered that it doesn't seem to be out of context.

Villazon sings lengthy scenes from Donizetti's Poliuto and Verdi's Luisa Miller and turns each into a mini psycho-drama; as usual, they're both examples of a thinking tenor, and Verdi's obvious debt to later Donizetti is never clearer. Villazon embellishes the Poliuto cabaletta tastefully for its second appearance, emphasizing different facets of the music.

Daniele Callegari leads with understanding, but he's clearly following his tenor rather than the other way around. And a few of these rarities are rare for good reasons--they're hardly masterpieces. Still, this is another step on Villazon's journey, and since he is the all-around tenor of the future, everything he does is of interest. If his crisis was vocal, we'd never know from this recital; for the most part, he sounds wonderful. And his curiosity and musicianship set him apart in a crowded field. Bravo!

The Guardian : Tim Ashley / Friday June 13 2008 : 4 stars

The release of Rolando Villazon's new recital disc, his first for DG, has been carefully timed to coincide with his appearance as Verdi's Don Carlo at Covent Garden. It was recorded last year, however, shortly before the "physical and vocal collapse", as Villazon put it in a recent interview, that kept him away from the operatic circuit for several months. The unusual programme, which places music by Verdi and Donizetti alongside underrated contemporaries like Mercadante and Boito, is what you might expect from a singer with a reputation for maverick genius. There's little here to suggest that Villazon was approaching "collapse" at the time, though there are moments, most notably in a chunk of Verdi's Simon Boccanegra, where you become conscious of undue pressure in his tone. However, the poetic quality and emotional immediacy of his singing in arias from Mercadante's Il Giuramento and Verdi's Luisa Miller are disquieting in the extreme.

More info about Rolando Villazon : Here

Posted by Ice