Italian Opera Arias

Rolando Villazon - Gounod · Massenet Arias Rolando Villazon's follow-up CD to his sensational debut recital of Italian arias is devoted to music by Gounod and Massenet: some as familiar as Faust's, Romeo's and Des Grieux's arias, some as rare as pieces from Gounod's Polyeucte and La Reine de Saba and Massenet's Roma and ...	Cielo e Mar Exuberant and charismatic, Rolando Villazón is the tenor of today. Here he releases his first solo album on Deutsche Grammophon. The soaring title track from Ponchielli s La Gioconda inspired Villazón to become a singer. Here it is the starting point for an intriguing album whi...	Opera Recital [Includes Bonus DVD]	Anna Netrebko & Rolando Villazon: Duets Rolando Villazon and Anna Netrebko, opera's "golden couple" (or is it "dream team?") have just released their first CD of duets. In the duet that closes the first act of Bohème, both singers are in rapturous voice, their phrasing sensitive and sincere. The Lucia-Edgardo duet i...	Gitano Zarzuela--the Spanish theatrical form that is half-way between what we know as musical comedy and opera--requires as much from the singer as opera. Teresa Berganza, Placido Domingo, Montserrat Caballé, and others have popularized it somewhat in the past 20 years, and this terri...
Viva Villazón (incl. bonus DVD)	The Berlin Concert - Live from Waldbuhne Sparks fly in this video of the all-star concert from Berlin's equivalent of the Hollywood Bowl in July 2006, part of the World Cup festivities. The electricity is generated by the all-star trio of tenors Placido Domingo and Rolando Villazon and soprano Anna Netrebko in a program...	Donizetti - L'Elisir d'Amore / Eschwe, Netrebko, Villazon, Wiener Staatsoper Donizetti's L'Elisir d'Amore is one of the staples of the comic opera repertory. The plot hinges on whether earnest but dim-witted Nemorino will snag Adina, the flirtatious heroine. She's a tease who takes up with Belcore, an army sergeant, to make Nemorino jealous. After numerou...	Rolando Villazon: Opera Recital Mexican tenor Rolando Villazon has done it again. Here, on his third solo recital CD, he continues to impress; in fact, he gets better and better. He is a rarity: a subtle, intelligent tenor. Even when approaching a chestnut like "Amor ti vieta," Villazon manages something speci...	Verdi - La Traviata

One for the collection
When a new tenor comes onto the scene, why do we have to label him "the young Domingo," or "the new Pavarotti," or "the fourth tenor"? And why do we not talk about the fifth tenor, or the sixth tenor, or the seventh tenor, or ...? There are certainly enough tenors to go around. Reviewer Jeff Anderson wrote, "We are all too eager to crown the next GREAT TENOR ..." Why do we not just say, "Here is Rolando Villazon, a fine young tenor with the potential for making his mark on the operatic world"? This, which I believe is the first of his recordings, clearly shows that Villazon fits that description. His resume includes well received "Bohemes," "Rigolettos," and "Traviatas" at the Met, as well as numerous performances and concerts around the world. Then, unfortunately, "too much, too soon" felled him for several months. Now, he is back on the trail again, hopefully better to manage his career. Using this recording as a guide, there is surely the possibility of great contributions to the operatic world, IF he will schedule wisely. We hear the ringing high notes, the lovely head voice when needed, and an unusual volume range. I do agree, however, with top 1000 reviewer madamemusica that in a few of these arias, there is "a lack of discernable personality."

Polished voice
This is my third purchase of this cd, two as gifts to family. I can't add much to how others have described villazon's voice: somewhat like Domingo's (no surprise, since Villazon spent his teen years imitating Domingo's singing from records), _extremely_ good use of piano (listen his "E' la solita storia", and the beautiful way that he tails off the ends of some of the phrases), and elegant phrasing. I was heart-broken that he was unable to perform at the Met in "Romeo and Juliet" in December; Roberto Alagna was excellent, but Villazon is even better. Until he recovers from his current problems (rumored to be depression), I'll have to satisfy myself with recordings such as this, and hope for his speedy recovery.

Another supeb tenor.
We can be thankful that the old guard of the opera stage has been replaced by a trio of youthful artists. Villazon along with Calleja and Florez makes a great addition to the world of opera.

A New Star voice
Rollando Villazon can't fail to impress a listener. He is an enourmous breath of fresh air for people waiting for a new generation of Opera superstars to emerge. Those somewhat dissapointed by the somewhat ncomfortable edge to Salvator Licitra's voice, may take refuge in the freshness of Villazon. I don't really want to ruin the magic of his singing, with caddy comparisons, but it is sufficient to say that he excellent. Many compare his to Domingo, to that I would say that Villazon has an ease to his top that Domingo never had, but perhaps lacks the focus and thickness of Domingo's lower registers. Overall what hits you most about Villazons performance, is the induviduality of his interpretations and voice. The top of his voice has a ring and tone that sets his apart from the pack. To my ear, he sounds at his best in the Mid Period verdi, where the cut of voice come through in the long high-lying passage, (expecially the cut from Traviata, Enjoy this incredible singer

Quite Good
A very promising debut album with some excellent burnished tenor sound. To the reviewer who went on and on about Mr. Villazon only being in his 20's -- I hate to burst your bubble, but he was born in 1972, which makes him 33! And, by the way, the age of the singer is not a "huge" advantage; let us remember that some of our greatest singers didn't come into their element until their 40's (e.g., Flagstad, Milanov...)