There's no doubt that Juan Diego Florez is the Rossini tenor of our time; his fluency with coloratura, rhythmic accuracy, long breath, lovely tone, and fearlessness of heights make him ideal for that composer's difficult but rewarding writing. As a Donizetti hero he's equally good, at least in the composer's lighter music; I wouldn't be surprised if he develops into a fine Mozart tenor as well. In this new recital he walks on ground that is familiar and not-so-familiar, and the results vary. There's nothing here that isn't worthy, but some arias are perfectly sung and some are far from it.

As you might expect, the arias from Semiramide and L'Italiana are glorious, the former dazzling in its apparent ease--the very ultimate in bel canto--and the latter as graceful and imaginative as can be. An aria Donizetti added for an Italian version of his Fille du regiment, with its brilliant patter, also is stunning in its smoothness of execution. High notes--Bs, Cs, Ds--pop up willy-nilly in these three selections, and Florez nails each with ease. High notes also play a big part in Léopold's aria from Halevy's La Juive, and again he takes them out of mid-air, but his French pronunciation is surprisingly awkward. It's a bit better in "J'ai perdu mon Eurydice" from Gluck's French version of Orphée..., but he approaches this most classical of arias with the attitude of a tenor steeped in the Romantic era, and it's inappropriate.

With Paolinia's wonderful aria from Cimarosa's Matrimonio Segreto, Florez is back in great comfort, phrasing with elegance and tossing off coloratura. Similarly, an aria from Donizetti's Lucrezia Borgia flows effortlessly. The aria from Gianni Schicchi is sung with such verve and focused tone that it poses no problems despite its heavy scoring. The two Verdi selections are disappointing: the one from Un giorno di regno is totally uninflected, and startlingly, Florez makes little of "La donna e mobile", stressing odd syllables and sounding mirthless. Throughout, conductor Carlo Rizzi beats time with no feel for the music, seemingly happy to be hanging around an important tenor/star, which Florez certainly is. The orchestra plays well. This CD may not be perfect--as Florez's others have been--but at least the tenor is showing some curiosity in addition to his prodigious gifts, and there's a great deal of pleasure to be had here.

--Robert Levine