Here the wonderful Mexican lyric tenor Ramon Vargas joins with other singers to present a program of duets and one trio. When the pairing and the music are right, the outcome is marvelous: Leo Nucci makes a colorful Dulcamara to the tenor’s sweet, dopey Nemorino, and the scene is bouncy and charming, just as it should be (and all the repeats are taken and welcome); baritone Manuel Lanza is a knowing Figaro to Vargas’ fluent, classy Count Almaviva; and Roberto Frontali and Vargas are the very essence of Marcello and Rodolfo at the start of the last act of Bohème.
On the other hand, although newcomer baritone Vassily Gerello’s voice is elegant and soft-grained, he seems totally disconnected from the texts. While this is not bothersome in everyone’s favorite duet from the Pearl Fishers (which is stunningly sung), it’s really detrimental in the oath from Don Carlo that winds up being bland (and Vargas is a bit light for the part). In “Solenne in quest’ora” from Forza, it’s clear that Vargas’ voice simply does not have anything like the heft needed for the role, but Frontali is again impressive. Vargas is a better Carlo in the opera’s final duet with soprano Miriam Gauci, who fills Elisabetta’s shoes well, and in a trio from Rossini’s Maometto II the tenor is joined both by the glorious mezzo Vessalina Kasarova and a pretty bad soprano.
Throughout–and this is one of the great strengths of this CD–everyone, Vargas in particular, obeys dynamic markings to the letter, and the music benefits greatly from such respect. And Vargas seems committed to each part, singing with exemplary diction and a ravishing legato, even if he’s a size small for a couple of them. In short, this is a tasty plate of operatic appetizers, with a fine tenor at its center. Conductor Vjekoslav Sutej, whoever he may be, either follows the very musical tenor’s lead well, or is himself a new star in Italian opera. The orchestra is good enough. [2/17/2004]
