This is a very satisfying recital, one that avoids the usual same-voice-for-an-hour tedium by dint of Marcello Alvarez’s ability to color his tone and words with elegance, energy, and intelligence. The voice is a real lyric tenor; the notes above the staff are a correct extension of the ones below, and there is no change in tone from the voice’s top to its bottom. The CD gets off to a beautiful start with one of the most affecting readings of Werther’s “Pourquoi me reveiller” I’ve heard: Alvarez caresses the word “caresses” with real feeling, and without resorting to any cheap tricks. In fact, one of the glories of this disc is Alvarez’s refusal to add sobs and unnecessary emphases to his words; he allows the innate plangency of his tone to spin out freely, and the attention he gives not just to the individual aria but to the character himself could stand as a lesson to other, better-known tenors.
He differentiates the two sections of Hoffmann’s “Kleinzach” aria splendidly; his Tonio in Fille du Regiment is as vital as his Werther is morbid (and the nine high-Cs are all in place); he sounds truly despairing as Fernand in Favorite; and the two arias from Manon show the two sides of des Grieux with great clarity. The crown in the recital is Arnold’s long scene from the last act of Guillaume Tell (for which Sony also wisely provides a chorus, whereas it doesn’t in the Fille scene where it would have been equally welcome). Here he comes closest to heroic, singing with firm, full tone and tossing off the outlandish high notes with ease and capping it with a high C that goes on, handsomely, for what seems like days. I wish he hadn’t rushed through “Ah, leve-toi soleil” (and had attempted a sweet ending, as written), and breathing before the ascent to Faust’s C in “presence” is an unmusical no-no–but just being able to nit-pick on such a level implies how otherwise remarkable his work here is. Mark Elder and his Nice Orchestra and Chorus are all wonderful. Great tenorizing here!
