The "flavor of the month" tenor phenomenon is an aspect of the classical music industry that may have its detractors, but let's face it -- it's been around since
Enrico Caruso finally agreed to have his voice recorded by Fred Gaisberg at the Grand Hotel in Milan on April 11, 1902. There is simply so much money to be made and, conversely, so many fans to please. The question is especially sententious as this is written, given the retirement, already secured in two cases and looming for the other, of the "big three" --
Pavarotti,
Domingo, and
Carreras. Just who is going to fill their shoes? Virgin Classics has done well to engage the services of outstanding Mexican tenor
Rolando Villazón, whose singing on Gounod -- Massenet: Arias eloquently demonstrates that he is up to the fulfillment of both requirements.
We can be thankful to Virgin for not following up
Villazón's obligatory first release, Italian Opera Arias, with another heaping helping of spaghetti. On Gounod -- Massenet: Arias
Villazón is heard in some of the very fine solo arias that originate within the French Romantic tradition. Of course,
Villazón's delivery and approach remain solidly Italian even in French literature, even down to incorporating a bit of the
Caruso-like "sob" into his singing. Although his thorough assimilation of the tricky pronunciation of the French language is admirable, Charles Panzèra's he isn't. Nonetheless,
Villazón provides plenty of drama, intensity, and variety to these proceedings -- his performance of "Oui, ce qu'elle, m'ordonne" from
Gounod's Werther is particularly galvanizing, as
Villazón begins softly, almost like speaking, and ultimately explodes at the words "Père! Père! Père je ne connais pas." It really gets your attention.
Villazón's performance throughout Gounod -- Massenet: Arias is quite consistent, as is the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France in its role as accompanist, guided steadily, and with heart, by conductor
Evelino Pidò. If
Rolando Villazón keeps making recordings as good as this one is, perhaps someday he will make audiences forget
Pavarotti and
Domingo in the same manner that they once made the world forget singers like
Alfred Piccaver and
Giacomo Lauri-Volpi.