Looking over a pile of recital albums by operatic tenors, a person could easily conclude that there are only a dozen or so arias out there to be sung. Not so here. Although its title, Nessun Dorma, suggests otherwise,
Roberto Alagna's latest solo album is loaded with obscure verismo works like Umberto Giordano's La cena delle beffe and
Leoncavallo's La bohème, which has been eclipsed by
Puccini's opera of the same name. The result is an interesting and well sung album that gives a number of neglected operas a moment in the sun. Curiously, the few chestnuts on the album are the least musically satisfying.
Alagna sounds unsettled in the titular "Nessun dorma" and occasionally pushed beyond his vocal limits in selections from Giordano's Andrea Chénier and
Mascagni's Cavalleria rusticana. The opening of "Cielo e mar!" from
Ponchielli's La Gioconda even reveals an alarmingly fuzzy, rough vocal quality. But
Alagna finds his stride in "Giulietta, son io" from Zandonai's Giulietto e Romeo -- managing to capture a desperate emotionalism without overstressing himself -- and in general delivers much better performances in the less familiar material. Heartfelt and exciting performances of immediately appealing selections from
Leoncavallo's Zingari and Chatterton, and Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari's Sly beg the question of why these arias (maybe even the operas themselves) aren't heard more often. The upshot is that Nessun Dorma opens a window on the emotionally charged and sumptuous world of late nineteenth century Italian opera, and establishes
Alagna as an interesting interpreter of that material. Throughout,
Mark Elder and the Royal Opera House Orchestra Covent Garden play with color and electricity, lending weight and pathos to the entire album.