Description:
Mexican tenor Ramón Vargas is in the midst of a fine international career, where he is in demand for and concentrates on the purely lyric tenor repertoire. His smallish, well-focused voice is attractive and distinguished, his top notes free and easy, and his ability in coloratura admirable, making him particularly valuable in the operas of Rossini. He is also an intelligent musician and has a natural feel for a melodic line. On this CD, he tackles the occasional aria that is a bit too heavy for him, i.e., Rodolfo's aria from La Bohème, an excerpt from Verdi's Un Ballo in Maschera, and Lensky's aria from Eugen Onegin, but o
Mexican tenor Ramón Vargas is in the midst of a fine international career, where he is in demand for and concentrates on the purely lyric tenor repertoire. His smallish, well-focused voice is attractive and distinguished, his top notes free and easy, and his ability in coloratura admirable, making him particularly valuable in the operas of Rossini. He is also an intelligent musician and has a natural feel for a melodic line. On this CD, he tackles the occasional aria that is a bit too heavy for him, i.e., Rodolfo's aria from La Bohème, an excerpt from Verdi's Un Ballo in Maschera, and Lensky's aria from Eugen Onegin, but on disc, at least, he finds no need to force, and the results are good. In general, he's ardent without being overly sentimental, and except for a vaguely desperate sounding high D flat(!) (as at the end of the fine scene from Donizetti's Roberto Devereux), he keeps the tone lovely. And his selection of arias here contains enough rarities among the chestnuts to make this CD particularly valuable. If you haven't heard Vargas, you should. --Robert Levine
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Manufacturer: Sony Classics
Release date: 14 September 1999
EAN: 0743216146420 UPC: 743216146420
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