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CD: MDT |
Arrivederci
see end of review for track listing
Vittorio Grigolo (tenor)
Carmen Giannattasio (soprano) (tr. 4), Daniele Bonaviri (mandolin)
(tr. 13), (guitar) (tr. 16), Dan Thomas (mandolin) (tr. 15)
Coro del Teatro Regio di Parma/Martino Faggiani*
Orchestra del Teatro Regio di Parma/Pier Giorgio Morandi
rec. Auditorium Niccolò Paganini, Parma; Wathen Hall, London,
February-April 2011
Sung texts with English translations enclosed
SONY CLASSICS 88697 911342 [66:14]
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The latest Italian tenor star Vittorio Grigolo, born in Arezzo
in 1977 but brought up in Rome, had an early start. He made
his debut at the age of thirteen in Rome as the Shepherd Boy
in the last act of Tosca. Cavaradossi was sung by a certain
Luciano Pavarotti and the young shepherd was quickly nicknamed
Il Pavarottino. He sang in Vienna at 18 and was the youngest
male singer to appear at Milan’s La Scala when he was
23. In the midst of his singing career he also found time for
a bout as Pre-2000 Formula car driver but had to give it up
after an accident. Having sung a number of operatic roles he
also found great success as Tony in West Side Story,
which he also recorded in 2007. All this even before that he
had entered the pop-charts with a cross-over album. In October
2010 he released a second disc, also this time with a mix of
arias and popular songs. The same formula is again employed
for his third album. Surprisingly perhaps for a singer in his
mid-thirties, it is entitled Arrivederci, which could
be translated ‘Farewell’ but, as he points out in
the liner notes, the actual meaning is ‘see you again
soon’. Not having heard any of these previous discs I
was eager to hear this new offering. The little Pavarottino
of twenty plus years ago has grown to a splendid light lyrical
tenor with so far no bad manners but with a lot of virtues.
His choice of arias shows that he, or some advisor, is fully
aware of where his limitations in volume and stamina lie. Sony
have wisely picked some gems from the lyric tenor repertoire
which show off his abilities to the best possible effect. The
opening Donizetti aria, for instance, tells us that he has a
fast vibrato on sustained notes - but it is well controlled
and not at all intrusive. I just mention it to give some description
of the sound. He characterizes well and his phrasing is musical.
La donna è mobile is certainly one of the most
recorded of all tenor arias, Without making any direct comparisons
I have to say that it is very well sung, stylishly and with
some fine nuances. One doesn’t expect an Italian tenor
to include a Mozart aria in a recital programme like this but
Un aura amorosa, sung with fine sense for the idiom,
mellifluous tone and well integrated half-voice, is actually
one of the highlights of this recital.
The Traviata Brindisi is elegant and the soprano Carmen
Giannattasio is a worthy partner. He may not have enough heft
for Recondita armonia but it is beautifully executed.
Even more lyrical singers than Grigolo have shown that you don’t
need a heroic voice to make a good rendering of this aria. Singing
the whole part in a stage performance is another matter. Anyway
I feel that he is more on home territory when singing the Martha
aria. It is in Italian but most great tenors in the past have
sung it that way, even Jussi Björling. Together with the
Così excerpt this is, to my mind, the best of
his arias. The Cilea and Giordano arias are well up to the same
standard with an extra plus for È la solita storia.
The second half of the disc offers a dozen Italian songs, a
few of them as well known as the preceding arias, but quite
a few less hackneyed. Stylish singing again, generally appealing
arrangements and there is a nice surprise in the shape of the
old schlager Arrivederci Roma, sung without histrionics
... well, almost!
The Parma orchestra play well under the experienced maestro
Pier Giorgio Morandi - a conductor I regularly encounter at
the Royal Opera in Stockholm. In two of the numbers we are also
treated to Chorus of Teatro Regio di Parma.
Sung texts with translations are very often missing today, even
on full price issues. Therefore I can with satisfaction report
that Sony is exemplary on this point.
Il Pavarottino has grown to a good lyrical tenor. I look
forward to hearing more from him.
Göran Forsling
Track listing
Gaetano DONIZETTI (1797 - 1848)
Il Duca d’Alba
1. Inosservato, penetrava ... Angelo casto e bel [6:18]
Giuseppe VERDI (1813 - 1901)
Rigoletto
2. La donna è mobile [2:12]
Wolfgang Amadeus MOZART (1756 - 1791)
Così fan tutte
3. Un ’aura amorosa [3:59]
Giuseppe VERDI
La traviata
4. Libiamo ne’ lleti calici (Brindisi)* [3:02]
Giacomo PUCCINI (1857 - 1924)
Tosca
5. Recondita armonia [2:45]
Friedrich von FLOTOW (1812 - 1883)
Martha
6. M’appari [2:57]
Francesco CILEA (1866 - 1950)
L’arlesiana
7. È la solita storia [4:09]
Umberto GIORDANO (1867 - 1948)
Fedora
8. Amor ti vieta [1:49]
Gioachino ROSSINI (1792 - 1868)
9. La danza [3:02]
Ernesto de CURTIS (1875 - 1937)
10. Torna a Surriento [3:35]
Ruggero LEONCAVALLO (1857 - 1919)
11. Mattinata [2:00]
Ernesto de CURTIS
12. Ti voglio tanto bene [3:03]
Enrico CANNIO (1874 - 1949)
13. ‘O surdato ‘nnammurato* [2:31]
Ernesto de CURTIS
14. Non ti scordar di me [3:15]
Vincenzo d’ANNIBALE (1894 - 1950)
15. ‘O paese d’’o sole [3:00]
Eldo DI LAZZARO (1902 - 1968)
16. Chitarra romana [3:11]
Salvatore CARDILLO (1874 - 1947)
17. Core ‘ngrato [3:48]
Giovanni d’ANZI (1906 - 1974)
18. Voglio vivere così [2:42]
Renato RASCEL (1912 - 1991)
19. Arrivederci, Roma [3:51]
Lucio DALLA (b. 1943)
20. Caruso [4:57]
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