Giuseppe VERDI (1813-1901)
La mia letizia infondere
Héctor Sandoval (tenor)
Philharmonie Baden-Baden/Pavel Baleff
rec. 2007, Philharmonie Baden-Baden, Germany
GRAMOLA 99233 [52:36]
To judge from the very last track on this recording, the big Luisa Miller aria, the Mexican tenor Héctor Sandoval - who has sung internationally, although not yet at the Metropolitan - may be, if not "the next Pavarotti," a worthy heir to the style. Once past some unclear pitch in the very first phrase, he delivers ardent, flexible phrasing and impassioned climaxes with a good, clear sound. The cabaletta goes with the right hearty swing, and the tenor varies the repeat not only with melodic repointings, but with a more thoughtful approach. It's mostly nice work.
Unfortunately, it's preceded by the rest of the program. Oh, it's not all bad. Sandoval's sound and manner have an appealing intensity, and he shapes the Masnadieri aria well, for example. But a parade of arias, one following upon another, will, if heard straight through, tend to magnify any singer's shortcomings, and that's what happens here. The singer acquires his bright, forward sound at the cost of some effort. Ringing sustained notes at the top of the staff betray some pressure. High notes are good when he sweeps into them from below, as in Ernani's Mercè, diletti amici, but he pushes hard into others from below: even the one that caps the Luisa - like the one in the first Foscari aria - is, honestly, a bit provincial.
After a while, I began noticing that open vowels tended to drive "wide": the top of the cadenza in Ah, la paterna mano is very "open." Conversely, low notes sometimes go diffuse and "mouthy." Softer dynamics are inconsistent: the final pianissimo in the Don Carlo is a disconnected falsetto; the mezza voce in the Boccanegra aria is better supported.
At least, Sandoval and his handlers have selected the arias intelligently, avoiding the lightest roles (Fenton, Alfredo) as well as the heroic ones, which will probably remain out of bounds. The program, then, is well chosen - I just wish he sang it better!
Pavel Baleff's conducting is good. The cabalettas roll along infectiously, though, except in the Luisa, the rhythms could be heartier and better sprung; lyric passages, like the Don Carlo, are very flowing, forthright rather than ruminative. In both cases, he may be accommodating the soloist's limited sustaining capacity. Occasionally, the music strikes the wrong tone - the Lombardi aria starts out like a brindisi - but he mails the agitated accompaniments in Gustav III (the pre-Ballo Ballo). The strings are a bit tentative in the long Foscari introduction, but their figurations in the Boccanegra are nicely shaped.
Stephen Francis Vasta
stevedisque.wordpress.com/blog
Previous review:
Göran Forsling
Contents
I Lombardi (1843)
La mia letizia infondere [2:16]
Ernani (1844)
Mercè, diletti amici [6:44]
Don Carlo (1867)
Io l'ho perduta!...Io la vidi [3:33]
I due Foscari (1844)
Brezza del suol natio...Dal più remoto esilio [6:35]
Preludio; Notte! Perpetua notte che qui regni [6:36]
Simon Boccanegra (1857)
O inferno! Sento avvampar nell'anima [5:32]
I Masnadieri (1847)
O mio castel paterno [2:43]
Gustav III (1857)
Forse la soglia attinse [5:29]
Macbeth (1846)
Ah, la paterna mano [3:47]
Luisa Miller (1849)
Quando le sere al placido [9:15]
