Pablo
SOROZÁBAL (1897–1988)
La tabernera del puerto (1936): No
puede ser[2:46]
Amadeu VIVES (1871–1932)
Doña Francisquita (1923): Por
el humo se sabe dónde está
el fuego [4:19]
José SERRANO
(1873–1941)
La alegría del batallón
(1909): Canción guajira
[2:19]
Pablo LUNA (1879–1942)
La pícara molinera (1928):
Pajarin, tú que vuelas [4:55]
Federico Morreno
TORROBA (1891–1982)
Luisa Fernanda (1932): De este apacible
rincón de Madrid [3:27]
Reveriano SOUTULLO
(1880–1932) /
Juan VERT (1890–1931)
El último romántico (1928):
Bella enamorada [4:23]
José SERRANO
La dolorosa (1930): La roca fria
del Calvario [4:04]
Jacinto GUERRERO
(1895–1951)
Los gavilanes (1923): Mi aldea
[3:58]
El huésped del Sevillano (1926):
Raquel [3:27]
Agustin Pérez
SORIANO (1846–1907)
El guitarrico (1900): Suena guitarrico
mio [4:02]
José SERRANO
El trust de los tenorios (1910): Te
quiero, morena [2:35]
Pablo SOROZÁBAL
La del manojo de rosas (1934): Madrileña
bonita [2:53]
Reveriano SOUTULLO
/ Juan
VERT
La del soto del Parral (1927): Y
amis horas felices [5:10]
Federico Morreno TORROBA
Maravilla (1941): Amor, vida de mi
vida [3:22]
José María
CANO (b. 1959)
Luna (1998): Un gitano sin su honor
[5:18]
When I reviewed the
wonderful DVD of the outdoor concert,
held in Berlin during the World Cup,
with Anna Netrebko, Placido Domingo
and Rolando Villazón, I saw a
note about a forthcoming recital recording
with Villazón, conducted by Domingo.
Here it is. It was recorded in Madrid,
little more than a week after the Berlin
concert. I was deeply impressed by Villazón
in Berlin, as I have been every time
I have heard him. Hearing him here,
without the visuals confirms even more
strongly the likeness between his and
the young Domingo’s voice. His easy
production of the uppermost notes surpasses
Domingo’s by a wide margin, the older
singer never quite at ease with his
high Cs. Everything else about him is
so uncannily like Domingo. Prallels
are to be found in the phrasing, the
beauty of tone, the intensity and identification,
the honeyed pianissimo, which – it has
to be admitted – he is more willing
to utilize than Domingo. In July 1987,
nineteen years before the present disc,
Domingo recorded, also in Madrid, a
collection of Zarzuela arias, some of
which Villazón also sings here.
This disc has for long been one of my
favourite Domingo recitals where he
sings in his native Spanish and in repertoire
that is really close to his heart. Both
his parents were zarzuela artists and
Domingo himself started his career in
the same trade. Villazón has
probably studied that disc and with
Domingo conducting and always generous
to younger colleagues he probably had
many wise words to say on interpretative
matters during the recording sessions.
The Domingo disc will never be redundant,
however many younger singers tackle
this repertoire. The same goes for José
Carreras’s zarzuela disc which also
catches him at his very best: full-throated,
involved and singing with such glow
and such beauty that it feels even more
tragic that he should ruin his wonderful
voice in repertoire that was a size
too big for him. The finest verdict
I can deliver for Villazón is
that his disc will rub shoulders with
the two older tenors’ on many zarzuela
lovers’ shelves.
A few stray remarks
on some of the arias: Sorozábal’s
No puede ser, a particular favourite
with Domingo, which he also sang during
the Berlin concert, at once establishes
Villazón’s many positive qualities
– the voice, the phrasing, the expression,
the intensity. He excels in exquisite
shadings in the aria from Vives’ Doña
Francisquita (tr. 2), shows high
spirits in the rhythmic Cancion guajira
(tr. 3) and has a truly wonderful diminuendo
in Pajarin, tú que vuelas
(tr. 4). Guerrero’s Raquel (tr.
9) is the only aria that all three tenors
sing on their respective recitals and
Villazón is lighter, more lyrical
than either of his colleagues. Serrano’s
Te quiero, morena (tr. 11) has
a peculiar charming lilt of its own
and while the fourteen first tracks
cover arias written between 1900 and
1941 it is good to have as the final
track evidence that the genre is still
alive and healthy in the shape of the
atmospheric aria from José Maria
Cano’s Luna, which was premiered
as recently as 1998. It is a sad song
and Villazón sings it with deep
emotions without becoming lachrymose.
With Domingo conducting
his Madrid forces one can rest assured
that the accompaniments are as authentic
sounding as possible and the sound is
state-of-the-art. Musical consultant
Miguel Roa and Jesús Villa Rojo
have made some revisions to some of
the scores and some of the arias are
also transposed, the original keys intended
for baritone voice. Zarzuela expert
par excellence Christopher Webber has
written the informative liner-notes
and all in all this is a disc that should
be heard by everyone with a taste for
good singing. Those who have so far
not discovered the many riches of the
zarzuela, need feel no qualms about
treading unknown territory: this is
highly approachable, melodic, rhythmic
and colourful music, in several cases
with tunes that "stick" after
the first or second hearing. The choice
of composers also gives a fine general
view of the genre. Most of all the disc
confirms that in Rolando Villazón
we have a worthy heir to the great tenors
of the older generation.
Göran Forsling
Rolando Villazón (tenor) 
