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Reviews "The saving grace of the evening is the musical performance which, although not first rate, was never less than competent and managed occasionally to be outstanding. The latter category certainly describes the riveting singing and acting of the young Mexican tenor Rolando Villazón as Lensky. Consistently excellent from his first entrance, Villazón was captivating as the impetuous young lover. "What surprised me was the way that his voice has matured and become fuller and richer – he seems to have shaded it specially for the role – and his projection was superb. His love duet with Olga in the first scene was ardently done; his voice rode the large forces of the party scene in Act II with ease, conveying his anger at Onegin's flirting with Olga; and his aria just before his death could scarce have carried more poignancy. I guess he'll rarely sing the role in the future, so it's more than worth seeing the opera in its current run for Villazón alone."--Dominic McHugh at musicomh.com about a performance of Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, March 2006
--- December 12, 2005 "Mr. Villazón has almost everything you want in a lyric tenor: a voice with a warm cast and a healthy glow; a deft mix of supple lyricism and expressive spontaneity; superior musical intelligence. In his portrayal of the sex-obsessed duke, virility coursed equally through his acting and his singing. Still, those who are calling him the next Pavarotti are not helping him. His voice lacks natural heft. On this night, when he summoned full-size fortissimos, you sensed effort in his singing and his sound turned grainy."--Anthony Tommasini in New York Times review of December 10 Rigoletto at Metropolitan Opera. "Mr. Villazon had a good and confident night. He may be a tad underpowered for the Metropolitan Opera House, but he has a great many gifts. He sings easily and vibrantly, and he moves about the stage effortlessly. A protege of Placido Domingo, he embodies a Latin vocal style. I'm afraid he swoons around a bit, instead of traveling directly to the notes. His sound is not especially Italianate, and neither is his execution."--Jay Nordlinger, nysun.com "The Mexican tenor, whose Met debut came two seasons ago in Verdi's 'La Traviata,' has a full-bodied voice, compact and tightly wound, and he uses it fearlessly, with ringing high C's at the climax of the familiar 'La donna e mobile.' . . . "Moreover, he turns what can seem a cardboard villain into a three-dimensional character, oozing charm and arrogance in equal measure."--Mike Silverman, Associated Press, at mercurynews.com --- Rolando Villazón's recording of
Aria recordings Gounod · Massenet Arias
Gounod, Massenet: Arias / Rolando Villazón, arkivmusic.com
VILLAZON,ROLANDO - GOUNOD & MASSENET ARIAS (CD), ShoppersChoice.com
Französische Opernarien, bol.ch
Italian Opera Arias
Italienische Opernarien, bol.ch
Recital
Release date in U.S.: February 21, 2006
Conductor: Michel Plasson 1. Tosca: Recondita armonia by Giacomo Puccini 2.
Manon Lescaut: Donna non vidi mai by Giacomo Puccini
3. Les contes
d'Hoffmann: Il était une fois "Kleinzach Legend" by
Jacques Offenbach
4, Les contes
d'Hoffmann: Allons! Courage et confiance by Jacques
Offenbach 5. Un ballo in
maschera: Ma se m' č forza perderti by Giuseppe
Verdi
6. Martha: Ach,
so fromm by Friedrich von Flotow
7. Alessandro
Stradella: Jungfrau Maria! by Friedrich von Flotow 8. Eugene Onegin, Op. 24: Lensky's aria by Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky 9. Der Rosenkavalier, Op. 59: Di rigori armato il seno by Richard Strauss 10.
Don Pasquale: Com' č gentil by Gaetano Donizetti
11.
La Favorita:
Spirto gentil by Gaetano Donizetti 12. Carmen: La fleur que tu m'avais jetée "Flower song" by Georges Bizet 13.
Les pęcheurs de perles: Ah cette voix by Georges Bizet
14. Adriana
Lecouvreur: La dolcissima effigie by Francesco
Cilča
15. Cavalleria
Rusticana: Mamma, quel vino č generoso "Addio" by
Pietro Mascagni 16. Fedora: Amor ti vieta by Umberto Giordano 17. Ernani: Odi il voto by Giuseppe Verdi
"With a strong, rich, rock-steady voice and tremendous emotional depth, Villazón delivers the goods, backed up by the Munich Rundfunkorchester under veteran French conductor Michel Plasson."--John Terauds at thestar.com Opera
Verdi: La Traviata With Anna Netrebko as Violetta. Conducted by Carlo Rizzi.
"Soprano Anna Netrebko can be very exciting in live performance, but little of that comes across in this performance of Violetta, which is insecure technically throughout and only fitfully interesting in the final act, as the heroine gasps her last. Thomas Hampson is a stolid Germont, and I have never heard the Vienna Philharmonic sound as sloppy as it does under Carlo Rizzi. Only the raptly lyrical tenor Rolando Villazon, as Alfredo, makes a satisfying impression. There are at least 25 other recordings of 'Traviata' on the market, and almost any of them will prove a wiser investment."--Tim Page of the Washington Post in an article at detnews.com. DVD Verdi - Don Carlo
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