5.0 out of 5 stars
Placido Domingo: A Treasury of Arias, November 23, 2005
This review is from: Opera Arias (Audio CD)
This is another high-calibre album showcasing Placido Domingo's mastership of Italian opera. He is captured in his glorious 1970's voice, still in his prime, with a supreme high register and darkly expressive baritone-like lower register. Particularly impressive are the Puccini, French opera and bel canto opera excerpts. This recording starts off with the romantically melancholy "Una Furtiva Lagrima" from Donizetti's bel canto work Elisir D'Amore. The stunning, lyric Roberto's aria from Puccini's early opera Le Villi is well done and conducted by Lorin Maazel with the London forces. The Love Duet between Madame Butterfly and Pinkerton is gorgeous and Renata Scotto and Placido Domingo's voice soar to heights of passion without strain in this version. Domingo's Pinkerton is right on. He sounds gorgeous and expressive and his last aria Addio Fiorito Asil is masterfully rendered. Scenes from Massenet's French grand opera Le Cid find Placido Domingo singing with unrivaled passion and lyric French bravura and Grace Bumbry as Dona Chimene is thrilling. The rest of the album feature Domingo sinigng more Puccini- Il Tabarro, a nearly verisimo work that Domingo sings with virtuosic prowess. The aria from Adriana Lecrouveur is perhaps the best part of this album and Domingo surprises even me as he sings with a kind of force that is almost unearthly. The same applies to the Ingomesco from Verdi's Requiem. All in all, a first-rate album for Domingo.
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