Customer Reviews

Plácido Domingo - Verdi ~ The Tenor Arias

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is a truly wonderful collection by one of the best Verdi tenors ever! I thought the recordings rich and again, struck by Domingo's consistent performance standard. Some of the high notes in the later recordings aren't as easy as the earlier ones but who cares the timbre is so wonderful! The only detraction is in the packaging: Discs seem to be assembled backwards and the individual cd photos often cut off the top of his head which I though was pretty bad photography anyway. However, the libretto and bio book with interesting photos were a very welcome inclusion. This is definitely worth the price! Highly recommended to any Domingo fan or opera lover! Truly memorable performances on all and reminds you of how great his Otello has been as well as many of his other roles. How many international singing stars have a heritage this rich spanning over 30 years!

There are two words to describe this performance: The Greatest. Placido Domingo, at age 60, sounds glorious in the newly recorded material. His ringing b naturals and gutsy high c's are just what the listener is looking for. The french aria from Les Vespri Siciliana is outstanding, contrasting his fortes and pianos, with a most wonderful top b flat to end with. Placido Domingo has recently transposed many live performances, but in this set, he proves that he still can sing like a real Tenor. Any Opera fan should buy this set so that they can listen to the greatest Opera tenor in the world. Ramon Vargas is also very good, but he does not have the power that Domingo demonstrates. One should buy both these cd's. VIVA DOMINGO!!!

What a wonderful challenge for Placido Domingo in the maturity of his age and career to do all those "early" Verdi's arias, with such power, passion,energy, and also this style of "Bel Canto" which is his way to sing so beautifully some melodic lines..I was almost exhausted by myself when I had finished to listen to all the four discs ( here, in Belgium, I was able to purchase the 4CDs Box on Thursday September 27, so you understand why I'm able to review it very deeply because of the long hours to listen to them again and again...since more than two weeks... when it is available for you, only since October 9th !)
He shows a fresh sound like few young tenors could have for so many different pieces, and I was so excited to hear so much "new" Verdi for my ears, with such glorious heroic tone and presence of emotion.
I was specially surprised for the last CD which is completely for new material during 70 minutes, and suddently, the last aria is the "Ingemisco" of the Requiem...from 1970 (with Bernstein) and he sounds just like it was recorded on the same session with the "new" material...so, we can really say that it is a very successful Placido Domingo's achievement, and he could be proud of himself to have now this unbelievable set for all his lovers, all the Verdi's lovers...and, let's say, all the music's lovers.

This cd box is an important and deserved homage, both to the singer and his admirers, besides the new impeccable material that shows the tenor in a fresh and admirable voice and style... I took out one star of the five because I found that the edition of the material has a grave error that is not at the level of the importance of the work: Just at the first number, in the Alfredo's cabaleta, the final note (not even written) sounds terrible edited and totally false; one would think that this is not even Domingo's voice... I know that this fake display comes from the original Traviata (with a great Cotrubas as Violeta); but there was not any need of pointig at this Domingo's disadvantage again when they were willing to record some new material... I would wish they had recorded once again the scene or corrected the end of the past version, just in order to give this exceptional singer the clean presentation he deserves. After all, this release is, more than anything, a tribute to one of the most important and beloved singers of the past and present century.

This is a truly wonderful collection by one of the best Verdi tenors ever! I thought the recordings rich and again, struck by Domingo's consistent performance standard. Some of the high notes in the later recordings aren't as easy as the earlier ones but who cares the timbre is so wonderful! The only detraction is in the packaging: Discs seem to be assembled backwards and the individual cd photos often cut off the top of his head which I though was pretty bad photography anyway. However, the libretto and bio book with interesting photos were a very welcome inclusion. This is definitely worth the price! Highly recommended to any opera lover! Buy it before they are all gone!

This set is a recorded testimony to both Verdi's genius and Placido Domingo's versatility. Through 70's, 80's, and 90's, Domingo recorded with three major labels -- DG, RCA, and EMI. Out of these three, DG captured the most Verdi recordings, so it only was right for it to combine what they already had with newly recorded material, mostly early Verdi arias (Chung & Gergiev conducting), plus some licensed material (e.g. Giovanna D'Arco) from EMI.
What impresses right away is how little has the voice changed over the years. Yes, some freshness heard on Ingemisco is lost now, but there is much greater insight gained, as displayed in such heroic pieces as "O magnanima, e prima delle città lombarde". Through numerous performances (Domingo has long ago broke Enrico Caruso's record for opening nights at the MET) and numerous recorded recitals, Domingo managed to keep the powerful, ringing spinto tenor mostly intact. What's most intriguing is HOW did he manage it. He did not pick and choose the roles (as Bergonzi, for instance), he sang Otello since the 70's, and recently has even recorded some of Wagner's extremely demanding roles (see EMI's catalog). Domingo's voice is not typical for an Italian tenor, e.g. he does not have the squillo (or the "ping") on top notes, but what's amazing is that it is able to produce bronze-like ring on all notes. During the mid-eighties, the voice had a fascinating baritonal quality; Domingo has even recorded Il Barbiere. On this CD, the selections with Guilini reflect that period the best.
Deutsche Grammophon chose to alternate the new-recorded material with old one. As a result, those who have been devoted fans of the tenor for, say fifteen-plus years, will notice some difference, but those relatively new to his art would not.
The set, albeit not a bargain, has many delights. In addition to featuring selections from out-of-print editions (e.g. Luisa Miller with Maazel) the newly recorded material is targeted at paying homage to early Verdi and his lesser-known works. For instance, "Ah, toi que j'ai chérie" from French version of I Vespri siciliani is a great aria, makes one wish for a complete opera to be recorded some time soon. The French selections in particular show how attentive Verdi was to highlighting the beauty of language with his music. This really explains why Italian translations done later did not fare as well as the originals, and vice versa.
The selections from complete operas impress with starry casts. We hear the voices of Price, Cappuccilli, Ghiaurov, Milnes, Jo, and most wonderful choruses. And most of world's greatest conductors are present here -- Karajan, Gergiev, Kleiber, Levine, Abbado, just to name a few. Each brings his own distinct style, some controversial, some debated, all exciting, but none simply conventional.
Many have noted Domingo's chameleon-like ability to "become" the character. I would just like to add a note that he is now added the ability to infuse his characters with subtle sensuality. Granted, a tenor aria is written to be appealing and engaging, but it takes a great artist to make it "glow."
We are indeed very lucky to share a time frame with Placido Domingo. For years to come, he will be the idol for aspiring singers and a source of wonder for the numerous fans of great vocal performances.

Placido Domingo's magnificent voice scarcely needs any introduction or praise or comments, as it is a splendid vehicle that speaks for itself. Not only is the voice - a strong, wood-grained, ringing tenor of a richer and darker sound than a pure lyric tenor - an amazing thing, a gift of God, but Domingo is himself a master of the technical demands of music (in addition to being a master of the technical demands of singing - not the same thing at all!) and a truly great singing artist.

That is, he is never content to sing without becoming the character, without expressing the emotions of the character.

The size, colour and drama of the voice make him an ideal Verdi exponent. Who could ever forget his magnificent performances in "Un ballo", "Don Carlos", "La Traviata", "Il Trovatore", and a host of other Verdi tenor roles? And the consistency of Domingo's vocal quality is something of a phenomenon. This man has had an enviable career - and it's his superb vocal technique that has carried him through it.

I particularly love the way that he varies the outpourings of that golden tone. At one moment it's all fire and blazing intensity, and the next it's a thing of restraint and tenderness. Is there anything at which to cavil in Domingo as a Verdi tenor? I do not think so...

The world has been fortunate to be gifted with such a tenor. If music itself adds meaning to our life and to existence itself, it finds an ideal servant of itself in this man who is certainly one of the finest tenors in the world.

This collection of Verdi arias represents not only the recordings of Domingo in the roles he's tackled during his long career (with some of the finest fellow singers you could imagine), but also some earlier Verdi that he'd not performed, and which he recorded specially for this multi-CD set. The result is a triumph. One can see the difference instantly between various characters - not an easy thing to do.

I would also like to recommend another set - "Der junge Domingo" (The Young Domingo), a 5-CD set released by BMG. I cannot find it here on Amazon, so I can only suggest those who are interested try alternative sources. It's a quite stunning collection - admittedly it contains "Svegliatevi nel cor" which I think is a mistake, but then it was recorded before the Handel revival and was thus less historically informed than one might wish. But really... it doesn't matter. The great beauty and intelligence of Domingo's singing shines through even that, and it's followed by a lovely "Il mio tesoro" from Mozart's Don Giovanni. Things get even better - there's a Donizetti aria from Il Duca d'Alba, the famous tenor aria from La Juive, the "Quando le sere al placido" from Luisa Miller, Lenski's aria from Eugene Onegin, some Gounod (including arias from Faust and Roméo et Juliette), the love duet from Madama Butterfly with Leontyne Price, and much more...

What a voice and what a power. Here we have a combination of a beautiful music and a perfect voice. What else would you need to enjoy it.

This is Placido Domingo's best recording to date. His greatest and strongest repertoire was Verdi, as he himself claimed, and this recording is a lovely tribute to Verdi himself. A plethora of arias from such operas as La Traviata, Il Trovatore, Aida, Don Carlos, Otello and such earlier works like Il Foscari, Jersualem, Nabucco, Stiffelio and Ernani. In Placido Domingo, the opera scene found the heir to Enrico Caruso and successor to Franco Corelli. Originally trained as a baritone, Domingo had opera in his blood. His Spanish-born parents were Zarzuela singers. Placido's voice is dark, rich, full lyric, but dramatic and compelling, the perfect voice for Verdi and Puccini. Domingo mastered a number of operatic languages including French, German and Russian. His charisma, good looks and dramatic prowess was all to his credit and he appeared in Zefferelli movies (Traviata in 82 and Otello in 86. Many detractors and critics have taken a while to praise Domingo, and it wasnt until he sang Wagner that they came around. He has always been "outshined" by Pavoratti with whom he had a real rivalry with. But unlike Pavoratti, Domingo has more dramatic integrity in his characterizations and is the more cerebral singer. His voice is more beautiful, less brassy than the overweight showy Pavoratti. This is his best recording and I urge all fans to own it at once.

Pure,absolute satisfaction!That's the onlypossible feeling I could possible have after having listened and cherished this fabulous set of CD's. It is a tribute to this magnificent master of fine singing,as well as a monumental homage to the mythical Giuseppe Verdi!Placido Domingo is the perfect, harmonious combination of acting, passion and singing. He is always powerful and crystal clear in his high notes. Maestro Domingo knows every time where and when to adjust his divine voice in the appropriate tone and volume.He is never too loud(too forte!) or too low, and never croons. Although there are some trivial flaws as far as the sound quality of specific tracks is concerned e.g. the last high note from "O mio rimorso!", this CD-set is a real tresure and an excellent value for money for anyone who wishes to call oneself a "real VERDI - addict" as well as a fan of this glorious artist, a dramatic, a heroic,a lyric,a mature,a perfect singer. HAIL PLACIDO DOMINGO, TENOR OF THE TENORS!