Voce D'Italia: Arias For Rubini

Gioachino Rossini (Composer), Vincenzo Bellini (Composer), Gaetano Donizetti (Composer), Roberto Abbado (Conductor), Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia (Orchestra), Juan Diego Flórez (Performer) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Performer: Juan Diego Flórez
• Orchestra: Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia
• Conductor: Roberto Abbado
• Composer: Gioachino Rossini, Vincenzo Bellini, Gaetano Donizetti
• Audio CD (January 22, 2008)
• SPARS Code: DDD
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Decca
• ASIN: B000RHSRPQ
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (22 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #141,502 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

The remarkable young Peruvian tenor Juan Diego Florez continues his triumphs over the difficulties of the bel canto repertory with this recital devoted to arias sung by Giovanni Battista Rubini (1794-1854). Rubini redefined the role of the tenor, singing heroically, with warmth, sensitivity, an amazing capacity for florid music, and an upper extension that allowed him to sing an F above high C. Florez seems to have it all (although his highest note here is a still-staggering high E-flat). The bright tone, charm, ease of production, comfort with coloratura, superb diction, and sheer love of singing is evident throughout this razzle-dazzle recital. High Ds pop out effortlessly in the heroic aria from Bellini's Il pirata and Rossini's lighter-hearted Il Turco in Italia. More introspective sections are sung with feeling and a long, seamless line. The final piece on the CD--a 12 minute tour de force from Rossini's William Tell that ends with a blazing high C--will have you cheering. Roberto Abbado's leadership is expert, sympathetic, and lively. Thrilling! --Robert Levine

Product Description

Juan Diego Flórez is THE tenor for bel canto operas, the first choice for any new production at the world's greatest opera houses. Flórez recently performed the first aria encore at La Scala in 74 years. On Voce d'Italia, he pays tribute to an extraordinary predecessor who inspired some of his greatest stage roles and became the first `superstar tenor': Giovanni Battista Rubini. Like Flórez today, Rubini was loved as much for the touching pathos of his slow singing as for the thrilling power of his fast, high roulades. Roles the two singers have shared include the Prince in Rossini's La Cenerentola, Elvino in Bellini's La sonnambula, Arturo in Bellini's I puritani, Uberto in Rossini's La donna del lago, and the title role of Rossini's Otello. Many of the arias by Rossini, Bellini and Donizetti on this new recording with the Orchestra of the Academy of Santa Cecilia, Rome under Roberto Abbado, are unknown gems which show the tremendous range of Flórez's vocal and dramatic art. Flórez thrillingly tosses off those high Cs which have brought him so much fame, and ventures further into the stratosphere with a few high Ds and his first high E-flat on record.

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars By now, a known quantity, April 12, 2008

By 

klavierspiel "klavierspiel" (TX, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

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This review is from: Voce D'Italia: Arias For Rubini (Audio CD)

After flirting with other repertoire and recording a crossover disc or two, the reigning Rossini tenor Juan Diego Florez returns to what he does best on this album: the florid, high-lying music of early nineteenth-century bel canto opera. The concept here is to evoke comparison with Giovanni Rubini, the tenor for whom this music was written, and it's hard to believe that Florez' predecessor was more facile or could negotiate the numerous coloratura runs with greater accuracy and ease. Florez doesn't actually go as high as Rubini was reputed to have done (high F)--he touches one E-flat above high C, but otherwise reaches "only" high D. On the other hand, he sings his high notes in full voice, something Rubini would not have done.

For fans who know what Florez is all about and have enjoyed his live performances (and I certainly am one) this album will certainly confirm their high opinion. The tenor's voice seems to have grown in size, and occasionally there is a hint of unsteadiness in sustained notes--perhaps fatigue due to his frantic international career? As I have noted before, with vocal gifts of such magnitude it seems almost churlish to wish occasionally for more differentiation of character or vocal color, since all of the music is so much of a piece. Did contemporary audiences demand the vocal acting abilities of a Callas from Rubini? My guess is not. Let's wish Florez a long career and continued vocal health--he's certainly become an indispensable fixture on the international operatic scene.

FOOTNOTE: As is the case so often with the bel canto composers, a listener can amuse him/herself by identifying music in the more obscure operas that was later re-used to greater fame. There's a big chunk of "Norma" in one of the tracks, for example.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful singing - but a slightly gimmicky idea, February 11, 2008

By 

Ralph Moore "Ralph operaphile" (Bishop's Stortford, UK) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Voce D'Italia: Arias For Rubini (Audio CD)

I yield to no-one in my admiration for this Peruvian tenor superstar; his singing gives unalloyed pleasure to us canary fanciers whether live or on disc. I last heard him in the famous Royal Opera "Fille du Regiment" with Dessay, and he was terrific.

But let's be objective: the title of this CD is a tad misleading; in truth several of the arias here were either not specifically written for Rubini, or he was only tangentially or belatedly associated with them, singing them perhaps only once long after the premieres. We have little idea whether Rubini sounded anything like Florez though there's no reason why he should not offer this tribute to so influential a singer and I'm certainly not moaning about the singing; it's breath-taking for us - if not for Florez, whose ease of production is a thing of wonder. Nor is it the result of recording patchwork; Florez is just as capable of tossing off those fiendish roulades and stratospheric top notes in one recorded take as he is of doing them live. I don't really understand those reviewers who complain about pinched tone; the voice occasionally sounds a little strained but how could it be otherwise when Florez is singing in his lower register at the upper limits of male human performance - and without the mixed falsetto sound which marred Kraus' top notes and made him sound whiney.

Perhaps listening to this admirable CD in one sitting is a little too much to take; better to listen to a few tracks at a time to avoid auditory fatigue. Some have complained of a lack of characterisation in Florez' interpretations, especially when he is hopping from one opera to another, but I'm afraid I neither notice that nor really care; in any case just listen to the tenderness and variety of the third item, Donizetti's "Marino Faliero" (which was most certainly written by Donizetti expressly for Rubini and Florez sings it complete with a whopping full-voiced E flat), and you'll hear plenty to refute the accusation of sameness. That hint of strain which others can hear creeping into the highest notes is perhaps the price of the voice having acquired some darker colour of late. One or two top noters are not quite perfect, but to me he still sounds miles better than any other similarly voiced tenor around today. His is not the largest voice I have ever heard but it has such total concentration and purity of tone that it really carries in large spaces and I do not accuse the engineers of much knob-twiddling to enhance artificially the resonance of his voice production; his tenor really is cleanly focused and penetrating and in no need of boosting.

In many ways the first and the last items are the best, from the melodic genius of Bellini to the thrilling mastery of Rossini in "William Tell", in which Florez rises to all he demands of this most heroic of Rossini's tenor roles. The orchestra, chorus, supporting singers and conductor are exemplary. As for the solo singing, the elegance, the thrust, the plangency of the quieter passages, the sense of style and the pyrotechnics combine to make this a truly great recital album.

25 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Rubini reincarnated!!!!, September 23, 2007

By 

Stephen (Melbourne, Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Voce D'Italia: Arias For Rubini (Audio CD)

There is little wonder why people have dubbed Florez as Pavarotti's successor. In fact, more accurately he should be named as Alfredo Kraus' successor. From the first time I encountered this artist, Mozart's Mitridate on Decca, I was spell-bounded by the ringing, typically nasal, tenor voice, secure technique, and broad range: a splendid instrument of the highest quality! Now with a few releases under his belt, a wonderful recital 'Una furtiva lagrima', a Rossini arias program, as well as a simply stunning recording of Rossini's Matilde di Shabran, Florez has tackled the heart of the bel canto repertoire.

As most are aware, Rubini had a stupendous range, his notes in alt were phenomenal; the famous anecdote of interpolating a high F in Bellini's I Puritani caused a sensation at its Parisian premiere in 1835.

The program for this CD has been carefully chosen, the Rossini arias as always demonstrating vocal agility, the Donizetti/Bellini-utmost expression and those 'long, long melodies', as Verdi put it.
1.The defiance, the heroic tone in Il Pirata is the best on disc, surpassing Barnabe Marti in the famous full recording with wife Caballe.
2. One can detect the plea in the Elisabetta aria; at least equaling Bruce Ford on the Opera Rara recording (a favourite!!!! Another underrated tenor who should have taken on and recorded the role of Arturo in I Puritani, what a shame...), the Il turco in Italia aria having the right amount of 'bounce' for early Rossini, and the world premiere recording of a substitute aria for La donna del Lago simply stunning.
3. The Donizetti is a rarity, composed around 1835, is sung with the sweetest voice, perhaps Florez will revive the full opera????
4, Finally, and dear to my heart, are the Bellini Bianca and Rossini Guglielmo Tell arias. Even at an early age Bellini found his own voice among the Rossini hipe, this aria, as well as 'A tanto duol', and the soprano aria 'Sorgi, o Padre' are direct predecessors of the great Norma/Puritani arias. They contain the most beautiful lyricism. Florez certainly has the fine sense of line so important for the performance of Bellini, I cannot implore enough for him to record the Bellini operas-La Straniera needs a revival, and he would make the most ideal Elvino in La Sonnambula since Monti, and more recently Raul Gimenez (perhaps with Bartoli as Amina...listen to her excerpts on the new Maria album, she'll convince you!!!!). The Guglielmo Tell aria is the one of the most heroic arias I know in the bel canto repertoire, the character of Arnold the most taxing for anyone who has attempted. Gedda had the elegance on the Gardelli French recording, Pavarotti the Italianate heroism in the Chailly Italian version. Florez has both of those qualities!!! The legato in 'O muto asil' is beautiful, and then the high C's in the cabaletta are amazing!!! The supporting Academia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia and Roberto Abbado are fantastic, hmmm perhaps the Guglielmo Tell aria taken a little fast, but now I'm just niggling!!!
Congratulations, Florez deserves the highest praise, I'm sure that Rubini is looking down in deepest admiration!

Stephen (Melbourne, Australia)