Entrance Arias: intelligently prepared and passionately delivered, the debut solo CD of tenor Rolando Villazon bodes well for both artist and audience.(Italian Opera Arias)(Sound Recording Review)

"ITALIAN OPERA ARIAS" Arias by Cilea, Donizetti, Verdi, Puccini, Mascagni. Munchner Rundfunkorchester, Viotti. Virgin CDC 72435 45626

Mexican tenor Rolando Villazon has experienced a meteoric rise; only five years into his career, he has triumphed in a number of major roles in major houses--including Alfredo at the Met and Hoffmann at Covent Garden, to name but two. His debut solo CD bodes well for both artist and audience. It gets off to a slow start--literally--with rather disjointed "E la solita storia" from L'Arlesiana, taken at a snail's pace, full of nice effects but not much motion. Things change for the better immediately with "Angelo casto e bel" from Il Duca d'Alba; the aria, attributed to Donizetti, who did not live to complete this, his final opera, or witness its first staging (in Italian, rather than the original French), was probably penned by the maestro's student Matteo Salvi, who finished the opera. Whoever wrote it, Villazon sings it gloriously, displaying a firm legato and an easy (sounding), gorgeous diminuendo. There is also a honeyed focus to the tone, reminiscent of one of the young tenor's proclaimed role models, Jussi Bjorling.

The undisputed Donizetti is represented well by stylishly delivered recitative and emotional but never excessive singing in Edgardo's "Tombe degli avi miei.... Fra poco a me ricovero," from Lucia di Lammermoor, capped with a thrilling B-natural in the cadenza. The role of Nemorino in L'Elisir d'Amore has provided a fine vehicle for this stage-savvy tenor, but here "Quanto e bella" is voiced a bit too thickly, almost heroically, where charm and buoyancy would serve him better. The dark, burnished sound of Villazon's idol, Placido Domingo, is a feature of this tenor's vocal signature as well, though a bit of the sunnier di Stefano influence would be welcome. "Una furtiva lagrima" fares better, the handling of the passaggio working more smoothly in sustained passages than in the Fs and Gs that begin phrases; here the singer tends to punch or scoop a bit, giving an unintentional accent to the opening note of the phrase. Still, the delivery is tender, the cadenza fluid and the messa di voce at the conclusion deftly handled.

Oronte's "La mia letizia infondere," from I Lombardi, is spun out neatly, and "Io lo vidi," front the four-act version of Don Carlo (a role Villazon takes on ...