Puccini: Tosca. (Opera and Oratorio).(Sound Recording Review)

[] Cedolins; Bocelli, Guelfi, Bertocchi, Peirone, Barretta, d'Arcangelo, Ciccone; Orchestra and Chorus of the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Mehta. Text and translation, plus enhanced CD with libretto and English translation. Decca B0000171-12 (2)

Decca's new Tosca is more than just a vehicle for one of its Billboard heroes; it is, in fact, not at all a bad recording, and more a vehicle for its protagonista, which is as it should be. But to the urgent matter at hand: how is he? Well, there are no surprises. Pop-classical-crossover superstar Andrea Bocelli is in fine voice as Cavaradossi, but the instrument immediately sounds smallish and narrow, pumped up a bit more than the others by the microphone. As usual, there are some blunt, angular phrases where more warmth would be welcome, and this Cavaradossi is a painter with a limited palette of vocal colors. Awkward moments occur around the passaggio, where the tenor's tone tends to thin or his pitch to lose center. But, on the plus side, Bocelli's crystal-clear diction is always a joy, and there is a pocket into which he places high notes that yields exciting results in the climax of "Recondita armonia" (although a little pallid in textual delivery), as well as later in Act I, when he ascends to a B-natural on the phrase "La vita mi costasse, ti salvero!" The tenor's forward placement and resultant bright vowels are a pleasure in his low register, particularly in the denunciation of Scarpia preceding the aforementioned phrase in Act I, and in his impressive "Vittoria! Vittoria!" outburst of Act II. "E lucevan le stelle" is handled neatly, with a lovely diminuendo and an admirable avoidance of the tempting sob-fest at its conclusion.

In the opera's title role, Fiorenza Cedolins has many assets--even on an audio recording, where her considerable physical beauty is not in evidence. Her Tosca is carefully thought out and expressive, and she elicits some response from the somewhat wooden Bocelli in her duets with him. Cedolins's lirico-spinto voice is happier leaning toward ...