LE CID - Massenet - Paris
revue de presse
LE CID (18/04/2015) | REVIEW by Waldemar Kamer for Der Neue Merker (19/04/2015) | "Really the art of perfect singing! Currently, we know of no other tenor able to do the same"
Excerpt (translated from German):
"What Massenet put in the score for the title role could discourage the greatest tenor. Roberto Alagna talked about that in an interview: «Massenet seems to have decided to compose something particularly tricky: the tenor enters on stage, said three words and starts with "O noble lame étincelante", an aria that is sung in a very upper range, a bit like in Otello [Verdi]. And as from the fourth note, a High B, that we must sing over all the orchestra and 120 chorus singers (only 60 in Paris) without any warmup».
While Chimene (as Isolde) has some moments to rest and recover, Rodrigue (as Tristan) is almost constantly on stage throughout the evening. No wonder that since Enrico Caruso and Georges Thill, hardly any tenor ventured in this role. Placido Domingo was wonderful, but -he is forgiven - he transposed several arias, while Alagna is currently performing everything in the original key without exception, and each time with the right style. Even in the heroic aria "O noble lame étincelante" - ten minutes long! - Roberto Alagna never seeks refuge in the verismo effects, but develops nuances and a varied range of modulations, even singing sometimes piano or mezza voce.
Of course, after a 30-year career, his voice has become more dramatic, not to say more "metallic". But that metal, brilliant in the upper tessitura, corresponds exactly to the ideal "French heroic tenor". And seven scenes later, Alagna sings a touching "Ah tout est bien fini... Ô souverain, ô juge, ô père". This was a great climax in the evening: really the art of perfect singing! Currently, we know of no other tenor able to do the same."
LE CID (12/04/2015) by Brigitte Chirié-Serrell for Culture-tops (14/04/2015) | "You couldn't dream better, Roberto Alagna is Le Cid"
"You couldn't dream better to transcend Corneille and Massenet than Roberto Alagna : he is Le Cid, a perfect elocution, a conqueror's good looks, both as a strong brave war chief as well as a suffering lover. He thrills us, he moves us when he starts singing "O jour de première tendresse", and even more, in his prayer to Saint Jacques, "O souverain, O juge, O père", before the final battle, whereas he is seeking the divine assistance to face the Moors."
LE CID (18/04/2015) | REVIEW by Waldemar Kamer for Der Neue Merker (19/04/2015) | "Really the art of perfect singing! Currently, we know of no other tenor able to do the same"
Excerpt (translated from German):
"What Massenet put in the score for the title role could discourage the greatest tenor. Roberto Alagna talked about that in an interview: «Massenet seems to have decided to compose something particularly tricky: the tenor enters on stage, said three words and starts with "O noble lame étincelante", an aria that is sung in a very upper range, a bit like in Otello [Verdi]. And as from the fourth note, a High B, that we must sing over all the orchestra and 120 chorus singers (only 60 in Paris) without any warmup».
While Chimene (as Isolde) has some moments to rest and recover, Rodrigue (as Tristan) is almost constantly on stage throughout the evening. No wonder that since Enrico Caruso and Georges Thill, hardly any tenor ventured in this role. Placido Domingo was wonderful, but -he is forgiven - he transposed several arias, while Alagna is currently performing everything in the original key without exception, and each time with the right style. Even in the heroic aria "O noble lame étincelante" - ten minutes long! - Roberto Alagna never seeks refuge in the verismo effects, but develops nuances and a varied range of modulations, even singing sometimes piano or mezza voce.
Of course, after a 30-year career, his voice has become more dramatic, not to say more "metallic". But that metal, brilliant in the upper tessitura, corresponds exactly to the ideal "French heroic tenor". And seven scenes later, Alagna sings a touching "Ah tout est bien fini... Ô souverain, ô juge, ô père". This was a great climax in the evening: really the art of perfect singing! Currently, we know of no other tenor able to do the same."
02/10/2020
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