Roberto Alagna

Programm

Ave Maria (Schubert)

Panis Angelicus (Franck)

Agnus Dei (Bizet)

Intermède au Piano - Ave Maria (Bach/Gounod)

Ingemisco (Verdi)

Tre giorni son che Nina (Pergolesi)

Vois ma misère… (Saint-Saëns: Samson et Dalila)

O Souverain… (Massenet: Le Cid)

Non, je ne suis pas un impie (David Alagna: Le dernier jour d’un condamné)

Si loin trop loin… (Hossein: Ben Hur)

La valse de l’espérance (Chostakovitch/Alagna)

Amour à mort (Lalanne: Al Capone)

Intermède à la Guitare - Recuerdos de La Alhambra

La maschera (Lalanne: Al Capone)

Raccontami (Lalanne: Al Capone)

Amour d’enfance (Lalanne: Al Capone)

Intermède à la guitare - Medley Morricone

La Source (Lalanne: Al Capone)

Sans être à aimer (Lalanne: Al Capone)

Libertà (David Alagna)

ENCORES

Fenesta che luciva Caruso (Dalla)

Sognare (Alagna)

Notre père (Alagna)

Performance

26th of September 2023

Eglise Saint Sulpice - Paris

Cast

Roberto Alagna - Tenor

Jean-Felix Lalanne - Guitare

Marek Ruszczynski - Piano

Press Review

Musica in Opera - Loredana Atzei - 28 September 2023

 "A moving, captivating recital ... An intimate experience of spiritual contemplation, accompanied by two highly talented musicians ... High notes that are always full and brilliant, a musical phrasing full of pathos, superb control of the lower register: these are constant characteristics of an artist who adapts his technique to the expressive needs of his singing ... A great musicality and richness of harmonics that induce in the listener that phenomenon of resonance where you have the sensation of vibrating at the same time as your singing ... The power alternates with a caressing, moving voice thanks to the enveloping softness of the sound, combined with the brilliance of the high notes and the splendid technical and expressive mastery of the pianissimos held for a very long time ... A voice for which the years do not seem to pass, capable of transmitting infinite emotions and weaving an invisible thread between Heaven and Earth, crossing the heart of the spectator in a magical union". 

 "On 26 September, the large, dark church of Saint-Sulpice becomes the ideal setting for an emotional recital. The dark spaces are animated by lights.The large marble statues overhanging the altar seemed captivated by the concert.Roberto Alagna draws the audience into an intimate experience of spiritual contemplation, accompanied by two highly talented musicians whose refined elegance is revealed both in the accompaniment of the singing and in the solo moments.Marek Ruszczynski's piano interpretation is particularly delicate and passionate, and guitarist Jean Felix Lalanne's tribute to Ennio Morricone, whose music fits perfectly with the sacred nature of the site, is resolutely moving.

The concert opens with Schubert's 'Ave Maria' recited first in Latin and then in French.A sincere call, a clean, elegant vocal line, interspersed with notes of heartfelt emotion with which the singer immediately captivates the audience, transporting them into another dimension. His great musicality and the richness of the harmonics that induce in the listener this phenomenon of resonance in which one has the sensation of vibrating simultaneously with his singing continue to be a source of amazement for me.

Next comes César Franck's "Panis Angelicus", in which power is combined with the tenderness of a moving song.
In Georges Bizet's "Agnus Dei" we can admire the perfectly timbred medium range from which he rises imperiously in the verse "Qui tollis peccata mundi". The reprise of "Dona Pacem" is gently caressed, ending on a long, soaring high note.The sweetness of the sung words becomes even more evident in Gounod's "Ave Maria". The high notes are always full and brilliant, the phrasing musical and full of pathos, and the control of the bass is superb.These are constant characteristics in an artist who adapts his technique to the expressive needs of the song.In Verdi's "Ingemisco", the power dissolves into extraordinary lines, underlining once again the great attention paid to the dynamics of the sound in the quest for maximum interpretative effect.There is never a vocal demonstration as an end in itself, but total dedication to the singing.
Pergolesi's "Tre giorni son che Nina" was moving, performed with a full, heart-rending voice and an infinite range of nuances.

His interpretation of "Vois ma misère", from Camille Saint-Saëns's Samson et Dalila, is enthralling, from which emerges an intense, luminous invocation full of pain.
Equally bewitching is 'Ô Souverain' from Massenet's Cid, where power alternates with a caressing, moving voice thanks to the enveloping softness of the sound, combined with the brilliance of the high notes and the splendid technical and expressive mastery of the pianissimi on 'humains' and 'éternels', held for a very long time.
Similarly, the tragic power of 'Non, je ne suis pas un impie', a piece taken from the contemporary opera 'Le dernier jour d'un condamné' composed by David Alagna, cannot leave anyone indifferent.
A sincere, participatory performance of 'Si loin trop loin', taken from Hossein's musical 'Ben Hur', brings to a close a first part devoted more specifically to sacred songs, into which are inserted two piano interventions in which Marek Ruszczynski creates a dreamlike atmosphere.
The second part is partly detached from the sacred theme song, but retains the same musical constants and maintains unchanged the sacred character of the music and of a deeply inspired song.

It opens with the melancholy sentimentality of "La valse de l'espérance", waltz No. 2 by Dmitri Shostakovich to text by Roberto Alagna, and continues with some of the most beautiful pieces adapted from the Al Capone musical.The guitar accompanist is the composer himself, Jean-Félix Lalanne, in an extraordinary performance that highlights the great harmony between the two artists and shows, far from the lights of the Folies Bergère, the absolute beauty of this music and its eloquent power. The songs, rearranged for the occasion, appear even more intimate, more painful and more exciting.Among them all, I like to highlight "La Maschera" and, above all, the magnificent song "Raccontami" in which the voice initially set to a confidential song appears young, soft and velvety like that of a young man and then develops into a high tessitura that brings out all its body and brilliance.Finally, he returns to sacred song with the beautiful song written by his brother David, 'Libertà', inspired by the Song of Songs and the Canticle of Creatures by Saint Francis of Assisi, celebrating Brother Sun and Sister Moon.As with the pianist, there are two solo moments for the guitarist

The first features Jean-Félix Lalanne's enthusiastic rendition of 'Recuerdos de la Alhambra', an absolutely poignant and melancholy piece of virtuosity by Francisco Tàrrega. The second is a tribute to Ennio Morricone, with a selection of his most sentimental songs: Deborah's theme from Once Upon a Time in America, the soundtrack to Nuovo Cinema Paradiso and the main theme from Mission.
The evening continued with a number of encore performances. The heartbreaking Neapolitan song 'Fenesta che lucive', followed by the tribute to Caruso in Lucio Dalla's splendid song in an elegant, gentle and poignant version, and the beautiful song 'Sognare' written and composed by Roberto Alagna, then to say goodbye to the audience, in perfect communion between song and spirituality, with the prayer 'Our Father' also composed by him. His ecstatic gaze turned towards heaven, his arms open in sincere supplication, he has the humility to bow before God, to make the sign of the cross and to thank him with a song that comes from the soul and is therefore even more profoundly sacred. Dreaming, deluding yourself with poems... until they become reality.
A two-hour show that confirms a voice for which the years don't seem to pass, capable of transmitting infinite emotions and weaving an invisible thread between Heaven and Earth that passes through the spectator's heart in a magical union".