This CD gets a flying
start with me by its choice of title.
Not ‘duets’, or worse still reference
to Bizet’s most famous duet. Even better,
it is not a selection culled from previous
issues. Here instead is an imaginative
programme recorded in Milan over one
week in spring 2003. Friendship and
friends are the theme. Given the paucity
of new opera recordings this issue allows
us to hear other singers who might otherwise
not make it onto CD, along with the
star who is the focus of the issue.
Vargas himself first
impinged on my consciousness, as far
as recordings are concerned, as Count
Almaviva in Naxos’s 1992 ‘Barber of
Seville’ and again in Rossini as Don
Narciso to Bartoli’s fiery Fiorilla
in Decca’s 1997 ‘Il Turco in Italia’.
Those roles are for a light ‘tenore
di grazia’ voice; in the opera house
Vargas has moved on to heavier lyric
roles. This collection shows him beyond
the transition between those ‘fachs’
and stretching towards even weightier
repertoire. In the meantime he has acquired
more colour and heft to his voice. Indeed
in the extract from Rossini’s ‘Maometto’
(tr. 2) he sounds a little husky as
the two ladies duet nicely, whilst in
‘All idea’ from the ‘Barber of Seville’
Vargas lightens his tone; the extra
metal now in his voice is a perfect
foil to the well-tuned lyric baritone
of Manuel Lanza (tr. 7). Perhaps the
ideal repertoire for him just now is
Nemorino, with a dry-toned Nucci (tr.
3) or more likely Rodolpho (La Boheme)
in which role he has already appeared
at Covent Garden and The Metropolitan
New York. Here, with a slightly nasal
Frontali as Marcello, the part and character
are well into his voice (tr. 6). However,
Vargas obviously wants to dip his toes
into heavier repertoire whilst Alvaro
from Verdi’s ‘La Forza del destino’
is, if he is wise, at his present vocal
limit (tr. 5). The eponymous Don Carlo,
which he is to sing at Houston and Washington,
will do nicely for the present. The
role features in two extracts from the
opera. The first (tr.4), where Don Carlo
confesses his love for Elisabeth, to
whom he was betrothed but who had, for
political reasons, to marry his father,
is sung with appealingly plangent tone.
Both singers are very impressive with
the tone and heft in Vargas’s voice
very evident (from 5.35 to end) and
well matched by the Rodrigo of Vassily
Gerello. The same duo sing the famous
friendship duet ‘Au fond du temple saint’
from Bizet’s ‘Pearl Fishers’ (tr. 1).
The best compliment I can pay the pair
is to write that their rendering is
the best I have heard on a recital disc
since the famous 1950 recording by Björling
and Merrill and here basking in the
advantage of a more modern sound. The
second extract from Don Carlo features
the final duet with Elisabeth (tr. 8)
and when the two are disturbed by the
King and The Grand Inquisitor, he being
rescued by the ‘Friar’, in body or spirit
the former King Charles. Here Vargas
sings and phrases with elegance and
eloquence. However, Miriam Gauci hasn’t
the legato, colour or depth of tone
for Elisabeth ... pity.
The recording is well
balanced in a natural, clear and airy
acoustic. The booklet has brief comments
by Vargas on the friendship themes of
the extracts and a full libretto with
translation in English, French and German;
although you may need a magnifying glass
to read it. The track listing isn’t
cross-referenced to the pages in the
libretto. There are no artist profiles.
It would have been helpful if these
had been provided for the lesser-known
names. As far as Vargas is concerned,
his 2003 Riccardo (‘Ballo in Maschera’)
at Bologna was well received, and likewise
his Alfredo (‘La Traviata’) at the ‘Met’,
although critics found his tone hardening
at the more dramatic parts of the latter
role. Whether his scheduled Don Jose
(Carmen) at Houston in 2006 will put
too much pressure on his essentially
lyric voice, albeit capable of some
heft, remains to be seen. In the meantime
this imaginatively conceived disc may
be enjoyed for its many virtues, not
least Vargas’s pleasant tone, elegant
phrasing and good characterisation.
If studio recording of opera was still
in vogue he would doubtless feature
regularly.
Robert J Farr
Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano Giuseppe Verdi/Vjekoslav
Sutej 