MobTunes

Perhaps someday someone will explain why the vast majority of today's leading tenors hail from Spain or Latin America. Think of it: {|Plácido Domingo|}, {|José Cura|}, {|Ramón Vargas|}, {|Marcello Álvarez|}, and {|Juan Diego Flórez|}. Now, add to this starry list the wiry, handsome Mexican {|Rolando Villazón|}. Villazón actually has a sound that's remarkably similar to Domingo's. It's burnished, baritonal, with a yearning ache that's directly emotional, and a bright gleam on the high notes that provides a stab of excitement. The collection here (Villazón's solo recording debut) touches on central roles: Donizetti's L'elisir d'amore and Lucia di Lammermoor; Verdi's Don Carlo, Rigoletto, and Traviata; and Puccini's Bohème and Tosca. But Villazón also offers some less familiar fare, including arias from Cilea's L'Arlesiana, Verdi's I Lombardi, and Mascagni's Nerone. Veteran conductor {|Marcello Viotti|} elicits warm playing from the Munich Radio Orchestra, and Virgin's recording flatters everyone involved. This disc may turn out to be something of a sleeper, but Villazón is not going to remain under the radar for long. In fact, he's already appeared at the Metropolitan Opera in New York and is currently making the rounds of the world's great opera houses. This superbly satisfying recital will likely be the first of many. Let's hope so, in any case.