Verdi: Pura siccome un angelo (from La Traviata)

Over a long and still flourishing career Sir Thomas Allen has given benchmark performances in several operatic roles of which Mozart and Verdi operas figure strongly. With two spicy exceptions, every item in this programme comes from an opera by Mozart or Verdi. Part of the design of this recital series is to highlight the particular type of voice and explore its repertoire. The works chosen for this disc provide a unique showcase of Sir Thomas Allen’s unique gifts and that of the baritone in general. The Sunday Telegraph wrote of volume one, “How good to have this anthology of Thomas Allen’s versatility in a

wide range of his operatic roles… anyone who cherishes good singing will rejoice in this great baritone’s smooth legato, perfect diction, subtle characterisation and, of course, beautiful and unmistakable voice,” and The Guardian noted “As always, Allen was a supremely intelligent recitalist, matching sound with sense, probing the meaning of a text without fracturing the vocal line.”

As in previous issues, the solos are interspersed with longer excerpts, duets and ensembles, including performances with Susan Gritton and Claire Rutter. With Ford’s monologue in Falstaff, Sir Thomas extends his lyrical voice to encompass the more theatrical style of late Verdi and in the lighter Weill ‘September Song’, he extends it further, albeit in a different direction altogether. Other repertoire includes recitatives and arias from Verdi’s Macbeth and La Traviata, arias from Mozart’s Marriage of Figaro and Don Giovanni, and duets from The Magic Flute.

All tracks sung in English