Mascagni: Mamma, quel vino (from Cavalleria Rusticana)

“Calleja is not a Mario Lanza: he's a gifted lyric tenor with a voice that is most comfortable in the head...there's a nice throb in the voice in Lara's Granada...and Tosti's 'A vucchella' would seduce a slab of marble. But 'Vesti la giubba'. 'Cielo e mar' and 'Nessun dorma' all lack vocal drama.” BBC Music Magazine, December 2012 ***

“an imaginative display of Calleja's art and interpretative approach, clearly captured by Decca's recording team.” International Record Review, December 2012

“Here is one of the most beautiful tenor voices now before the public, treated with musicality, style and feeling...but don’t expect the adrenalin kick that Mario Lanza was able to convey.” MusicWeb International, December 2012

“It's an unashamedly populist collection, Calleja rolling the Rs of "Granada" and "Arrivederci, Roma" with obvious relish in arrangements replete with castanets and trilling mandolins, before building to the full football climax with spirited renditions of "Nessun Dorma" and a mighty "You'll Never Walk Alone".” The Independent, 8th September 2012 ***

“Calleja doesn’t suffer from...self-imposed comparisons: the voice is burnished and focused; the top notes whammy yet unforced; the legato tone garnished with saccharine slithers but not sloppy. Calleja doesn’t do final consonants; and sometimes you wish his conductor (Steven Mercurio) had encouraged more ebb and flow. But these throbbing ballads will delight Calleja’s fans.” The Times, 8th September 2012 ***

““Villazón's singing offers a combination of intelligence and glamour not seen since the ascendancy of Domingo” The New Yorker

This limited edition deluxe version includes a special DVD featuring a 40-minute film on Rolando Villazon containing footage from the recording sessions, candid interview and concert footage with 5 complete arias from Carmen, Les Pecheurs de perles, Eugene Onegin, Der Rosenkavalier and Fedora.

“The young Mexican tenor is an impressive artist, and much about his new recital hits the spot.” BBC Music Magazine, April 2006 ***

“A rarely fine voice in its prime, a live responsive temperament, admirable vocal schooling, all fuelled by innate musical and dramatic feeling: these are some main ingredients… The solo from Les Pêcheurs de perles was chosen for last month's cover disc... and this alone must have encouraged many to wait no longer. A finely poised, long-phrased performance with sufficient of the dream about it and yet a sensitive awareness of modulations, light and shade... But the choice is wide. In the Italian repertoire it ranges from the gracefully lyrical serenade from Don Pasquale to the intensely felt aria of renunciation in Un ballo in maschera. In German, Villazón offers the gently voiced prayer of Alessandro Stradella and the famous aria from Martha... A sorrowful but not over-indulgent account of Lensky's aria in Eugene Onegin is a notable extension of the repertoire...” Gramophone Magazine, April 2006

“More inveterate collectors will want this latest issue - which also is reported to be the last issue from Bluebell, who have done a sterling job over the years to put on disc innumerable previously unavailable Jussi titles. The team behind this set and all the previous issues of Jussi Björling recordings have done sterling service to his memory and their best reward would be that even more people would invest in all the riches that this and the previous issues contain. A cultural achievement of the utmost importance”.” MusicWeb International

“It's an unashamedly populist collection, Calleja rolling the Rs of "Granada" and "Arrivederci, Roma" with obvious relish in arrangements replete with castanets and trilling mandolins, before building to the full football climax with spirited renditions of "Nessun Dorma" and a mighty "You'll Never Walk Alone"” The Independent, 8th September 2012 ***

“Calleja doesn’t suffer from...self-imposed comparisons: the voice is burnished and focused; the top notes whammy yet unforced; the legato tone garnished with saccharine slithers but not sloppy. Calleja doesn’t do final consonants; and sometimes you wish his conductor (Steven Mercurio) had encouraged more ebb and flow. But these throbbing ballads will delight Calleja’s fans.” The Times, 8th September 2012

“One might think the musicianship of the tenor Jonas Kaufmann would be wasted on the frankly third-rate music of the verismo composers. But given his emotional commitment and powerful middle register, this recital proves an irresistible outpouring of melodrama” The Telegraph, 22nd October 2010 ****

“Italian repertoire now, is it? Given the prodigious gifts of the German tenor Jonas Kaufmann we shouldn’t be too surprised. But there’s still considerable novelty as that darkly lustrous voice plunges headlong into anguish...Fluent in Italian, Kaufmann is equally at ease navigating the arias’ vocal and emotional tempests.” The Times, 8th October 2010

“Kaufmann sings Giordano (“Come un bel dì di maggio”), Leoncavallo (“Vesti la giubba”), Mascagni (“Mamma!”) and others with lusty good taste” Financial Times, 23rd October 2010 ***

“...there is rare sensitivity to the words in his Lamento di Federico (Cilea’s L’Arlesiana) and Turiddu’s Mamma, quel vino è generoso (Mascagni’s Cavalleria Rusticana). The best news is Kaufmann’s thrilling Andrea Chénier (Giordano): a gripping Improviso is followed by a soaring Come un bel dì di maggio” Sunday Times, 24th October 2010 ****

“The accompaniments are special..[Pappano] is hugely alert to detail, weighting and what's happening on the imaginary stage around the singer...Kaufmann has entered this world most completely. His Italian is good, as are his desire and ability to project clearly differentiated characters. He is never afraid to sing softly...and there is plenty of power when needed.” Gramophone Magazine, December 2010

“Not only does Kaufmann have a fine voice but he knows how to use it: admirable technique, interpretative ability and much intelligence when it comes to changes of colour, gradations of tone and weight and the willingness to sing softly. There is nothing monochromatic about his performances” International Record Review, November 2010

“This is a wonderful disc, the most exciting and enterprising operatic recital I have heard for a very long time...Kaufmann has everything, and at the age of 40 his voice may well be in its finest shape. He brings a Classical training to these arias, and yet he doesn't in any degree stint on the passion.” BBC Music Magazine, Christmas 2010 *****

“The only really well-known pieces are those from Mascagni's Cavalleria Rusticana and Leoncavallo's Pagliacci, which Kaufmann delivers with the same directness and perfectly judged musicality that he uses for the far less familiar ones. The colour, the elegance and the sheer beauty of tone in his singing are truly exceptional” The Guardian, 16th December 2010 *****

“It seems he really is able to do anything: his rich, dark-hued tenor lends itself to dramatic singing (a raging, heartbroken 'Vesti la giubba'), yet he can also caress a pianissimo vocal line and float exquisite top notes (Cilea's Lamento di Federico)...The other stars of the disc are Pappano and his Santa Cecilia orchestra who perfectly capture the music's passionate, glowing ebb and flow.” Classic FM Magazine, February 2011 *****

“a brave, dedicated and altogether arresting piece of work...a series of steps in unfamiliar directions, taken boldly and with complete confidence and conviction... the sheer originality, versatility and freshness-the excellence-of what Kaufmann creates in every piece demands from the listener a comparable willingness to bring fresh ears to the listening.” Opera