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CONCERT ASSOCIATION
ROLANDO VILLAZON
FESTIVAL SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA/ LUCIANO ACOCELLA
By Lawrence Budmen
The opera world has been searching for new tenor stars to replace the icons of yesteryear. Luciano Pavarotti, well past his prime, has been felled by illness. Jose Carerras has essentially retired from the stage. Placido Domingo inches toward retirement from singing but not from the operatic world. (His burgeoning careers as conductor, artistic director of opera companies in Washington and Los Angeles, vocal coach, and director of a vocal competition promise to continue unabated.)
The wait for a successor to these bona fide greats has come to an end. On November 28 the Concert Association presented the Mexican tenor Rolando Villazon in concert at the Carnival Center’s Knight Concert Hall. Villazon is the authentic article: a vibrant singer who generates electricity with a glorious, effortlessly produced voice and patrician artistry. With his rich, almost baritonal lower register and darkly expressive vocal coloration, Villazon brings to mind the young Domingo. In a generous, wide ranging program, he traversed Russian, French, Italian, and Spanish operatic genres.
The tenor’s initial aria was interrupted by an accident (a patron fell) in the hall. Villazon stopped singing and waited until he had the listeners’ full attention again. He relaunched Il mio tesoro from Mozart’s Don Giovanni with striking vocal presence. Although he was using Mozart as a warm up, Villazon handled the aria’s daunting coloratura roulades flawlessly.
With Kuda Kuda, the poet Lensky’s final lament from Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin, Villazon came into his own. The tenor’s impassioned vocalism was matched by flawless control and exquisitely sculpted phrasing. He sang Don Jose’s Flower aria from Bizet’s Carmen with impeccable French style. In Werther’s despairing lament from Massenet’s opera, Villazon’s rich instrument poured out with the soaring white heat of vocal gold. Has anyone sung this repertoire with such artistry since the heyday of Nicolai Gedda?
In two Verdi arias (from Luisa Miller and Macbeth) Villazon’s honeyed tone and true Italianate lyricism were the very definition of great singing. His idiomatic spontaneity in two zarzuela selections (by Pablo Luna and Pablo Sorozabal) riveted excitement. His version of Sorozabal’s No puede ser was particularly distinguished by melting lyricism and effortless beauty of utterance.
In response to repeated standing, cheering ovations, Villazon offered arias from Cilea’s L’Arlesiana and Giordano’s Fedora. Here was pure verismo heaven: singing of stylish abandon, rendered with near perfection throughout the entire vocal range. His final encore of Rossini’s La Danza combined edgy vernacular excitement with showbiz panache.
Conductor Luciano Acocella was a supple accompanist. He led the specially assembled Festival Symphony Orchestra in a felicitous traversal of the Overture to Mozart’s Marriage of Figaro and lightly accented versions of two Preludes from Carmen. The Act III entr’acte to Bizet’s timeless masterpiece featured an elegant flute solo by Karen Dixon (a New World Symphony alumnus). In a sizzling performance of the Overture to Verdi’s La Forza del Destino, the brass section had tremendous impact. Acocella was most impressive in a highly intense rendition of the Intermezzo from Puccini’s Manon Lescaut with gorgeous cello and viola solos by Chris Glansdorp and Chauncey Patterson (the violist of the Miami String Quartet).
Rolando Villazon is a rare talent. His is a voice for the ages. Kudos to the remarkable Judy Drucker for bringing him to Miami!
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