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The Independent, 30 July 2008
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By Jessica Duchen |
The new Three Tenors
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With record-breaking tours and multi-platinum
albums, Pavarotti, Domingo and Carrerastook opera to the masses. Now a
younger trio is vying to take their place. |
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It's
been 18 years since the Three Tenors proved that classical music could sell.
In 1990, they appeared together for the first time at the Baths of Caracala
in Rome the night before the World Cup Final: Placido Domingo, Luciano
Pavarotti and Jose Carreras captured the public's imagination in a way never
seen before or since. Albums shifted in millions. We'll never see their like
again.
Or will we? Because now three young tenors, all thirty-something
heart-throbs with voices to die for, are being groomed for triplicate
stardom. Roll over, Three Tenors: here come Jonas Kaufmann, Juan Diego
Florez and Rolando Villazon.
Though the relative youngsters haven't yet come together to celebrate a
football tournament, their individual talents are badly needed in an
industry in the throes of meltdown. Each has released a solo album under the
umbrella of Universal Classics; the discs came out within a few months of
each other; and none of the repertoire overlaps. It appears some careful
coordination is taking place. Could there be plans to turn these charismatic
characters into the new Three Tenors?
Leading UK classical music promoter Ian Rosenblatt brings big stars and the
finest young opera singers alike to perform in London; he promoted Florez's
very first London concert. "These are three very talented guys," he
comments, "and anything that will bring operatic music to a wider public and
encourage a broader appreciation of this kind of talent is good news as far
as I'm concerned."
Mark Wilkinson, general manager of Universal Classics and Jazz, is all for
it. "As far as I know, there are no immediate plans for this," he says.
"They're three very different voices with different repertoires and
different managers, and their diaries are planned way into the future. But
the same issues didn't stop Domingo, Pavarotti and Carreras. What the Three
Tenors did was to open up the world of classical music to millions. If three
of the current generation's greatest voices can do the same, that's
something we should all encourage."
Universal's marketing manager, Richard Gay, adds: "It would require a major
occasion, perhaps a sporting event like the World Cup or the Olympics. But I
don't see why it wouldn't be something that they'd all consider at the right
time in the future. They are certainly the three strongest contenders."
The editor of Opera Now magazine, Ash Khandekar, has his doubts. "It wasn't
premeditated that the Three Tenors would become so enormous," he says.
"Anyone trying to replicate something that depended so much on that
particular chemistry is probably barking up the wrong tree." Kaufmann,
Florez and Villazon, he adds, represent a new kind of opera star – "rugged
and hungry!" – but the differences between their voices might make
collaboration tricky. "You could package them nicely with bows and ribbons,
but you'd get an artistically questionable result."
Still, there are distinct parallels between the new three and the original
trio. Kaufmann bears the closest resemblance to Domingo. At 39, he's the
finest actor, and the subtlest, most deep-thinking interpreter. When he
starred in Tosca at the Royal Opera House, he overshadowed the rest of the
cast so much that fans joked about changing the opera's name to Cavaradossi.
He also made waves in the ROH's Carmen, which was televised last Christmas,
presenting not only spellbinding singing but also a penetrating portrayal of
Don Jose's psychological disintegration. Both these roles were strongly
associated with Domingo in his heyday.
The owner of a dark, baritonal tenor that is sizeable despite his
slenderness, Kaufmann is in demand in the big romantic leads. And it
mightn't be surprising if he comes out of a Wagnerian chrysalis in due
course – he'll sing Siegmund in Die Walküre at the Met in 2011, has already
done Parsifal and is scheduled for the title role in Lohengrin in his native
Munich next summer. His first album for Decca features some of the most
punch-packing of romantic arias – from Puccini's La Bohème and Tosca to
Massenet's Werther by way of the Prize Song from Die Meistersinger. He's the
real thing, a sophisticated and serious artist who could soon be one of the
finest of the lot.
Florez is most like Pavarotti. He may put away fewer bacon sandwiches
backstage – his light frame is far removed from that of "Big Lucy" – but
Pavarotti himself once endorsed the Peruvian youngster as his most likely
successor, and the way he soared through the notorious succession of high Cs
in the aria "Ah, mes amis" in Donizetti's La Fille du Régiment last year
recalled the moment when Pavarotti made his name doing likewise back in the
Sixties.
Florez's latest album, entitled Bel Canto Spectacular, is just out; his next
will be Bellini's La Sonnambula in which he partners the equally starry
Cecilia Bartoli. His voice shares Pavarotti's high timbre; but instead of
belt-it-out volume, he offers a silky legato and airy, natural and
irresistible musicality. He's about quality, not quantity; and to date he
has taken good care of his remarkable larynx, sticking to the repertoire
that suits it best, rather than forcing it towards the heavier heroes that
might have been a temptation. |
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You may also want to read
Jessica Duchen's comments and other interesting comments on her
article. |
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