Performer: Marcelo Álvarez
Orchestra: Nice Philharmonic
Conductor: Mark Elder
Audio CD
Number of Discs: 1
Format: ISO
Label: Sony Classical
Size: 2.72 GB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: yes
01.Massenet: “Pourquoi me réveiller” from Werther
02.Offenbach: “Il était une fois à la cour” from Les Contes de Hoffman
03.Offenbach: “O dieu, de quelle ivresse” from Les Contes de Hoffman
04.Donizetti: “Ah, mes amis…Pour mon âme” from La Fille du Régiment
05.Gounod: “L’amour, l’amour…Ah! Lève-toi, soleil” from Roméo et Juliette
06.Donizetti: “Seul sur la terre” from Dom Sébastien
07.Massenet: “Je suis seul!…Ah fuyez, douce image” from Manon
08.Donizetti: “La maîtresse du roi?…Ange si pur” from La Favorite
09.Massenet: “Alors, c’est bien ici…Je ne sais si je veille…O nature pleine de grâce” from Werther
10.Verdi: “Fontainebleau! Forêt immense…Je l’ai vue et dans son sourire” from Don Carlos
11.Massenet: “En fermant les yeux…c’est un rêve” from Manon
12.Gounod: “Salut demeure chaste et pure” from Faust
13.Meyerbeer: “Ah! quel spectacle…Plus blanche que la blanche hermine” from Les Huguenots
14.Rossini: “Ne m’abandonne point…Asile hereditaire…Vengeance! vengeance…Plus de crainte inutile” from Guillaume Tell
This is a must have CD in anybody’s collection. This CD is an excellent introduction to Opera for those who are not so fond of the Opera. I am not one of those people who will argue that Alvarez is the BEST opera singer ever, but this album is one of the BEST. Each track is sung with passion and meaning imbedded into the words,even though Mr. Alvarez is not a native France and not in excellent command of the french pronounciation. But Music itself is a Universal language. What matters here in his interpretation and passion in his voice in which he sang very intelligently. The range of the man is truly remarkable. If you are interested in giving some attention to this singer, then “The Bel Canto ” CD is by far his BEST to date, so I heartily recommend it. Mr. Alvarez is one of the promising tenors of the 21st Century along with Ramon Vargas and his fellow Argetine the versatile musician, Jose Cura.The choices of songs for this album is ones that are non very well known, but you cannot deny the greatness of Alvarez’s voice. Mr. Alvarez an opera singer with a sweetness that has not been heard since Carlo Bergonzi. Listening to Marcelo Alvarez brings beauty to opera. Whether loud or soft is not the point. His voice has a purity and gentle emotion that is spectacular.