TENORES, EL PODER LATINO [external link]
Latin American Tenors...
"He was at his most spectacular in the third act. Rarely have we heard the sad mill-wheel monologue sung in a more touching, theatrical and moving way as from Jose Cura. His performance in the Bacchanale was tremendous, with no loss of tone, he rolled on the ground knotted in his chains and then rose up to tear down the columns of the temple with a spectacular high note that drove the audience to delirium."
Roger Allier (La Vanguardia) on Samson et Dalila
(Argentina)
"His innate sense of style is of the old school, the felicitous turn of phrase always taking precedence over the cheap thrill. The climax of his final aria, held on the breath from hefty fortissimo to the finest-spun pianissimo, was alone worth the ticket price."
Edward Seckerson (The Independent) on Lucia di Lammermoor
(Argentina)
"He transforms a respectable evening into something really special, both as the dissolute, drunken poet/dreamer and the hopeless but passionate lover; and his singing, with its suggestion of the young Domingo, has a thrilling edge and ardour, with an elegant, supple middle register and high notes of eye-watering power and quality. He dominates this production"
Peter Reed (The Sunday Telegraph) on Les Contes d' Hoffmann
(Mexico)
"His elegant phasing and beauty of tone let the music speak for itself. Last season's Met Lucia di Lammermoor produced a rare phenomenon: in this most diva-centric of operas, the tenor walked off with the laurels, electrifying a full house with the thrill of his impassioned death scene. The sublime tension of his melancholy 'Tu che a Dio,' suffused with unutterable despair, seemed to suspend time."
Luise Guinther (Opera News) on Lucia di Lammermoor
(Mexico)
"Aquiles Machado is a singer of blood and earth. His courage, his bravura, his high notes and his delivery are thrilling. The packed house of the Teatro Real rewarded him with wild cheering."
Juan Ángel Vela del Campo (El País) on Faust
AQUILES MACHADO
(Venezuela)
"In 'Pour me rapprocher de Marie' Flórez eclipsed memories of Alfredo Kraus in his range of dynamics and depth of feeling: it was the finest piece of tenor singing this writer has heard in the past fifteen years. Flórez's whole performance, indeed, was a moving demonstration of supreme musicality and unobtrusive technical mastery, and his acting was as engaging as his singing was accomplished."
Stephen Hastings (Opera News) on La Fille du Régiment
(Peru)
"... a truly handsome leading man with a honeyed, silver-tinged tenor. He gave us a passionate 'Un dì, felice,' an impetuous 'De'miei bollenti spiriti' and thrilling top notes in the rarely performed cabaletta, 'O mio rimorso! O infamia!' His duets with Nakajima were executed with the kind of detailed bel canto synchronicity we have come to expect from a Norma and Adalgisa, and their unison head tone in 'Parigi, o cara' was unbearably gorgeous."
Larry L. Lash (Andante) on La Traviata
(Argentina)
This page was last updated on: December 11, 2005
