They didn't like the CD
Anna Picard in The Independent, 2 March 2002, on Juan Diego Flórez - Rossini Arias (Decca)...
"Those who remember the fluidity and grace of Florez's live Covent Garden performances will be scratching their heads at the po-faced effortfulness of this recording. Perhaps it's the repertoire or perhaps it's Chailly's heavy-handed accompaniment, but this debut is a lame duck. Buy it for the stratospheric cadences, fast- forward through the rest."
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William R. Braun in Opera News, November 2002, on Roberto Alagna - Il Trovatore (EMI)...
"In the title role of Il Trovatore, Alagna gives a coarse performance. Most of it comes out in an apparently involuntary snarl. He yells the line "Or siam soli" (Now we are alone ) to his mother, and his "Riposa, o madre" (Rest, o mother) sounds like a command. He ignores Verdi's repeated instruction "cantabile," and his "Di quella pira" is a real trial. He and Gheorghiu bawl -- there is no other word -- in the Act I trio, and both yell high D-flats at the end."
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Michael Scott Rohan in Classical Net, 1996, on José Carreras - Passion (Erato)...
"Hearing Erato's "Passion" I felt uniquely privileged, like a first-nighter at Springtime for Hitler. Remember that TV rugby theme, extracted without anaesthetic from The Planets, and sung by Dame Kiri to saccharine words - and to others by rugger heavies? Or what Song of Norway does to Grieg's Piano Concerto? Well, here some previously respected lyricists do the same to the Concierto de Aranjuez, Brahms's Fourth, the New World (twice), Mozart's Clarinet Concerto, Beethoven's Pathétique Sonata, Liszt's Liebestraum... quite a long list really. I hope you need never know just how long: unfortunately I do. The arrangements and recording are so soupy this could be Humperdinck (the other one) except for the fractured English - "a lankwidge", as Carreras unsteadily croons to Brahms, "no-one understands." Rating: (1 out of 5 stars). Passion - tasteless turn-off"
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This page was last updated on: January 20, 2003
