Veteran tenor Piotr Beczala waited until his 50s to turn to the Italian verismo repertory, and here are some of the fruits of his new studies. There is nothing groundbreaking about Vincerò!, a collection of verismo arias, but the voice is the thing, and the familiarity of most of the material (an aria from Puccini's early opera Edgar and one from Umberto Giordano's Fedora are a bit rarer) works toward this goal. From Jonas Kaufmann, one of his rivals in this repertory lately, listeners will get more emotional investment in ...
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Veteran tenor Piotr Beczala waited until his 50s to turn to the Italian verismo repertory, and here are some of the fruits of his new studies. There is nothing groundbreaking about Vincerò!, a collection of verismo arias, but the voice is the thing, and the familiarity of most of the material (an aria from Puccini's early opera Edgar and one from Umberto Giordano's Fedora are a bit rarer) works toward this goal. From Jonas Kaufmann, one of his rivals in this repertory lately, listeners will get more emotional investment in the material, and there's nothing so spectacular about Beczala's lower register at the beginning of "E lucevan le stelle." None of it matters. Beczala has an effortless way of climbing to his top that is seldom matched and makes him sound like a much younger singer, and this is what operatic audiences turn out to hear. Listeners can dip into almost any of these pieces, but try "Donna non vidi mai," from Puccini's Manon Lescaut, which sweeps the hearer along as it rises. Other...
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