Rolando Villazón / Xavier de Maistre SERENATA LATINA

SERENATA LATINA

 

Mormon Tabernacle Choir / Orchestra at Temple Square / Mack Wilberg GEORGE FRIDERIC HANDEL Messiah

MESSIAH

Chamber Orchestra of Europe / Yannick Nézet-Séguin MOZART Die Zauberflöte

“So many people”, notes Yannick Nézet-Séguin, “when they think ‘Mozart opera’, think of The Magic Flute. Since the beginning, since its creation, this work has always reached different kinds of audiences. It’s just one greatest hit after another”. Each of his cast’s singers owns the rare blend of vocal shading, dramatic presence and psychological insight needed to bring Mozart’s magical characters to life.

The conductor himself was praised by mundoclasico.com for conducting an “excellent” concert production of The Magic Flute at Baden-Baden with his “characteristic precision, musicality, expressive power and energy”, and for treating every nuance and every tiny but meaningful and performance-enhancing detail with “attention, love and dedication”. The same review also hailed Rolando Villazon’s first foray into the baritone repertoire, noting that “his vocal and dramatic gifts lent themselves perfectly to the comic role of Pagageno”. 

Villazón conceived the idea for Deutsche Grammophon’s Mozart cycle in 2011 while performing Don Giovanni at the Festspielhaus Baden-Baden with the COE and Maestro Nézet-Séguin. He developed the project in partnership with the conductor and DG, brought ROLEX on board as generous supporters, and has served as its joint artistic consultant from its inception. Four of the five recordings released so far have received Grammy nominations, with Le nozze di Figaro winning a prestigious Echo Klassik Award in 2017.

“This is my most ambitious artistic project to date”, recalls Villazón. “I’ve never fallen in love with any composer like this before!” Since launching the enterprise eight years ago with Don Giovanni, he has performed in each release, embracing everything from Ferrando in Così fan tutte to the title-role in La clemenza di Tito.

The Magic Flute was first performed at the Theater auf der Wieden, outside the ancient city walls of Vienna, in September 1791, barely two months before Mozart’s premature death. The show ran for over 100 performances within its first season and soon became a hit throughout Europe and beyond. It mixes music and spoken dialogue, humour and pathos, mystery and mankind’s search for wisdom. The opera balances earthy comedy with an exploration of the nature of individual freedom, fraternity, enlightened leadership and unconditional love, all expressed in music of simplicity and beauty. “I very much like the perspective of doing The Magic Flute now,” Nézet-Séguin reflects, “because it throws light on all the operas we’ve already recorded.”

Rolando Villazón FELIZ NAVIDAD

Rolando Villazón is one of the music world’s most critically acclaimed and beloved stars and one of the leading tenors of our day. This is his first Christmas album on Deutsche Grammophon with all famous hits and fantastic collaborators!

The star tenor follows a critically acclaimed Deutsche Grammophon recording of Mozart’s La clemenza di Tito with his first Christmas album for the Yellow Label. Feliz Navidad extends the great tradition of seasonal albums by Fritz Wunderlich, Luciano Pavarotti, Plácido Domingo and Bryn Terfel.

Villazón records famous Christmas classics in each of his five languages, including White Christmas, O Tannenbaum, Tu scendi dalle stelle, Petit Papa Noël and Los peces en el río. Heart-warming tracks include duets with German singer-songwriter Sasha and French pop star Julie Zenatti.

Rolando Villazón preserves the seasonal spirit in his latest album for Deutsche Grammophon. Feliz Navidad offers a snapshot of the songs and carols that have shaped the Franco-Mexican tenor’s fondness for the Christmas spirit. He has chosen pieces in the five languages in which he is fluent and from the cultures with which he has a close affinity. They reflect both his personal story and the universal message of Christmas, a time for empathy and community, for family and friends, and for opening our hearts and minds to those in need.

Chamber Orchestra of Europe / Yannick Nézet-Séguin MOZART La Clemenza di Tito

This is the fifth instalment of DG’s series of seven Mozart operas conducted by Yannick Nézet-Séguin, and initiated by Rolando Villazón, in collaboration with Festspielhaus Baden Baden and with the generous support of ROLEX For La Clemenza di Tito, Mozart’s last opera about the benevolent Emperor Titus who pardons an attempt on his own life, Rolando and Yannick – new music director of the MET – are joined by outstanding partners: A stellar cast in every role and specialist handpicked orchestra playing at their best in the stunning venue of Festspielhaus Baden-Baden. Rolando adds yet another intriguing Mozart role to his already large discography. This time it is his role debut as Tito, reinforcing again his love for Mozart: “No composer has spoken to as directly as Mozart. I feel like I have a soul mate in him.”

In addition Rolando has been named Artistic Director of the Salzburg Mozart Week Previous productions in this series are: Don Giovanni, Così fan tutte, Die Entführung aus dem Serail (Grammy Award Nomination) and Le Nozze di Figaro (Grammy Award Nomination & Echo Klassik Award).

Le Concert d'Astrée / Emmanuelle Haïm UNE FÊTE BAROQUE!

This "fête Baroque" occurred in December 2011 at the Théâtre des Champs Elysées in Paris, marking the tenth anniversary of the ensemble Le Concert d'Astrée under founder and conductor Emmanuelle Haïm. The concert was a benefit for a French cancer research facility, and it attracted a galaxy of guest stars. Le Concert d'Astrée is one of the very best Baroque vocal ensembles, and this release never descends to a low common denominator. Haïm's trademark expressive phrasing is everywhere in evidence, but the biggest attraction is the selection of singers, with several figures from the mainstream showing up alongside established Baroque specialists. You might not think that tenor Rolando Villazón has quite the right voice for an aria from Handel's Tamerlano, HWV 18, but he's clearly wrestling with the problem, and he gets an appreciative roar from the Parisian crowd (who are given full voice on the recording). Right after that comes a delicious duet from mainstreamer Anne Sofie von Otter and countertenor Philippe Jaroussky in the Cornelia-Sesto duet from the second act of Handel's Giulio Cesare in Egitto, HWV 17, a pure feast of sensuous singing. Established Baroque vocalists like Natalie Dessay and Sara Mingardo are on hand, as well as a few up-and-comers who seized the chance to put their names and voices in front of a well-heeled crowd. Rather than try to cover the entire range of Baroque opera, Haïm wisely chooses to focus on three composers: Rameau, Lully, and Handel, whose vocal riches occupy the entire second CD. The sound picks up unadulterated audience noise, but nothing interferes with the spontaneity the musicians bring to the event. (James Manheim)

Camille Thomas / Orchestre National de Lille / Alexandre Bloch SAINT-SAËNS - OFFENBACH

Deutsche Grammophon is delighted to announce that Camille Thomas, among the most charismatic of young classical artists, has signed to the yellow label. The 28-year-old Franco-Belgian musician becomes the first ever female cellist to join Deutsche Grammophon’s artist roster. Her DG debut album, Enchantée, set for release in autumn 2017, will present fresh interpretations of works for cello and orchestra by Saint-Saëns and Offenbach, some of the most beautiful in the repertoire. Recorded with the Orchestre National de Lille and conductor Alexandre Bloch, it will also include bonus tracks featuring guest appearances by violinist Nemanja Radulović and tenor Rolando Villazón. Thomas’s choice of repertoire stems from her passion for French culture and the music of the Romantic period. As well as appealing to her existing fans in France and Germany, the elegance and intensity of her music-making are sure to captivate a global audience.

“It is a great honour to be invited to record for Deutsche Grammophon,” comments Camille Thomas. “To work with the company is like a dream come true for me. I fell in love with Berlin when I moved there from Paris to study and have developed a deep affection for Germany in the decade since. There is something truly special for me about recording for Deutsche Grammophon, sharing in its unrivalled tradition, exploring exciting projects and working with other members of its great family of artists. I look forward to building new audiences for cello in partnership with the yellow label.”

Camille Thomas was born in Paris in 1988. She began playing cello at the age of four and subsequently studied in her native city with Marcel Bardon. Her musical horizons broadened after she left school and enrolled to study with Stephan Forck at the Hanns Eisler Hochschule für Musik in Berlin. Thomas completed her training with Frans Helmerson at the Hochschule für Musik in Cologne. Her international breakthrough came in 2014 when she was nominated for a “Newcomer of the Year” award at France’s prestigious Victoires de la Musique Classique and went on to be named winner of that year’s New Talent competition sponsored by the European Broadcasting Union. Thomas’s first album, A Century of Russian Colours, was released to critical acclaim in 2013 and was followed three years later by a fine second album, Reminiscences, awarded a CHOC by French magazine Classica, among other plaudits. In February 2016 she appeared on Arte’s Stars of Tomorrow, hosted by Rolando Villazón, and she was recently named as winner of the 2016 “Young Soloist of the Year” category in RTBF’s C’est du Belge awards, chosen in collaboration with Paris Match.

Rolando Villazón / Ildar Abdrazakov DUETS

The history of recording boasts a long and glorious tradition of duet albums – think of the pairings of Maria Callas and Giuseppe di Stefano, Luciano Pavarotti and Mirella Freni, and Plácido Domingo and Leontyne Price, to name but a few illustrious collaborators. Rolando Villázon himself has already joined forces with one stellar partner in the studio – he and Anna Netrebko released their duet album ten years ago.

The French-Mexican star tenor’s latest recording is devoted to a much less well-known operatic repertoire than that for tenor and soprano. This time he teamed up with Russian bass Ildar Abdrazakov, here making his Deutsche Grammophon debut, to record a collection of duets for two male voices. The two singers have known each other for some years now, having first appeared on stage together in a production of Lucia di Lammermoor in 2009. Abdrazakov is one of the most sought-after basses of his generation, as confirmed by a quick glance at his schedule: Méphisto (Faust) at the Salzburg Festival, Philip II (Don Carlos) in Munich and at La Scala, Milan, Escamillo (Carmen) in Paris, Figaro (Le nozze di Figaro) at the Met in New York – the list goes on and on.

Together he and Villazón put together a programme of stylistically diverse scenes from operas by Bizet, Boito, Donizetti, Gounod and Verdi. Among their choices are classics such as “Au fond du temple saint” from Bizet’s Les Pêcheurs de perles – perhaps the most famous tenor-baritone duet of all – and less familiar excerpts such as “Son lo spirito che nega” from Boito’s rarely performed Mefistofele.

The week-long recording sessions took place in a church in Montreal. Although the workload was intense, all the participants were brimming with admiration for one another. Rolando Villazón has spoken in glowing terms about Abdrazakov’s “chocolatey and characterful voice” and his “outstanding technique”, while conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin is full of praise for the two singers: “They were so perfectly in tune. Naturally, the two of them have very different voices, but their colours blended together wonderfully. It was truly beautiful to hear!”

The album ends with two special musical treats – tributes to the two singers’ home countries. And Villazón and Abdrazakov prepared for their duet versions of Mexican composer Agustín Lara’s celebrated Granada and the Russian folk song Ochi Chernye (Dark eyes) by giving each other a few lessons in Spanish and Russian respectively! (Deutsche Grammophon)

Yannick Nézet-Séguin / Chamber Orchestra of Europe MOZART Le Nozze di Figaro

. . . [from the first chords of the "Figaro" overture, Nézet-Séguin] establishes a bold, fully crystallized concept of Mozartean sonority and the psychological implications behind it . . . [Christiane Karg as the wily servant Susanna and Sonya Yoncheva as the Countess] are just wonderful . . . [Luca Pisaroni's Figaro] makes dramatic points not with his usual word articulation but with more microphone-friendly use of tone Color . . . Even small roles are cast with stars: Anne Sofie von Otter as Marcellina and Rolando Villazón as Basilio help sustain Act 4 . . . [the 50-plus "Figaro" recordings on CD and DVD] show how the opera showcases each generation of Mozart performers . . . Nézet-Séguin's recording takes its place among these touchstones. A great musical mediator . . .

Record Review / David Patrick Stearns, Philadelphia Inquirer / 10. July 2016

 

Luxuriously presented and cast . . . [Nézet-Séguin's Mozart recording] oozes confidence . . . You are in his safe hands the moment Mozart's upstairs-downstairs comedy kicks off, the Chamber Orchestra of Europe buoyant, textures balanced, colours vibrant . . . the romp of a fandango that concludes Act III is a marvellous little scene-stealer . . . Sonya Yoncheva's magnificently melancholic Countess is a peach of a performance, lusciously, dreamily sung. Luca Pisaroni is an experienced Figaro and his velvety baritone is smoothly delivered . . .

Record Review / Neil Fisher, The Times (London) / 01. July 2016

 

Yannick Nézet-Séguin / Chamber Orchestra of Europe MOZART Die Entführung Aus Dem Serail

Deutsche Grammophon’s projected cycle of the mature Mozart operas, with Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducting the Chamber Orchestra of Europe is central to Rolando Villazón’s efforts to reinvent himself as a Mozart tenor. Villazón and Nézet-Séguin are the two constant factors in the seven recordings, which are to be based on concert performances given each summer at Baden-Baden. The first set, of Così fan Tutte, appeared two years ago; a Don Giovanni followed last autumn, and the fourth instalment, Le Nozze di Figaro, will be recorded next week.

If the Festspielhaus at Baden-Baden, the largest opera house in Germany, seems an odd place to choose for recording Mozart, then on the evidence of this Entführung neither Nézet-Séguin nor Villazón is an obvious point of reference for such a project, either.

The impression of the whole performance is of something old-fashioned which, the odd desultory vocal ornament apart, could have been recorded 40 or 50 years ago. There’s a bouncy enthusiasm to Nézet-Séguin’s approach, with its wide, dynamic contrasts, but not a great deal of subtlety, though the COE is its usual cultivated and alert self. The inclusion of a fortepiano continuo, which can only rarely be heard behind the weight of the modern strings and wind, seems tokenistic, especially with voices placed as far forward in the recording as they are, though the acoustic is consistent, and for once the spoken dialogue seems to belong in the same acoustic as the rest of the performance, with Thomas Quasthoff taking the purely speaking role of the Pasha Selim.

Villazón is Belmonte, but neither his sound nor his style is really plausible. It’s all very generalised, and often he could be singing Verdi rather than Mozart, with coloratura that is laboured, and tone that seems alternately nasal and curdled. The sense of style that’s missing in Villazón’s singing is emphasised by the other tenor, Paul Schweinester as Pedrillo, and especially by Diana Damrau as Konstanze, but Anna Prohaska is a disappointingly anonymous Blonde, and Franz-Josef Selig a surprisingly lightweight, rather unmenacing Osmin. Alongside the best performances already in the catalogue, whether traditional (conducted by Karl Böhm, say, or Colin Davis) or historically aware (William Christie or John Eliot Gardiner), this new version doesn’t begin to compete. (The Guardian)

Rolando Villazón / London Symphony Orchestra / Antonio Pappano MOZART Concert Arias

In recent years, Rolando Villazón’s career has become inextricable from the world of W.A. Mozart. The tenor has begun recording a cycle of Mozart’s seven mature operas, live from the Baden-Baden Festspielhaus. The cycle began with Don Giovanni in 2011 and continued with Così fan tutte last summer. Next up is Die Entführung aus dem Serail in the summer of 2014 – the cycle is an ambitious undertaking which Rolando curated and for which he serves as artistic consultant. His latest album with Deutsche Grammophon, Mozart Concert Arias, recorded with the London Symphony Orchestra under Sir Antonio Pappano, explores a lesser-known side of the composer. This collection of arias was penned under the radar: for the operas of other composers, at the service of individual singers, for stage works of his own which never came to fruition – works that have rarely been recorded. Villazón set out to uncover rare musical gems and, in the process, discovered a friend: Mozart.

“I think the big challenge is that it’s new for all of us. In that it is different from singing ‘Il mio tesoro’, of which we’ve heard so many great interpretations by so many great tenors, under so many great conductors,” he says.

Although he had already fallen in love with Mozart during recording sessions of Don Giovanni and Così fan tutte, the tenor forged an even deeper connection through this project. “No composer has spoken to me as directly. I feel like I have found a dear companion in him. In these pieces, just as in everything he wrote, Mozart demands the personality of the artist. He wants you to give yourself.”

The selection of ten arias covers a wide range of emotion and historical territory. For Villazón, numbers such as Se al labbro mio non credi, composed for the celebrated tenor Anton Raaff – who would sing the title role of Mozart’s Idomeneo – deserve to be heard more often: “Se al labbro is worthy of a place alongside Mozart’s best-known arias.” The most mature work on the album, Müsst ich auch durch tausend Drachen, dating to around 1783 and the only German-language track, was most likely intended for a comic opera that Mozart never completed. At the other end of the spectrum, Va’, dal furor portata was written when the composer was only nine years old.

“It’s fantastic to compare the very young Mozart with the mature Mozart and track his development,” says the tenor. “Who knows what he would have left to us had he lived a bit longer.”

As fate would have it, Villazón stumbled upon the music while sifting through scores at a shop in Munich. “I was actually looking for Don Giovanni and Così fan tutte, when I discovered this edition of concert arias for tenor,” he recalls. “I went through it and said: ‘This is it. This is a project.’” In 2011, while singing the title role in Massenet’s Werther at the Royal Opera House in London, he approached Pappano about making a recording. 

For the conductor, some arias resemble entire scenes in their dramatic structure. “It’s quite a challenge because a lot of these pieces are from a very young Mozart. They’re not the Mozart we know. They have an identity all their own. There’s a tremendous energy to them, and the singer and orchestra have to go at them with so much fire: you have to find the freedom, the newness and the youth of the music.”

Villazón notes that the recitative Misero! O sogno and following aria Aura che intorno spiri demand the full gamut of technical skills from a singer: “Bravura, interpretation, how to manage the text. And the high notes! But the beauty of Mozart is that it’s not suddenly, ‘Bang! A high note.’ It’s simply another note that you need to go through to maintain the melody.” The tenor found an ideal partner in the London Symphony Orchestra. “These are players who listen, who search and work together with the singer and the conductor. It felt wonderful, as if I was suspended from the gorgeous line that the orchestra was playing. From every point of view this music has been a treat to perform.”

Pappano, who has been recording with the orchestra since 1997, praises the musicians’ energy and intuition. “They create an environment where the singer can be alive and inhabit the character, an essential element in opera, where the exchange of energy is so important.” This is also no small feat given Mozart’s high demands on the orchestra to create its own drama in exchanges with the singer. “They want the best and will follow you to achieve a certain expression,” says the conductor. “The sound is gleaming, full of youth and shine. That is what I really love.”

And he found it a joy to hear Villazón indulge himself in comic numbers such as Con ossequio, con rispetto, written for Salzburg performances of Niccolò Piccinni’s opera, L’astratto, ovvero Il giocator fortunato, in 1775. “The character is paying compliments in one voice, while expressing what he feels in the asides – under his breath, so to speak,” explains Pappano. “That gave Rolando the opportunity to show his feeling for comedy. And I’ve experimented a little bit by changing the colours in the orchestra. When he’s insulting, I have the violins use a chatter-like articulation, and then at the end, a more nasal, snarly sound. Somehow I think Mozart would have approved. People need to laugh and enjoy.”

Villazón observes that even in humorous moments, Mozart’s music can convey the most profound insight – allowing his affinity for the composer to constantly grow. “There are moments performing this music when you are suddenly in heaven,” he says. “Mozart makes you laugh but also, perhaps most importantly, makes you dream. Somehow the fun qualities co-exist with the serious. This almost impossible combination is what makes him unique.”

Anna Netrebko VERDI

. . . Anna Netrebko brings a power to these Verdi arias rarely matched since the days of the great American soprano Leontyne Price. It adds riches to bicentenary celebrations this year of the births of composers Giuseppe Verdi and Richard Wagner . . . Netrebko brings plenty of emotional force and vocal colour as she releases the dark powers of Lady Macbeth in the sleepwalking scene and other "Macbeth" excerpts, and her performance of "O fatidica foresta" from . . . "Giovanna D'Arco" displays the quieter textures and beautifully floated top notes at her command. Netrebko's operatic credentials are affirmed in duet and Siciliana from "Sicilian Vespers", "Tu che le vanita" from "Don Carlo" and four "Trovatore" selections revealing a diva who has truly evolved into a character performer fit for this Verdi feast shared with Orchestra Teatro Regio Torino under the empathetic direction of Gianandrea Noseda.

Record Review / Patricia Kelly, Courier Mail (Brisbane) / 03. August 2013

I have rarely been so wowed . . . Netrebko's career is an object lesson in how to take your time until your voice is just right for certain roles. While other sopranos thrust into the operatic limelight crash and burn, Netrebko has wisely bided her time. Over the past few years, since the birth of her son, her soprano has undergone quite a transformation. It has darkened considerably and increased in size and power . . . On the evidence of this disc, there is much to be excited about. Netrebko thrills before a note is even sung. She opens with Lady Macbeth's Act I aria and cabaletta, starting with a reading of the letter which crackles with electricity and whispered awe. Her Italian diction is very fine and she is alive to the text. When she muses 'Duncano sarà qui?' you know precisely what she means with each repeated 'Qui?'. In the aria 'Vieni! T'affretta!', she is imperious, these dark, sensual colours quite fabulous to hear. In the cabaletta 'Or tutti sorgete, ministry infernali'. . . the overall effect is gripping . . . Netrebko's ability as a singing actress are to the fore here, every word loaded with meaning: 'Di sangue umano sa qui sempre' is full of horror. The disc ends with Leonora's great scene in Part IV of "Il trovatore", with the excitable Rolando Villazón guesting as an off-stage Manrico. In 'D'amor sull'ali rosee' Netrebko's soprano has never sounded more luscious; she is a real spinto in the making, unleashing great waves of tone at climaxes . . . Her Giovanna d'Arco is sung with great sincerity amid delicate scene orchestral painting . . . ["Don Carlo"]: Her opening statement is magnificent and she spans Verdi's long, arching phrases very well . . . The Orchestra Teatro Regio Torino performs this music with exactly the right weight and passion . . . Netrebko's disc is the finest contribution in his defence thus far and should whet appetites for her future forays into this repertoire.

Record Review / Mark Pullinger, Opera Britannia / 11. August 2013