Bonney and Kirchschlager, and La Traviata which I went to and Muti with the Phil, which I didn't,
and of the pre-ordered, anticipated eagerly with fervent excitement French Opera Arias 
Not yet reviewed on amazon.co.uk - not released til next week but on amazon.com it gets five stars and, how's this for a review...
Rolando Villazón has everything it takes to secure a permanent role in the pantheon of great singers - a richly full tenor voice that is luxuriously beautiful in every part of the range, a sensitivity to the text/role of each of the arias/roles he elects to sing, musical intelligence that never plays for effect alone but tempers the line in allegiance to the composer and the character, and a handsome physical appearance and magical stage deportment as a fine actor.
And as if that weren't sufficient, Villazon adds the sensitivity to release albums that are not the hackneyed warhorses of arias everyone knows and loves but instead are collections of less well known works that shows he cares about the art of singing and the obligation of enlightening his audience. His first album of Italian arias was an unqualified success: his second recording of the French repertoire of Massenet and Gounod is not only an endlessly beautiful recital - it also shows there is finally a tenor fully able to deliver this difficult, more subtle repertoire with conviction and ease...
Run, don't walk. Buy now!
But note to Mr Holden, no-one is the 'new anyone', especially not Rolando, the Voice of the 21st Century
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