CLASSICAL REVIEW
Rolando Villazon Duets, DG Angela Gheorghiu Eternamente: The Verismo Album, Warner Classics
To last as long as Pavarotti did – and as Domingo still does, just – requires careful husbanding so that even as the voice deteriorates with age, the singer’s artistry continues to grow. Of the two singers here, Rolando Villazon fell at the first fence and Angela Gheorghiu at the second. Back in the Noughties, Villazon had a huge success at Covent Garden. But overuse of his voice caused severe vocal problems, and Villazon hasn’t appeared at Covent Garden for years. Happily, what Villazon can’t do live any more, he can still do in the studio. This Duets album, on which he is partnered with a rather vin-ordinaire Russian bass, Ildar Abdrazakov, is a good listen. An interesting selection of French and Italian duets concludes with two delicious encores: Granada and the Russian song Dark Eyes. When I saw Gheorghiu’s Covent Garden debut 25 years ago in Tosca she too seemed to have it all. But over the past quarter-century there has been virtually no artistic growth. So today, in her 50s, on her new Verismo album, her voice sounds a bit wobbly and worn, with no compensating growth in characterisation. Her interpretations are as sketchy as ever. Joseph Calleja partners her in three duets. He sounds wonderful, and, without trying to do so, really shows her up. Calleja, not yet 40, looks after his voice, and will surely be a Domingo, not a Villazon.