VITTORIO GRIGOLO - ITALIAN TENOR CD

SKU/Barcode: 886977525728

It takes some promotional presumptuousness to name a debut classical album The Italian Tenor, but Vittorio Grigolo is a singer whose career has always generated considerable hype. (He was only 13, singing the Shepherd in Tosca, when he was hailed as 'Pavarottino,' and Pavarotti himself proclaimed 'You're going to be Number One.') He had made a crossover recording and was already something of a media celebrity when Sony released this album of operatic solos, timed to coincide with his Metropolitan Opera debut in La boh me in October 2010. Grigolo is certainly a considerable talent, but the exertions of his attempts to dazzle can be a little off-putting. He is clearly trying to be spectacular and the strain sometimes shows: his vibrato can veer out of control and his fortissimos can be pushed to the point of being ugly. That being said, these seem like the miscalculations of a young artist trying to live up to stratospheric expectations, and once he relaxes and achieves a little more maturity, he could be truly spectacular. His is a generous mid-weight lyric tenor that is naturally warm but he can also ring out heroically. He has the flexibility and secure technique to negotiate the bel canto, Verdi, and verismo repertoires with ease and naturalness. He uses his colorful voice expressively, if a little histrionically. It's clear that he's acutely aware of the subtleties of the texts and if he is able to rein in the dramatics a little he could become a powerful interpreter. He's at his best when he's not pushing, as in Una furtiva lagrima and the excerpt from Le Villi. This is where it is not a stretch to imagine that he could someday be known as THE Italian Tenor. One of the strengths of the album is that, in addition to the obligatory standards like E lucevan le stelle and Che gelida manina, Grigolo includes some very appealing, more obscure repertoire, like scenes from Luisa Miller, Il corsaro, La favorita, and Le villi. The sound is generally good, if a little boomy. The balance is predictably weighted toward the voice, and the engineering isn't consistent. There are phrases and individual notes in 'Ella mi fu rapita! Parmi veder le lagrime' that are so inexpertly spliced in that they sound like they were produced by a different tenor singing in a different room.

1. Oh! Fede Negar Potessi ... Quando Le Sere Al Placido
2. Una Furtiva Lagrima
3. Ella Mi Fu Rapita! ... Parmi Veder Le Lagrime
4. Ma Dove Or Trovasi La Poveretta? ... Possente Amor Mi Chiama
5. Favorita Del Re! ... Spirto Gentil
6. Che Gelida Manina
7. Avete Torto ... Firenze Come Un Albero Fiorito
8. Ecco La Casa ... Torna Ai Felici D
9. Ah! S Ben Dite ... Tutto Parea Sorridere
10. Della Brezza Col Favore ... S : De Corsari Il Fulmine
11. Forse La Soglia Attinse ... Ma Se M Forza Perder
12. Donna Non Vidi Mai
13. E Lucevan Le Stelle
14. Ah! S Ben Mio
15. Manrico? Che? ... Di Quella Pira