Decca: Jonas Kaufmann — Verismo Arias (Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, Antonio Pappano) — Audio CD

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Product Details:

• UPC: 028947822585
• Catalog Number: 478 2258
• Product Type: Audio CD
• Brand / Label: Decca (Decca Music Group / Universal Music)
• Artist: Jonas Kaufmann (tenor)
• Conductor: Antonio Pappano
• Ensemble: Orchestra e Coro dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, Roma
• Guest: Eva-Maria Westbroek (track 17)
• Release Year: 2010
• Genre: Classical
• Style: Opera arias (verismo)

Product Features

• Format: CD
• Discs: 1
• Total timing: 61:52
• Recording: DDD (digital)
• Sung texts enclosed (booklet with libretto)
• Made in: EU
• Condition: Brand new, factory sealed

Overview

This is the album that cemented Jonas Kaufmann's reputation as the verismo tenor of his generation. The German tenor — praised by the New York Times for having "everything" — turns to the great Italian repertoire of raw emotion: Giordano, Leoncavallo, Mascagni, Cilea, Boito, Ponchielli. The voice is dark, baritonal, and unmistakably his own, and it suits this music perfectly.

The centerpiece is "Vesti la giubba" from Pagliacci — the clown forced to perform while his heart breaks — but the program ranges far wider, from the lyrical "È la solita storia del pastore" to the searing duet "Vicino a te" from Andrea Chénier, sung here with soprano Eva-Maria Westbroek.

Antonio Pappano conducts the Orchestra and Chorus of Santa Cecilia in Rome with the kind of theatrical urgency this repertoire demands. Verismo lived or died on emotional truth, and that's exactly what this disc delivers across 17 arias and scenes. About 62 minutes, with full sung texts included.

Interesting Facts

• Jonas Kaufmann is one of the most sought-after tenors of his era, equally at home in German, Italian and French repertoire — a rare versatility for a dramatic tenor.
• "Vesti la giubba" from Leoncavallo's Pagliacci is among the most famous tenor arias ever written; Caruso's early recording of it became one of the first million-selling records.
• The verismo movement, flourishing around 1890–1910, brought everyday people and violent passions to the operatic stage, a sharp break from earlier mythological and aristocratic subjects.
• Antonio Pappano was Music Director of the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome alongside his longtime post at London's Royal Opera House.
• The album includes rarities alongside the warhorses, such as Refice's "Ombra di nube" and Ponchielli's "Sì, questa estrema grazia" from the seldom-heard I Lituani.

Track Listing

1. Giulietta, son io — Zandonai (Giulietta e Romeo) — 4:49
2. Un dì all'azzurro spazio — Giordano (Andrea Chénier) — 4:54
3. Come un bel dì di maggio — Giordano (Andrea Chénier) — 2:52
4. È la solita storia del pastore (Lamento di Federico) — Cilea (L'Arlesiana) — 4:35
5. Testa adorata — Leoncavallo (La Bohème) — 3:21
6. Vesti la giubba — Leoncavallo (Pagliacci) — 3:42
7. Viva il vino spumeggiante (Brindisi) — Mascagni (Cavalleria rusticana) — 2:50
8. Mamma! Mamma, quel vino è generoso — Mascagni (Cavalleria rusticana) — 3:48
9. Dai campi, dai prati — Boito (Mefistofele) — 2:35
10. Giunto sul passo estremo — Boito (Mefistofele) — 3:23
11. Amor ti vieta — Giordano (Fedora) — 1:49
12. L'anima ho stanca — Cilea (Adriana Lecouvreur) — 2:02
13. La dolcissima effigie — Cilea (Adriana Lecouvreur) — 2:31
14. Sì, questa estrema grazia — Ponchielli (I Lituani) — 2:33
15. Cielo e mar! — Ponchielli (La Gioconda) — 5:24
16. Ombra di nube — Refice — 3:23
17. Vicino a te — Giordano (Andrea Chénier), with Eva-Maria Westbroek — 7:18

Publishers

℗© 2010 Decca Music Group Limited (London, England), part of Universal Music. Catalog number 478 2258. Made in the EU. Booklet with sung texts.

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