Sony Classical: Kaufmann & Tézier — Insieme: Opera Duets — Pappano (Audio CD)

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Product Details:

• Product Type: Audio CD
• Brand / Label: Sony Classical
• Artists: Jonas Kaufmann (tenor), Ludovic Tézier (baritone)
• Composers: Puccini, Ponchielli, Verdi
• Orchestra: Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia
• Conductor: Antonio Pappano
• Catalogue Number: 19439987002
• UPC / EAN: 194399870020
• Release Year: 2022
• Genre: Classical / Opera

Product Features

• Format: CD
• Discs: 1
• Packaging: Digipak
• Made in: EU
• Languages sung: Italian and French

Overview

On stage they are usually adversaries — tenor against baritone, the two voices opera loves to set at odds. Off it, Jonas Kaufmann and Ludovic Tézier are old friends, and Insieme — Italian for "together" — turns that friendship into a record. These are the great male duets: scenes the two have sung opposite each other for years, plus a few they tackle here for the first time.

The program runs through the heart of the Italian and French repertoire. Puccini's La Bohème, Ponchielli's La Gioconda, three Verdi operas — Les Vêpres siciliennes, Don Carlos, La forza del destino — and the searing oath duet from Otello. Friendship, rivalry, vengeance, brotherhood: the full range of what two men can sing to and against each other.

Behind them is the Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia under Antonio Pappano, one of the finest opera conductors at work and a partner who knows exactly how to frame two voices of this calibre. Recorded in Rome, issued by Sony Classical in 2022.

Interesting Facts

• The album's title, Insieme, is Italian for "together" — a nod to the long friendship between Kaufmann and Tézier despite the on-stage rivalry their voice types usually demand.
• Antonio Pappano appears on the recording by kind permission of Warner Classics, his longtime label.
• The disc mixes scenes the pair have performed together for years with several pieces they recorded together for the first time.
• The program crosses languages: the Verdi selections from Les Vêpres siciliennes and Don Carlos are sung in French, the rest in Italian.
• The closing Otello scene — the great Act II oath duet "Sì, pel ciel marmoreo giuro!" — is among the most demanding tenor-baritone confrontations in the repertoire, running nearly twelve minutes.

Track Listing

Giacomo Puccini — La Bohème

1. In un coupé? … O Mimì, tu più non torni — 4:55

Amilcare Ponchielli — La Gioconda

1. Enzo Grimaldo, Principe di Santafior, che pensi? — 7:28

Giuseppe Verdi — Les Vêpres siciliennes

1. Quel est ton nom? … Punis mon audace! … Téméraire! — 7:38
2. Je n'en puis revenir! … Quand ma bonté … Comble de misère! — 10:47

Giuseppe Verdi — Don Carlos

1. Le voilà! C'est l'Infant! … Dieu, tu semas dans nos âmes — 8:53

Giuseppe Verdi — La forza del destino

1. Solenne in quest'ora — 4:14
2. Né gustare m'è dato … No, d'un imene il vincolo — 8:13
3. Invano, Alvaro, ti celasti al mondo … Col sangue sol cancellasi … Le minacce, i fieri accenti — 9:31

Giuseppe Verdi — Otello

1. Tu?! Indietro! Fuggi!! … Ora e per sempre addio … Era la notte, Cassio dormia … Sì, pel ciel marmoreo giuro! — 11:55

Publishers

Released by Sony Classical, a label of Sony Music Entertainment, in 2022 (JAK GmbH & Sony Classical). Recorded with the Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia. Made in the EU.

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