Roberto Alagna – Caruso (2019) [Official Digital Download 24bit/96kHz]

Superstar tenor, Roberto Alagna, returns with his sensational new album Caruso. Caruso 1873 is Alagna’s tribute to the Neapolitan singer who Alagna considers to be the greatest tenor of all time. Alagna honours his legendary predecessor with a selection of repertoire drawn from Caruso’s own recording career, which stretched from 1902 to 1920. Alagna is accompanied by the critically acclaimed Orchestre National D’ile-de-France, singers Aleksandra Kurzak and Rafal Siwek and conductor, pianist and arranger, yvan Cassar. The music chosen is a journey back in time through Caruso’s eclectic repertoire. It showcases his personality and is blended with Alagna’s own favourites. The album offers many surprises and stretches from Handel and Pergolesi to verismo composers including Cilea and Leoncavallo, contemporaries of Caruso who wrote music for him. Puccini is represented by “Vecchia zimarra”, the bass Colline’s aria from La bohème which – as legend has it – Caruso once sang on stage standing in for an ailing colleague in perfect subterfuge. Caruso (1873—1921) was an Italian operatic tenor. Caruso was one of the first major singing talents to be commercially recorded.

The Franco-Italian tenor Roberto Alagna associates much of his childhood memory with the figure of Enrico Caruso, the first modern tenor. Alagna superimposes the memory of his great grandparents, who knew the illustrious tenor in New York at the beginning of the last century, with that of the Richard Thorpe film The Great Caruso starring Mario Lanza which he watched when he was a little boy.

These memories never left him and, with his teacher Rafael Ruiz, a young Roberto listened with passion to Caruso’s recordings while trying to pull apart the art of his singing. And now, fully matured, it makes sense that Alagna should finally dedicate an album to his idol, a project long in the waiting.

Respecting the style and vocal delivery of Caruso all while conserving his own vocal identity, Robert Alagna has released here a generous album that endeavours to re-establish the discography of his glorious fellow-singer from 1902 to 1920. All in all, the work consists of twenty tracks that interpret the songs recorded by Caruso: sometimes operatic and sometimes more popular in style, Alagna includes an interpretation of Lucio Dalla’s Caruso, a tune written in 1986 about the final days of the tenor in the Sorrente Vittoria Hotel, with an arrangement by Yvan Cassar that does not undermine the rest of the album. A true 2019 vintage if you will. – François Hudry

Tracklist:
1. Roberto Alagna – Caruso (05:15)
2. Roberto Alagna – Domine Deus (From “Petite Messe solennelle”, IGR 51) (05:15)
3. Roberto Alagna – Frondi tenere e belle … Ombra mai fu (From “Serse HWV 40”) (03:54)
4. Roberto Alagna – Mia piccirella (From “Salvator Rosa”) (03:43)
5. Roberto Alagna – Tre giorni son che Nina (02:54)
6. Roberto Alagna – Pietà, Signore (04:53)
7. Roberto Alagna – Ô lumière du jour (From “Néron”) (04:01)
8. Roberto Alagna – Santa Lucia (04:15)
9. Roberto Alagna – Vecchia zimarra (From “La bohème”) (02:25)
10. Roberto Alagna – Sento una forza indomita (From “Il Guarany “) (04:44)
11. Roberto Alagna – Sérénade de Don Juan, Op. 38/1 (03:17)
12. Roberto Alagna – Élégie (03:49)
13. Roberto Alagna – Parce que (Because) (02:33)
14. Roberto Alagna – Qual voluttà trascorrere (From “I Lombardi alla prima crociata”) (04:12)
15. Roberto Alagna – Mamma mia, che vo’ sapè? (03:39)
16. Roberto Alagna – Mi par d’udire ancora (From “Les Pêcheurs de perles”) (03:18)
17. Roberto Alagna – Mattinata (02:00)
18. Roberto Alagna – No, più nobile (From “Adriana Lecouvreur”) (02:48)
19. Roberto Alagna – Chiudo gli occhi (From “Manon”) (02:51)
20. Roberto Alagna – Tu ca nun chiagne (02:26)