Domingo Does it Again

World famous tenor, Placido Domingo has been varying his roles in recent years, moving into a repertoire that demands a richer deeper sound than the more traditional Italian ones. He has recorded as well as sung on the stage, Verdi’s Otello and Wagner’s Parsifal. Apparently now he is going to sing some baritone roles, notably Doge of Genoa in Verdi’s early opera, Simon Boccanegra at Covent Garden and La Scala in 2009. Interestingly he sang the tenor’s part, Gabriele Adorno, in the same opera at Covent Garden ten years ago. So this amazing Spanish tenor who has also become an orchestral conductor, adds yet more roles to his enormous repertoire.

This change of timbre is not unusual. The great Enrico Caruso (1873-1921) had an enormous range and even now hearing the old recordings of him you can hear the dark edge to his peerless voice. The Oxford Dictionary of Music says of his voice that ‘it was of sumptuous resonance, mellow and almost baritonal with an exquisite mezzo voce’. It’s not only tenors who can make a change. Dame Janet Baker began as a contralto but was soon singing as a mezzo soprano, whereas Christa Ludwig, Grace Bumbry and Shirley Verrett all turned from mezzo to soprano and then as they got older, returned to their previous range.

The ‘Three Tenors’ road-show is already a thing of the past. Pavarotti clings on to the remains of his remarkable career and Jose Carreras is still performing but no longer on the operatic stage. Only Domingo, now in his late 60’s, goes from strength to strength. The famous trio have given notable performances in huge arenas in various parts of the world since their first collaboration at the ancient Baths of Caracalla in Rome held on the eve of the 1990 FIFA World Cup final. That first concert was held to raise money for Carreras's foundation and also as a way for his contemporaries, Domingo and Pavarotti, to welcome their friend and colleague back to the world of opera after his successful treatment for leukemia. But if that wasn’t the case, and the famous three were still touring the world, Placido Domingo’s decision would have closed the show.

As Martin Kettle wrote in The Guardian last week, ‘The Two Tenors and a Baritone’ does rather lack the resonance of the original!

B.R.

Juan Cristostomo de Arriaga: 'The Spanish Mozart'

Born in Bilbao in 1806, de Arriaga‘s life was brilliant but tragically brief, for he died from exhaustion and a pulmonary infection just ten days before his twentieth birthday. He was born into a musical family with strong connections to the court in Madrid. By the time he was eleven and already an excellent intuitive musician, he had composed a divertimento, had written several songs and a two act opera which was performed in his home town to great acclaim. When only 15 he was accepted by the Paris Conservatoire and studied counterpoint, fugue and the violin there. It was during this period that he composed all of his few remaining works which included music for the stage, three quartets, church music and a symphony.

The New Grove Dictionary says of his music that it has a dramatic impetus with well poised musical structures. He followed the late classical tradition of Mozart with the added influence of the early romanticism of Beethoven and Schubert. Though described as a Spanish disciple of Mozart (as much because of his precociousness as his compositional skills perhaps), there is little sign that he was influenced by the indigenous music either of his birthplace or of the other regions of Spain. It’s interesting to contemplate how it might have been otherwise if he had lived longer, though as a very ambitious, perhaps even driven personality he might have wished to remain in the wider international scene.

I have bought a recent Naxos recording (8.557628) of his three quartets. They are delightful and I agree with the CD’s opinion that they ‘demonstrate Arriaga’s genius for winning melodies, emotional pathos and innovative structure’. I found the quiet Adagio movement of his first quartet very moving and the Pastorale of the third quartet – again a second movement – was striking in its poise and confidence. The players are the Camerata Boccherini and I see that Massimo Spadano, the first violin and founder of the group, is the leader of the Galicia Symphony Orchestra. There are other Spanish connections. The venue for the recording was Tenerife, and the recording itself was supported by various Basque organisations.

The history of classical music is full of what might have been had composers lived for a longer time. Mozart himself is a prime example, dying in the fullness of his powers at the age of 35. But for me Schubert is the saddest loss. He died when only 31 when his music seemed to be moving into a new sphere of composition, indicated by his ninth (The Great) symphony and the late piano sonatas. However, the young de Arriaga, so full of promise when he died, has not been forgotten, and is honoured by this new recording.

B.R.