Salvatore Licitra - The Debut
Tenor Salvatore Licitra recently made headlines when he stepped in at the last moment for the, sad to say, probably finishedLuciano Pavarottiat the Metropolitan Opera's finalToscasof the season. In fact, there's little Licitra could have done wrong under the circumstances, but he was a great success, and judging from his recentTrovatoreand this recital CD,  he will be most welcome. The good-sized, somewhat dark-hued voice is appealing--and truly Italian--with an innate caressing quality and sense of line, even from top to bottom (he takes the very low option in theBalloBarcarolle, which most tenors take up an octave), and nice and free on top. He has no  trouble sustaining the high tessitura (or big sound and broad phrases) of Alvaro's aria fromForza; he sounds sincerely regretful as the caddish  Pinkerton, and might even be the Dick Johnson (inFanciulla) we've been  looking for. This is an impressive debut recital, recommended for those who  have been waiting for Italian opera to fall back into the hands of an Italian  tenor.--Robert Levine