Ramon Vargas: L'amour, L'amour
Mexican tenorRamón Vargasis in the midst of a fine international career, where he is in demand for and concentrates on the purely lyric tenor repertoire. His smallish, well-focused voice is attractive and distinguished, his top notes free and easy, and his ability in coloratura admirable, making him particularly valuable in the operas of Rossini. He is also an intelligent musician and has a natural feel for a melodic line. On this CD, he tackles the occasional aria that is a bit too heavy for him, i.e., Rodolfo's aria fromLa Bohème, an excerpt from Verdi'sUn Ballo in Maschera, and Lensky's aria fromEugen Onegin, but on disc, at least, he finds no need to force, and the results are good. In general, he's ardent without being overly sentimental, and except for a vaguely desperate sounding high D flat(!) (as at the end of the fine scene from Donizetti'sRoberto Devereux), he keeps the tone lovely. And his selection of arias here contains enough rarities among the chestnuts to make this CD particularly valuable. If you haven't heard Vargas, you should.--Robert Levine