The supreme question, for the millions who love the voice and artistry of Mexican tenor Rolando Villazón, now 40, is: How does he sound? The San Francisco Merola Opera program graduate, who withdrew from performing in 2008 due to a vocal crisis he initially attributed to emotional burnout and roles too heavy for his voice, has since returned to the stage after several operations and at least one false start.
Judging from this new recording of Werther, captured in May 2011 in a performance at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Villazón is now on top of his game. With voice intact, he seems equipped to handle a schedule that, from May 5 through August 15 alone, sees him performing one recital, two concerts, and lead roles in no fewer than five works by Mozart, Donizetti, Offenbach, and Monteverdi. He even does double duty in three performances of L’Elisir d’amore at Baden-Baden, both directing and singing the lead, Nemorino. So much for burnout.
In this stage performance, Villazón holds nothing back. While he may not swell to huge volume levels on his high fortes — neither did Ramon Vargas when he performed the opera here a few seasons back — still, his voice and passion ring out unfettered.
The voice has changed, however. A comparison between Villazón’s March 2004 studio recording of Werther’s Act 2 aria “Oui, ce qu’elle m’ordone … Lorsque l’enfant revient,” with the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France conducted by Evelino Pidó, and the version in this 2011 recording suggests that his already dark voice has darkened further with age. Although he retains the ability to soften notes, there’s less of the sweetness that made his Werther excerpt sound so vulnerable.
Listen To The Music
Sung by Werther: 23 Werther Act II - Oui, Ce Qu'Elle M'Ordonne...Lorsque L'Enfant Revient D'Un Voyage Avant L'HeureSung by Charlotte: Werther Act 3 Des Cris Joyeux D'Enfants
Under Antonio Pappano’s poetic baton, Villazón and mezzo-soprano Sophie Koch (performing the role of Charlotte) pull out all the stops, singing with a passion and fervor usually reserved for Italian opera. Forget the French restraint and elegance that make Elie Cohen’s 1931 Paris Opera recording with Georges Thill, Ninon Vallin, and Germaine Féraldy the authentic classic against which all other recordings are judged. This Werther and this Charlotte quickly dive head first into despair and desperation. (Cavaradossi and Tosca would feel right at home at their side.)
In other roles, Japanese soprano Eri Nakamura (singing Sophie, Charlotte’s sister) lacks the lightness, purity, and technical security essential for contrasting her youthful naivete with Charlotte’s love-torn reality. Norwegian baritone Audun Iversen (Albert, Charlotte’s husband) sounds less stolid than uninteresting, while French bass-baritone Alain Vernhes (Charlotte’s father, the Bailiff) sings with evidence of his long career.
Villazón and mezzo-soprano Sophie Koch pull out all the stops, singing with a passion and fervor usually reserved for Italian opera.
The diction of Koch and Vernhes, the two French natives in the cast, is hardly the epitome of French style. Koch’s instrument sounds thick and covered, with a “wuh” sound in the midrange that smoothes over nasal sounds and inflections, and veils strong consonants. Absolutely no one articulates with the care you’ll hear from Cohen’s 1931 cast, as well as from such great French artists as Bathori, Croiza, Vanni-Marcoux, Panzera, and Souzay. Even the two English sopranos whom Debussy coached in the role of Mélisande, Mary Garden and Maggie Teyte, treat text with a clarity lost to Pappano’s team.
You, of course, may be captivated by Pappano’s emotionally charged sweep, along with the hothouse duo of Villazón and Koch. Others in search of a modern recording would be wise to check out the far sweeter 1980 Covent Garden performance, conducted by Colin Davis, that stars the hard-to-beat Carreras (Werther), von Stade (Charlotte), Allen (Albert), Buchanan (Sophie), and Lloyd (the Bailiff).