The Tenor's Passion marks
Marcelo Álvarez's move into heavier repertory. By his own account, he has given himself a technical makeover, acknowledging the inevitable darkening of his voice with age by re-gearing his singing for bigger roles. So, in making this recording he has left behind the lighter stuff that first catapulted him into the spotlight and taken up the capital "T" tenor warhorses usually associated with more dramatic voices. The audible change in his sound is striking. He certainly has developed the appropriate heft and carrying power for this music; you don't get the sense that he is a lightweight in over his head. But the tonal evenness, smiling brilliance, and flowing legato that marked his early recordings are diminished. His basic tone color now changes drastically between the middle, upper-middle, and high ranges of his voice, often jarringly so in the middle of phrases. The top range is as extensive and reliable as ever (he makes the high C sharp in "A te, o cara" from I Puritani sound much easier than
Pavarotti ever did), but the lean brilliance that used to characterize those high notes has given way to a thicker, slightly unfocused sound.
Álvarez delivers many beautiful moments;
Marcello Viotti and the Staatskapelle Dresden are deluxe partners; and the selection of arias, while unsurprising, is great. But in comparison with his own past work,
Álvarez's latest effort is less special, less distinctive. Clearly his vocal transformation is no parlor trick. But he doesn't seem comfortable with it yet, and as captured here his singing doesn't have the spontaneous engagement, musical refinement, or sense of polish that it once did.