Rolando Villazon, the superb Mexican tenor, (who is reportedly ill and who has cancelled all performances for the next four months) has a new CD...that is really not new at all...as it is really composed of arias released previously on his albums of Italian arias, French arias and the zarzuela album with Placido Domingo conducting. The only new piece is his aria from Puccini's Manon Lescout, "Donna non vidi mai," beautifully sung but never before released. The CD consists of arias by Puccini, Gounod, Donizetti, Verdi, Massenet, Tchaikovsky, Cilea, Bizet, Monteverdi and Sorozabal - all brilliantly performed by this magnificent tenor. But the real UNALLOYED JOY of this item is the bonus DVD...a 51 minute concert, filmed in Prague, on November 11, 2005. Maestro Villazon, in brilliant voice, performs before this staid audience in the Czech Republic, and charms, cajoles, and emotionally moves the audience to their feet...proving that this is not merely a great voice but a warm, gracious and heroic human being as well. It is quite a display! Villazon passionately performs excerpts from Donizetti's Il Duco d'Alba, Verdi's La Traviata, Un Ballo in Maschera and I Lombardi, Massenet's Le Cid, Mascagni's Cavalleria Rusticano, Giordano's Fedora as well as Rossini's "La Danza" and Sorozabal's "No Puede Ser". He had the audience eating out of his hands as, I'm sure, he will with everyone who views this performance. This is a TRULY EXCEPTIONAL artist and one can only hope that he will recover quickly from whatever ails him. May all he has given to his audiences return to him ten fold.
