It was not so very long ago that the opera world seemed to be facing a cavernous void of world-class tenors. True, there were a handful of gifted artists such as Roberto Alagna and Ben Heppner. Yet the public image of the operatic tenor was largely dominated by the studio-simonized “popera” of Andrea Bocelli, and the increasingly uninspired Three Tenors spectacles.
Joseph Calleja
The Tenors of Our Times
Latin singers lead an invasion of world-class lyric voices.
By Lawrence A. Johnson [Sun-Sentinel, 6 Mar 05]
It was not so very long ago that the opera world seemed to be facing a cavernous void of world-class tenors. True, there were a handful of gifted artists such as Roberto Alagna and Ben Heppner. Yet the public image of the operatic tenor was largely dominated by the studio-simonized "popera" of Andrea Bocelli, and the increasingly uninspired Three Tenors spectacles.
The last two years, however, have seen an explosion of remarkable tenorial talent, with recordings by top-flight singers from Malta to China. The richness of this pool can be judged by the fact that even South Florida's opera companies, for whom casting has been variable, managed to field fine tenors for this season's productions.