Search - Giuseppe Verdi, Mikhail Glinka, Richard [1] Strauss :: Amore, sublime amore: Tenor Arias

Janez Lotric' Tenor Recital

Jorge Luis Castillo | Goleta, CA | 08/05/2003

(2 out of 5 stars)

"Naxos offers a dubious bargain with this recital by the Slovenian tenor Janez Lotric. The repertory encompasses some of the most demanding arias for a voice rare on this day and age: a dramatic tenor with a big, wide ranging voice like Tamagno or Escalais. Mr. Lotric certainly has an instrument of the correct size and weight for most of the repertory he attempts but his vocal production is ugly, labored and coarse. The tone is nasal, many of the top notes are hardriven and pinched; the Italian pronunciation is approximate at best and his interpretative approach to the chosen program is depressingly provincial. The Ukrainian National Opera orchestra and soloists provide adequate support. The tenor aria from Glinka's A Life for the Tsar comes off best and is, at least, idiomatically sung, although some soft singing in the slow section of the aria would not have come amiss. The rest of the program provides much less satisfaction. The tenor aria from Der Rosenkavalier is in a word awful. The scene from Il trovatore is rudely deprived of the duettino and crowned by one of the ugliest High Cs on record."