Salvatore Licitra - The Debut

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
Tenor Salvatore Licitra recently made headlines when he stepped in at the last moment for the, sad to say, probably finished Luciano Pavarotti at the Metropolitan Opera's final Toscas of the season. In fact, there's little Licitra could have done wrong under the circumstances, but he was a great success, and judging from his recent Trovatore and this recital CD, he will be most welcome. The good-sized, somewhat dark-hued voice is appealing--and truly Italian--with an innate caressing quality and sense of line, even from top to bottom (he takes the very low option in the Ballo Barcarolle, which most tenors take up an octave), and nice and free on top. He has no trouble sustaining the high tessitura (or big sound and broad phrases) of Alvaro's aria from Forza; he sounds sincerely regretful as the caddish Pinkerton, and might even be the Dick Johnson (in Fanciulla) we've been looking for. This is an impressive debut recital, recommended for those who have been waiting for Italian opera to fall back into the hands of an Italian tenor. --Robert Levine

Salvatore Licitra - The Debut, Music, Salvatore Licitra, Giacomo Puccini, Giuseppe Verdi, Carlo Rizzi, Classical, Classical Artists, Classical Music, Classical Vocals, Italian Romantic Opera, Opera

Average customer rating:

Verdi is rolling in his grave

Nice sound, but an all time great?

Oh dear oh dear...

You're kidding, right?

The New Pavarotti

Salvatore Licitra - The Debut
Giuseppe Verdi , and Carlo Rizzi
Manufacturer: Sony
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music
General | Classical | Styles | Music
Classical Music | The Sony BMG Masterworks Store | Amazon.com Label Stores | Stores | Music
Opera & Vocal | The Sony BMG Masterworks Store | Amazon.com Label Stores | Stores | Music
Similar Items:

Forbidden Love

Duetto

Marcelo Álvarez - Bel Canto / Y. Huang, WNO, Rizzi

The Man Who Cried

The Tenor's Passion

ASIN: B000068TL8
Release Date: 2002-07-02

Tracks:

Puccini: Tosca: E lucevan le stelle
Puccini: Turandot: Nessun dorma
Puccini: La Fanciulla Del West: Ch'ella mi creda
Puccini: Tosca: Recondita armonia
Puccini: Manon Lescaut: Donna non vidi mai
Puccini: Madama Butterfly: Addio fiorito asil
Verdi: Aida: Celeste Aida
Verdi: La Forza Del Destino: La vita e inferno...Oh tu che in seno
Verdi: Simon Boccanegra: Sento avvampar nell'anima
Verdi: Un Ballo In Maschera: Baccarole: Di tu se fedele
Verdi: Un Ballo In Maschera: Forse la soglia attinse
Verdi: Macbeth: Ah! La paterna mano
Verdi: Il Trovatore: Manrico? Che?...Di quella pira

Amazon.com

Tenor Salvatore Licitra recently made headlines when he stepped in at the last moment for the, sad to say, probably finished Luciano Pavarotti at the Metropolitan Opera's final Toscas of the season. In fact, there's little Licitra could have done wrong under the circumstances, but he was a great success, and judging from his recent Trovatore and this recital CD, he will be most welcome. The good-sized, somewhat dark-hued voice is appealing--and truly Italian--with an innate caressing quality and sense of line, even from top to bottom (he takes the very low option in the Ballo Barcarolle, which most tenors take up an octave), and nice and free on top. He has no trouble sustaining the high tessitura (or big sound and broad phrases) of Alvaro's aria from Forza; he sounds sincerely regretful as the caddish Pinkerton, and might even be the Dick Johnson (in Fanciulla) we've been looking for. This is an impressive debut recital, recommended for those who have been waiting for Italian opera to fall back into the hands of an Italian tenor. --Robert Levine

Customer Reviews:

Verdi is rolling in his grave.......2007-02-24

Untrained, flat singing. Crap! Anyone who thinks this man can sing better than Luciano Pavarotti needs hearing aids and needs to go back and listen to tenors starting with Caruso and all the great tenors who came after him
As a voice teacher, conductor and tenor I can tell you that he CAN NOT SING!!!!

Nice sound, but an all time great?.......2007-01-09

I am hardly an expert, but I have mixed reactions to this CD. First, I think that Licitra's voice has a nice smooth sound to it. But it is also overmatched by some of the music.

I always love hearing tenors take a shot at Verdi's "Di quella pira" from "Il Trovatore." Once, in a moment of madness, I taped 10-15 tenors, back to back, singing this. What a range of singers! Caruso, Tucker, Corelli, and so on, and so on. Some great, some not so great, some poor. But you can really divide up the singers by listening to one after the other (ad nauseam). Truthfully, Licitra can't handle this work, compared with the greatest of those luminaries. His light voice is overwhelmed at the end by the orchestra and chorus. While his technique seems okay, he just doesn't have the voice to make this memorable. A Franco Corelli or Richard Tucker or Mario del Monaco just soars over the orchestra and chorus.

I thought he did much better in "Nessun Dorma" and the two Tosca arias, "E Lucevan le stella" and "Recondita armonia," and others. To me, his voice seemed to fit those more compellingly.

Again, keep in mind that I am not an expert, but his "Celeste Aida" featured (is this the right term?) scooping as he went from "celeste" to "Aida." I have a clear memory of listening to Richard Tucker singing this (I can't get my hands on the tape right now) where he went from one note to the other without a scoop. Same with "forma divina," if I understand aright.

All in all, "Debut" is a nice work, a promising start to a career, but we all ought to hold off on any comparisons with the greats until Licitra has a chance to grow and earn such accolades.

Oh dear oh dear..........2006-10-29

It gives me no pleasure at all to say that anyone with half an ear for good singing can tell within a few seconds that this is a voice going nowhere -as the last few years since this debut recital album have proved. This makes the previous rave reviews even more inexplicable; where do these people keep their ears? Licitra's technique is fundamentally faulty: he has a slow wobble even in the lower reaches of the voice and as he goes up the tone becomes cloudy and throaty - real problems around the so-called "passaggio" where a tenor can easily crack into the falsetto. The overall effect is of an ugly, unharmonious, effortful sound made by an improperly registered voice. He needs to start from scratch and listen to some better voices -as there are virtually no teachers who can help. That's how Del Monaco and Corelli got it right. Robert Levine is usually a very reliable critic - but his mind cannot have been focused on the job in hand if he truly believed what he wrote in the official Amazon review; NJ Keith, on the other hand, is spot on.

You're kidding, right?.......2006-08-22

I'm sorry, but those of you swooning over Licitra simply cannot have heard recordings from the true greats. If your idea of the pinnacle of operatic tenors begins and ends with Bocelli, may I introduce you to the likes of Franco Corelli, Mario Del Monaco, Jussi Bjoerling, Luciano Pavarotti (though not my favorite, still heads and shoulders above what's out there now), and Giuseppe DiStefano. These men were at the top of their profession when their profession was filled with talent, unlike today where any hack with more than one useful octave and a decent tone are considered "star material". It's a very sad commentary to the level of talent today that this man is considered a star.

The New Pavarotti.......2005-10-13

It's fair to say that today's reigning tenor is Salvatore Licitra from Sicily. He won instant, overnight fame when he subbed for Luciano Pavarotti, who, to the dismay of fans who regard him as a god, is way past his prime and can't sing or record full length operas anymore in the thrilling freshness of his youth. As Pavarotti's star faded, Licitra's ascended. He has already sung the great tenor roles in various American opera houses and his debut as the Met as Cavaradossi in Tosca was a relevation. This is debut album and already he has gone above and beyond. It is pretty amazing for a first album. He sings jucity tenor roles that have been the staple arias for Pavoratti, Domingo and Carreras. This is however not the first time his voice has been recorded. There is a full-length studio recording of Verdi's Trovatore in which he sins opposite Dolora Zajick. That Verdi is phenomenal and all fans of Licitra should own it.

Licitra opens the album with a stunning "E Lucevan La Stelle" from Tosca, still the opera he is most famous for interepreting. His Cavaradossi is a welcome change from past interpretors, though Licitra is more along the lines of Pavarotti's lyric bravura and razzle-dazzle than the more cerebral portrayals of Corelli, Domingo or Carrerras. Other impressive arias on here include "Di Quella Pira" from Trovatore, another successful Verdi venture of his. He has the right tone for Manrico's bravura and even passion. I foresee that this tenor's career will be composed of Verdi, Puccini, (perhaps Wagner if he trains hard for it) and certainly he has the voice for Mozart and French repertoire (possibly Hoffman is in his future or Romeo or Des Grieux if he hasnt already sung Des Grieux). His Calaf from Turandot is outstanding. He is more like Franco Corelli in some respects but his biggest influence is Pavarotti, no doubt about it. It's possible he will parallel the career of Roberto Alagna but any comparisons would be unfair since both singers bring in something different to the table. Let's hope the press doesn't pull the wool over our eyes and have Licitra and Alagna portrayed as rivals. If youre a fan of Licitra, this recording is a must have. I highly recommend it. It's gorgeous and he has a sexy, strong presence on stage. His eyes are the handsomest blue I have ever seen. He is the new Pavoratti and better too.