Everyone knows tenor arias. Everyone knows the saxophone. But tenor arias with four saxophones and piano? That is where the adventure of behlcanto begins – the new album by Daniel Behle and the Alliage Quintett. The idea is as unusual as it is appealing: instead of a full opera orchestra, four saxophones and a piano take center stage. At times, they shine with a silky warmth like strings; at others, they burst forth with the virtuosity of brass. Alongside them, Daniel Behle – one of the most versatile tenors of our time – performs arias that every opera lover holds dear, and which here shine in entirely new colors. The program is a true showcase of tenor art: Offenbach’s mischievous “Air de Kleinzack” (sung in German), Bizet’s alluring Je crois entendre encore, Gounod’s poetic Salut! demeure chaste et pure, Donizetti’s legendary Ah! mes amis with its famous high Cs – all the way to Puccini’s Nessun dorma (sung in German: Keiner schlafe), which retains all its emotional power in this instrumentation. Added to this are brilliant pieces such as Rossini’s Danza, romantic moments by Verdi, Ponchielli or Halévy – and, for the finale, the indispensable ’O sole mio, revisited in a very “Hamburg” version. A true little treasure: the rediscovery of a canzone from Luigi Passatelli’s opera L’Ombra dell’Anima (1887–1925) – a culinary and musical surprise that is sure to pique curiosity