Grand Seigneur - arias pour baryton

Description

Baritone Nicola Alaimo, winner of the 2016 Abbiati Prize, is one of the leading singers of his generation and possesses extraordinary versatility that is fully expressed in this Donizetti recital. Honorable, heroic, and romantic characters come to life in Alaimo's interpretations, such as the tragic figure of Enrico, Duke of Chevreuse from Maria di Rohan, whose discovery that his wife is in love with his friend provokes the most intense feelings of all the solo passages in European opera of the time. An opera composer, says Donizetti, has a dual task: "to serve the situation" (with music that enhances the dramatic aspects) and "to help the artists shine." Today, the bel canto repertoire revolves essentially around the prima donna, and one immediately thinks of the great roles created for Pasta, Ronzi, Tacchinardi, etc. But Donizetti was equally, if not more, gifted at imagining new scenic/vocal configurations for tenors (Duprez was one of them) and especially for the lower registers: his collaboration with Luigi Lablache (bass) and later with Giorgio Ronconi (baritone, as it began to be called at the time) was crucial for the emergence of romantic opera. In the new distribution of roles, the tenor was the brave and unfortunate young man and the baritone was his powerful rival, a ruthless tyrant with an authoritative and insistent voice that relies on speech, but also a man in love and passionately lyrical with a soft singing that reaches the upper register; not without notable nuances of temperament and a certain intentional ambiguity. Giacomo Sagripanti conducts the orchestra and choir of the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino and the choir master is Lorenzo Fratini. Ohla Smokolina, soprano, Matteo Torcaso, baritone, and Matteo Mancini, baritone, also sing. The arias were recorded in October 2023.