After five years of absence, Javier Camarena returned to the Colón Theater and was applauded

Javier Camarena returned to performing at the Colón Theater after five years, together with the pianist Ángel Rodríguez and the soprano Alyson Rosales, and gave everything.

His pristine voice, however, exhibited signs of fatigue. Perhaps it was something titanic to face a recital a few days after acting in the opera The Elixir of Love in the same theater, with intermediate rehearsals, e recently recovered from covid. The corollary of the overexertion was the unsuccessful triple ending O sweet girl (La Bohème)by Puccini, at the end of the recital.

In any case, Camarena’s reserve of resources was enough to professionally compensate for the journey of a program that had an Italian repertoire in the first part and a French repertoire in the second (except for the closing with three arias by Puccini).

True artistic bet

It is reserved for this acciar (The Capulets) De Bellini opened the recital, and it was not just a letter of introduction of his virtuosity, with its well-known and epic high notes, but a real artistic commitment that managed to avoid vocal performance on music.

In Gentle Spirit (Favorite) by Donizetti, the vocal virtuosity was once again on par with the dramatic interpretation, with a nice legate, as well as his phrasing and bright high register.

Support for the little ones

The artistic quality of the tenor Xalapa is on par with his generosity, as his own demonstrates constant support for young singers by inviting them to participate in their recitals.

In the first part, the young people and the talented Alyson Rosales joined her sweet voice in the recitative Here I am in happy dressfollowed by the famous aria Oh, how many times (I Capulets)and displayed some of his musical virtues, most notably good breath and easy handling of coloratura.

The pulsating and vibrant bel canto melodies have given way to a more dramatic perspective with Verdi’s music. Both artists joined the duo Paris, oh dear we will leave (La Traviata)with beautiful phrasing and conveyed an intense repressed emotion. Rosales unreservedly provided all the vocal virtuosity required.

the cavatina My happiness to instill (I Lombardi …) closes the first part of the recital, with a successful crescendo that Camarena manages from an impassive beginning to a grandiose ending.

The second part

Less impressive was the start of the second part with the artist on stage waiting for the audience in the stalls to settle down after the intermission. The tenor took it with humor and then offered an intimate and intense version of Vainement, ma bien-aimée ”by Le Roy d’Ys (Lalo).

Elegant and refined, Camarena knows how to exploit the color of the French language and she wore her beautiful velvet ring in the long lines that the world manages to keep quite naturally. The same ease with which it emits extreme highs with a softness at the limit of audible.

The climax of the second part came with the moving dramatic intensity of Je suis seul! … Ah! fuyez, double image (Manon)by Massenet, and with the interpretative force of Rosales in Bye! That Frisson court dans mes veines “(Gounod)which fascinated from the first to the last note.

The concert ends with three Puccini arias (What a frozen hand, Yes, they call me Mimi, O sweet girl). The audience who filled the room thanked the delivery of both artists with long applause. The evening ended with the audience standing, and the five encore arrived: the Neapolitan song In Vucchella (Arietta Di Posillipo)Bolero The frankness, the returnin which he invited the audience to sing, cute doll Y Rum raisin.

The pianist Ángel Rodríguez deserves a separate paragraphwith all the beauty of its line and its sound, and a subtle solo intervention with its own arrangement – even an encore – of Bizet’s Habanera (Carmen).

File

Very good

Interpreters: Javier Camarena (tenor), Angelo Rodriguez (piano), Alyson Rosales (guest soprano).

Teatro Colón, Saturday 30 July.

CJL