Jonas Kaufmann and Ludovic Tézier recorded nine tenor-baritone duets, released on a Sony Classics disc in June 2022. Insieme translates from Italian as together. The two singers are friends who have often performed together hence the title. The master of the tenor-baritone duet was Verdi. Accordingly, seven of the selections are by him.

The CD starts with the Act 4 duet from La bohème between Rodolfo and Marcello; it’s the only such duet Puccini ever wrote. He was much more interested in the interactions of his sopranos and tenors. The two men bemoan the sad state of their love life.

The second duet is from the first act of Ponchielli’s La Gioconda. The villainous Barnaba, a precursor to Iago, ostensibly offers to help the tenor, Enzo Grimaldo, elope with the wife of one of Venice’s inquisitors. When Enzo leaves Barnaba denounces him to the Inquisition.

The remaining seven duets are from Les vêpres siciliennes (2), Don Carlos, La forza del destino (3), and Otello. The Otello excerpt starts from ‘Ora per sempre addio’ and moves to ‘Era la notte’, concluding with the blood oath duet.

The level of performance is very high though some of the sheen has worn off from Kaufmann’s voice – he’s now on the downside of 50. When he sings in full voice the sound is not as rich as it was before the vocal crisis he had from a bleeding vein on one of his vocal chords in 2016. He also tends to shade his dynamic range more than is necessary. He’s very good at modulating his dynamics but does it more often than the music requires or than he did earlier in his career. Sometimes he gets close to crooning. See the example below.

Tézier has a beefy baritone which he uses to great effect. Though not as big a star as Kaufmann he’s good enough to add distinction to any performance in which he appears.

Antonio Pappano conducted the Orchestra of the Accademia di Santa Cecilia, Rome. His conducting was idiomatic and sensitive. He’s a maestro who is always aware and responsive to the singers’ needs.

Who is this disc for? If you’re a fan of Kaufmann’s singing you’ll likely want this recital. Also, it’s nice to have the great Verdi tenor-baritone duets available in one place. If you subscribe to a music streaming site like Spotify listening to this program is a no-brainer.

I wrote above that I thought Kaufmann was overusing his admitted skill at piano singing. This is mostly a matter of taste, but here’s Kaufmann singing ‘Che gelida manina’ from a 2021 performance. It’s followed by Giuseppe Di Stefano’s 1951 recording of the same aria. Di Stefano was a master of piano singing. I think Di Stefano’s soft singing is seamless and better integrated into the flow of the music. Listen to both and see if you find a meaningful difference between the two interpretations and if you agree or not with my criticism.

Kaufmann Che gelida manina
Di Stefano Che gelida manina

Insieme – Opera Duets

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