Word: debutants
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
Pavarotti, 63, celebrated the 30th anniversary of his Met debut last month with a gala performance that showed him to be physically unsteady (he underwent hip- and knee-replacement surgery earlier this year) and vocally worn. As for Domingo, 57, who celebrated his 30th year at the Met in September, his exit strategy has never been a secret: he is gradually kicking himself upstairs. Already in charge of the Washington Opera, he will also be taking over as artistic director and co-manager of the L.A. Opera...
...have had about as much luck as Joan Rivers had in giving Johnny Carson the push. Roberto Alagna, 34, was heavily promoted by EMI as "the tenor of our generation" (a not so subtle dig at the advanced ages of Pavarotti and Domingo), but he had a rocky Met debut three seasons ago and is looking increasingly like an also-ran. Andrea Bocelli, 40, the hugely popular blind Italian tenor, is unlikely to parlay the success of his best-selling CDs into a serious stage career; aside from the practical problems caused by his blindness, it is widely thought that...
...minority of opera buffs, though, which is where Jose Cura and Marcelo Alvarez come in. Alvarez, 36, is a light lyric tenor whose high notes are fresh sounding and secure; Cura, 36, is a weightier lirico-spinto with an impressive touch of baritonal muscle. Alvarez made his Met debut last month in Franco Zeffirelli's bloated new production of La Traviata, in which his engaging singing was overshadowed by the spectacularly vivid Violetta of Patricia Racette. Cura's turn comes with next season's opening night, when he will be sharing a double bill with his mentor, Domingo (Cura stars...
...Bryn's the one who has all of the goods," he says. "He's the natural successor." A charismatic actor with a voice of bronze, Terfel, 33, also has the popular touch without which no classical singer can become a full-fledged superstar; at his 1996 Carnegie Hall recital debut, he actually led the delighted audience in a sing-along version of Flanders and Swann's Hippopotamus Song...
...ballad E-Mail My Heart, indeed deliver a sugar high, and may well win over the very same crowd that goes for tot-pop acts like the Spice Girls and Brandy. But ultimately not enough of this album excites, involves or surprises. Like youth itself, the pleasures of this debut are fleeting...