BWW Reviews: From Kaufmann and Florez to Beczala and Camarena, It's the Year of the Tenor

"The party's over," wrote Betty Comden & Adolph Green in BELLS ARE RINGING. "It's time to call it a day." The opera season at the Metropolitan said its farewells to 2013-2014 on May 10 with a bel canto doubleheader of Rossini's LA CENERENTOLA (a shot heard round the world via radio and The Met's LIVE IN HD) and Bellini's IL PURITANI--not a bad swan song, considering the singing talent involved.

With no disrespect to the great mezzo Joyce DiDonato or to notable Met debutante soprano Olga Peretyatko, it was the tenors in these operas that got much of the attention, specifically, Juan Diego Florez and the season's Cinderella singer, Javier Camarena, who preceded him in the run of the Rossini, and Lawrence Brownlee in the Bellini. They were part of a trend this year, of tenors who made audiences scream for more.

Tenors sell seats--particularly since the heyday of the Pavarotti-Domingo-Carreras triumvirate--because of their high notes. (What's a tenor without high notes? A baritone.) So it's no wonder that marketing organizations get behind the "next big thing"--even when it's to the detriment of the artist.

Let's take a look at how tenors fared this season:

Jonas Kaufmann. What is there to say? He's #1 these days, whether in Wagner, Massenet or Verdi. He also excited in his recital debut at Carnegie with German lieder. But his schedule looks a little sparse next year at the Met, other than a few Don Joses. Do whatever he wants, please.

Juan Diego Florez. The Met's first "King of the High Cs" since Pavarotti, Florez is an utterly winning and boyish performer, whether in LA FILLE DU REGIMENT, LE COMTE ORY or DON PASQUALE. His high notes were wonderful in LA CENERENTOLA, though one wonders what lots of RIGOLETTOs will wreak on them, as he moves away from bel canto.

Piotr Beczala. He thrilled as the Duke in the Met's "Ratpack" RIGOLETTO, Lenski in EUGENE ONEGIN and RUSALKA's fickle Prince. A cautious artist, he's moving into heavier roles, with UN BALLO IN MASCHERA next season, as well as IOLANTA with Netrebko.

Lawrence Brownlee. Brownlee was an audience favorite in I PURITANI and the opera's high F held no fear for him. Yet he seems a little placid when more ardor would do better. Still, the notes were there and that means a great deal.

Javier Camarena. Tenor Camarena had a great spring at the Met, as Elvino in Bellini's LA SONNAMBULA then stepping in for Florez in the first three performances of Rossini's LA CENERENTOLA. It took the Met way too long to bring him back after his notable debut in IL BARBIERE DI SIVIGLIA--let's see what they come up with as a follow up (and sooner rather than later, SVP).

Matthew Polenzani. It's easy to take Polenzani for granted, because he's around so much at the Met, but there's probably no one who is so consistent, role over role, whether LA TRAVIATA, MARIA STUARDA or L'ELIXIR D'AMORE. Look for him in LES CONTES D'HOFFMAN next year.

Roberto Alagna and Vittorio Grigolo. What's there to say about Alagna? He burst on the scene as "the Fourth Tenor," and has never lived up to the billing, for me at least. He did a fine job as Cavaradossi this season, though his schmaltz-quotient was awfully high--though nothing compared to Grigolo, who was so over-the-top in LA BOHEME that he was practically on another planet (a regular Mork from Ork), with a voice not up to Alagna's.

David Daniels. Okay he's a countertenor--but he's no bargain-counter tenor, as PDQ Bach used to say. All kidding aside, he's a wonderful artist.

Who to look forward to among the up-and-comers?

Stephen Costello. I liked what I heard last summer, when Costello headlined--along with mezzo Isabel Leonard and soprano Erin Morley--at the Met's concert in New York's Central Park. And he showed what a delightful performer he is at this year's Richard Tucker Award Gala, as Nemorino opposite his wife, soprano Ailyn Perez (he won the award in 2009, she in 2012). He hasn't had his big moment yet at the Met, so I reserve judgment on how his sweet voice and youthful charm translate in opera's equivalent of the Grand Canyon.

Michael Fabiano. Fabiano made some waves in the documentary, "The Audition" (a backstage looks at the Met's National Council Auditions), due to his fiery temperament, but has shown that he has the real stuff in good supporting roles--including Alfred in the Met's FLEDERMAUS, Cassio in OTELLO and Gennaro in LUCREZIA BORGIA (opposite Renee Fleming in San Francisco). He just won the Met's Beverly Sills Artist Award and the 2014 Richard Tucker--so when is he moving up a rank?

Yonghoon Lee. The Korean singer is doing DON CARLO at the Met next spring, in the role of his debut in 2010; he has a big, rich spinto voice, which is in short supply at the Met these days. Be on the lookout and hope for the best.

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Javier Camarena as Don Ramiro with Joyce DiDonato as Angelina (Cinderella) in LA CENERENTOLA.
Photo by Ken Howard/Metropolitan Opera.

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