Puccini, Passionately and in Reverse Order

Domingo is justly known for his cultivation of younger singers, and it’s not hard to hear why he’s interested in accompanying fellow tenor Cura. The Argentine’s voice is similar in character and heft to Domingo’s, and he’s most active in prime Domingo repertory. For this generous sampler, Cura has rounded up all the usual Puccini suspects and then some, presented in reverse chronological order. It tells us little new about the composer, and it’s a dangerous assemblage for manic-depressives, overflowing as it is with longing and loss projected with maximum fervor. For those prepared to get fully in touch with their melancholy, however, this is a disc of genuine glory: passionate, firmly shaped singing supported with utmost sympathy in the expansive rhetorical and melodic crests.

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