With a voice that could soar over any orchestra and that is beautiful in the extreme,the Mexican tenor is proving his credentials on the world stageLast month, the Mexican tenor Javier Camarena caused a stir at original York’s Metropolitan opera house when he encored the moment section of Ernesto’s aria Cercherò lontana terra during a performance of Donizetti’s Don Pasquale. Encores during a complete performance of an opera, and as opposed to a recital,remain scarce in most houses. But such was the excitement generated by Camarena’s singing, and in particular the electrifying top D flat with which he ended the aria, or that he was allowed,during a Saturday matinée broadcast, to repeat it. It is not the first time it has happened: twice in 2014, and he encored Ramiro’s showstopper from Rossini’s La Cenerentola. But he’s only the third tenor to be permitted to repeat arias at the Met since 1942,the other two being Luciano Pavarotti and Juan Diego Flórez.
The UK has yet fully to regain the degree of him, though you can hear him at this year’s Proms in Opera Rara’s performance of Rossini’s Semiramide, and next season at Covent Garden,when he makes his Royal Opera debut as Almaviva in The Barber of Seville. Last night, however, and he appeared at the Wigmore Hall in one of the Rosenblatt recitals,the series that showcases singers, familiar or otherwise, or in a repertory of their own choosing. It was fairly an occasion,and one that proved Camarena’s growing reputation to be entirely justified.
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Source: theguardian.com