Francesco Meli
WORLD OPERA STARS
Those Magnifi cent Men On The High Cs
Just like “soprano”, “alto”, or “bass”, the word “tenor” comes from Latin (from the verb “tenere” – to hold) and refers neither to the voice’s compass nor potential, but to its position in the four-part harmony system. The tenor is the central voice which “holds” the leading theme of a piece, while other voices draw their arabesques around it. As a matter of fact, we still talk about the “tenor” of somebody’s statement (its contents and meaning)… Thus, there are no extremities, no display; on the contrary, “tenor” is the golden mean, it is peace and temperance.
Piotr Kamiński
1. Ignacy Feliks Dobrzyński Overture to Monbar czyli Flibustierowie (Monbar, or the Filibusters)
2.Matteo Salvi (?)* Marcello’s aria Inosservato penetrava – Angelo casto e bel from Act 4 of Il Duca d’Alba (The Duke of Alba)
3.Stanisław Moniuszko Kotylion, ballet music from Hrabina (The Countess)
4.Gaetano Donizetti Nemorino’s aria Quanto é bella from Act 1 of L’Elisir d’amore (The Elixir of Love)
5.Gaetano Donizetti Roberto’s aria Ed ancor la tremenda porta from Act 3 of Roberto Devereux
6.Gaetano Donizetti Edgardo’s aria Tombe degl’avi miei from Act 3 of Lucia di Lammermoor
7.Giuseppe Verdi Manrico’s aria Ah si, ben mio from Act 3 of Il Trovatore (The Troubadour)
8.Giuseppe Verdi Riccardo’s aria Forse la soglia attinse from Act 1 of Un Ballo in maschera (A Masked Ball)
9.Giuseppe Verdi Oronte’s aria La mia letizia infondere from Act 2 of I Lombardi (The Lombards)
10.Giuseppe Verdi Rodolfo’s aria Quando le sere al placido from Act 2 of Luisa Miller
*aria erroneously attributed to Gaetano Donizetti
Producer – Wojciech Nentwig
Sound Engineer, mastering – Andrzej Solczak
Booklet edited by Anna Plenzler
Translated by Waldemar Łyś
Photograph of Francesco Meli by Mika Ceron
Photograph of Łukasz Borowicz by Marcin Kuran
Photographs of Piotr Kamiński and Poznań Philharmonic Orchestra by Antoni Hoffmann
Recorded at Adam Mickiewicz University Auditorium in Poznań on 11 December 2009 during concert Gwiazdy Światowych Scen Operowych (World Opera Stars) series