Star tenor Roberto Alagna and his wife, Polish soprano Aleksandra Kurzak, have made the most poignant duets from Puccini’s operas the focus of their first collaborative album, Puccini in Love. The albumfeatures excerpts from Manon Lescaut, La Fanciulla del West, Madame Butterfly, Il tabarro and, of course, La bohéme. The performances are brimming over with passion and powerful emotions, brilliantly composed for voice and orchestra. Each of Puccini’s operas possesses its own basic color. This is evident in the music on this new album. A common trait of all the works is that Puccini was a genius at inventing melodies – music which is both accessible and artistic and repeatedly won over the hearts millions.

REVIEWS:

There is a lot of pleasure to be had from this disc, which finds Alagna, now approaching his late fifties, in mainly excellent voice, though he tends toward loudness throughout. He is, however, an intelligent artist making the most of his words. The same can be said of Kurzak, though she tends to be the nymph/seducer, both in her vocalising and in the accompanying pictures.

– BBC Music Magazine

Alagna’s Italianate timbre and open-hearted, open-throated sound is ideal. Characterization is limited, although their singing is never less than lovely. Bohème’s ‘O soave fanciulla’ is ideal, though, with a beautifully floated final note from Kurzak, and they save the very best until last: a glorious Butterfly love duet that is both tender and ardent.

– Gramophone