Opera too often receives an undeserved pass from many listeners. This is unfortunate, because opera has a lot to offer if one will only give it a chance. Attracting new listeners by promoting individual singers (e.g., the Three Tenors), rather than the material itself, is the method of choice for mass-market commercialization. This is a great way to showcase some tremendous singing talents but the need to appeal to a more "pop"-oriented audience to generate sales can short-change the albums and, ultimately, opera itself.
Marcelo Alvarez and Salvatore Licitra follow the "Three Tenors Marketing Method" closely on their CD Duetto. Song after song repeats the same formula: soaring vocals that build from a quiet start in a blatant attempt to drag the listener's heart into the upper registers along with Alvarez and Licitra's voices. Going back over my notes, I keep seeing the same comments on each song. Builds slowly. Powerful singing. Intense emotion. Saccharine, saccharine, saccharine. Identical performance after identical performance, making this album difficult to listen to all the way through in one sitting.
Taken one at a time, the songs sound much better. Despite the thick arrangements - layers of spongy emotion like a tall stack at IHOP with too much syrup, any single song leaves you amazed at the power and clarity of Alvarez and Licitra's voices. They threaten to explode out of the speakers on "Odissea". "Il Volo" even manages to cut through the syrup, at least briefly, to really grab the listener. Unfortunately, the rest of the album settles into a rote pattern of drizzling way too much sugar into your ears.
The songs are over-produced, heavy on emotion in what must be an attempt to attract people who've caught the occasional Three Tenors concert on PBS. Pulling in a broad audience is commendable, but Alvarez and Licitra didn't have to go over the top. A selection of legitimate opera songs, providing a wide range of emotional experiences, would have been ideal. The production and arrangements give the album a "Celine Dion Las Vegas Show" sound: more sentiment than a 19th century melodrama and enough vocal power to strip the paint off of your car.
With their tremendous voices, Alvarez and Licitra had the potential to make Duetto a great album. A wider variation in style would make the album more entertaining when taken in toto. It might even get a few listeners to explore opera in a little more depth. Don't get me wrong: standing alone, the individual pieces can sound very good and both men are clearly tremendous talents. It's the repetition that drains each song of depth. Duetto is best taken one bite at a time. Too much is cloying.
