Surrendering to your feet the public of the Teatro Real in Madrid, or the Maestranza in Seville or the Teatro de La Scala in Milan, does not have much secret. You go on stage with the exact cadence, you greet with exact emotion, you sing like angels, you return to greet without haste, as if the world had ended and there was nothing beyond, and you go home. The problem, of course, is that all this (especially singing like angels) is available to very few. One of the singers called to turn the theater in which he acts upside down is Javier Camarena.
The recital was great, vibrant; he was enveloped in the emotion and affection of an audience that surrenders at the singer’s feet even if he doesn’t go on stage with the exact cadence, or sing like angels or anything like that. In fact, in last Friday’s recital at the Teatro Real, Camarena started something hesitant, insecure and uncomfortable. The first two arias were only correct for this singer’s level. But for the record, whenever I talk about him, I think the same thing happens to Woody Allen with his cinema; the worst it does is extraordinary when compared to the best of others.
The first part of the concert included four French arias by Gounod, Lalo and Donizetti. In the second we enjoyed the voice of Javier Camarena interpreting arias by Donizetti and Rossini. The tenor rested while listening to the overtures of “Zampa” by Hérold, “La Belle Hélène” by Offenbach, “L’italiana in Algeri” by Rossini and “Roberto Devereux” by Donizetti, which the Titular Orchestra of the Teatro Real offered showing the best of himself with Iván López-Reynoso at the controls. Impetuous, almost fiery, and leaving more than interesting details such as the inputs of the brass when he played.
Javier Camarena is capable of sharpening his voice to an extreme that few have gone without having real problems. The cleanliness with which this tenor manages to interpret in the highest areas is impressive; but I don’t know if that is more shocking or the way it goes, as if nothing happened, from a velvety and exciting medium tone to the most extreme territory in both directions. Camarena is full of technique and talent in equal measure.
To top it off, the tenor offered a piece of tip that served as a tribute to the singer Armando Manzanero, who died of Covid-19. He was accompanied by Ángel Rodríguez on the piano. It is better not to sing that bolero entitled “Tonight I saw it rain” and that has been heard so many times since Manzanero composed it.
Madrid has been something of a paradise for singers, musicians and the public, for three days. Nowhere in the world (it is not a euphemism) is risking so much to save culture and what it represents. And, honestly, I think that part of the very long ovations that Camarena received were for the Royal Theater. By the way, and speaking of ovations, for completely opposite reasons, as I joined unconditionally in the warm and authentic applause of the audience, I thought about those acts that took place in the USSR and which Stalin attended. There, no one would stop applauding so that it would not seem that they were making the leader ugly and there were faints everywhere, due to fatigue and nervousness (some ended in a gulag). At Real de Madrid, nobody wanted to be the first to leave it, yes, out of absolute devotion.
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Program
FERDINAND HÉROLD (1791-1833)
Paw – Opening
CHARLES GOUNOD (1818-1893)
Romeo and Juliet – “Love! Love! … Ah! Rise, sun! ”
EDOUARD LALO (1823-1892)
The king of Ys – “Vainly, my beloved”
JACQUES OFFENBACH (1819-1880)
The beautiful Helene – Obertura
GAETANO DONIZETTI (1797-1848)
Dom Sébastien, King of Portugal – “Alone on earth”
Rita, or The Beaten Husband – “I’m as happy as a chaffinch”
PART II
GIOACHINO ROSSINI (1792-1868)
The Italian in Algiers – Obertura
“Oh, like the heart of jubilation”
Ricciardo and Zoraide – “If she is always faithful to me … What will the joy ever be”
GAETANO DONIZETTI (1797-1848)
Roberto Devereux – Overture
Don Pasquale – “Poor Ernesto! … I will look for a distant land … And if it turns out that to another object”
Roberto Devereux – “And still the terrible door … Like an angelic spirit”
“Wet the sen with tears”
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