Pene Pati
Nessun dorma
Pene Pati (tenor), Amina Edris (soprano) (5, 12, 17), Amitai Pati (tenor) (6, 11, 17), Matthieu Arama (solo violin) (2, 18), Chœur de L’Opéra National de Bordeaux (1, 6), Orchestre National Bordeaux Aquitaine/Emmanuel Villaume
rec. 2023 and 2024, Auditorium de l’Opéra National de Bordeaux, France
Sung texts enclosed but no translations.
Reviewed as 16-44 WAV download
Warner Classics 5419 789771 [84]
Samoan-born Pene Pati began his singing career with his brother and a baritone cousin in Auckland, New Zealand, where he grew up. They sang in a light music genre and became very popular, with a couple of best-selling albums, but he also studied with Dennis O’Neill in Cardiff. After winning several competitions, including the second prize and the audience prize at Plácido Domingo’s Operalia competition in 2015, he dared to embark on an operatic career. He sang his first role, the Duke of Mantua in Rigoletto in San Francisco in 2017 to great acclaim. He was then already 30, and after that his international career rapidly developed. In 2022, he released his first opera recital, which was hailed by the critics, and this is the sequel, somewhat unimaginatively (or maybe commercially attractively) titled “Nessun dorma”. His voice doesn’t exactly belong to the heroic/dramatic category of Del Monaco or Corelli but rather to the light, lyrical, bel canto type, ideal for Mozart, Bellini, Donizetti. His reading of the Puccini hit is also very lyrical, nuanced and beautiful. He also turns out to have the heft and glow for the great climax – even if I don’t think he should sing the whole role very often, if at all.
Faust is more his home ground, and as expected he sings the cavatina very softly and lyrically, without making heavy weather of the high C. He just sings it as in passing, at mezza forte, and making an elegant diminuendo – just as prescribed by the composer. He shuns the opening recitative, since this is the original 1858 version of the aria. In compensation, he sings the established version with recitative as a bonus track at the end of the recital. But in the first run he sings the highly dramatic and intense cabaletta that was cut before the premiere in 1858, and has never before been recorded.
Manon is another opera he seems to be cut out for, and the church aria, as it is sometimes called, from Act III, is really beautifully performed. Even lovelier is the Cherry Duet from Mascagni’s L’amico Fritz, where he is partnered by his wife Amina Edris in the role of Suzel. She is an excellent singer, and they perform the duet so disarmingly simply and conversationally.
Also included are two short excerpts sung by Macduff in the last act of Verdi’s Macbeth, but strangely they are separated and presented in reverse order, even though in the opera one immediately follows the other. Whoever decided the track order seems to have been unaware of the story. Anyway, he sings beautifully and, in the scene with Malcolm and the chorus, he is joined by his brother Amital Pati. After a beautifully sung Nature immense from Berlioz’ La damnation de Faust, he returns to Massenet, this time Werther. At the premiere, the title role was sung by the dramatic tenor Ernest Van Dyck, who was one of the most prominent Wagner singers of his time. Today it is often allocated to lyrical singers like Nicolai Gedda and Alfredo Kraus, whose recordings, both made long ago, are among the most recommendable. Pene Pati’s reading of Pourquoi me réveiller is in their class. Donizetti’s five-act grand opera Dom Sebastien, Roi de Portugal, his last before he went insane, has never established itself in the standard repertoire. One reason may reside in a critic’s description of it as “a funeral in five acts”. But Dom Sebastien’s aria in the second act, Seul sur la terre, better known perhaps under its Italian title Deserto in terra, has been a popular encore for tenors since the earliest days of the gramophone record. Caruso recorded it in 1908, for instance, and many have since followed him. Pati sings it with perfect legato, but there are patches of strain on some of the highest notes. The role was written for the legendary Gilbert Duprez, who was also the first Edgardo in Lucia di Lammermoor in 1835 and later also premiered Fernand in La favorite in 1840.
Rodolfo in Puccini’s La bohème gets a typically nuanced reading, sung with both warmth and glow; the high C is brilliant and the concluding pianissimo is subtle. A couple of rarities follow. Mercadante was a successful composer during the first half of the 19th century, but his appeal has paled. Today he is a rare guest in both opera houses and recording studios, so this dramatic scene from the first act of il bravo is a fine reminder of his existence. It is a vital reading with assistance by his brother – but I wonder if the role is healthy for his vocal cords. Ernest Guiraud is an even more obscure composer, remembered primarily for the recitatives to Bizet’s Carmen and for completing Offenbach’s Les contes d’Hoffmann, but he also composed about a dozen operas of his own – though with limited success. His last opera, Frédégonde, was left unfinished when he died in 1892. The first three acts were orchestrated by his friend Paul Dukas, and the remaining two acts were completed and orchestrated by Camille Saint-Saëns. Pati shows strong theatrical insight and his wife is an excellent Brunhilda; interesting to hear, but hardly an unfairly forgotten masterwork. More to my taste is Ange si pur from La favorite, another Duprez aria, as above. Javier Camarena impressed greatly in the recent complete recording (review), but Pene Pati challenges him and his legato is impeccable. A third Duprez role follows: Edgardo in Lucia di Lammermoor, normally sung by lirico-spintos like Carlo Bergonzi, who has been my ideal for many years, but occasionally purely lyrical singers have taken on the role, Alfredo Kraus among them. Using him as a yardstick, this is a fully valid reading of the final scene – and Pati certainly has glow. Halevy’s La Juive, premiered at the Paris Opéra in 1835, was one of the greatest successes worldwide during the 19th century, and famously became Caruso’s last new role and was also his last performance at the Met. It continued to be played there until the mid-1930s, but then it disappeared completely for a long time, and has only rarely been revived. Éléazar’s aria Rachel! Quand du seigneur is what we normally hear today, whether with Caruso or other tenors, including Richard Tucker, who in the 1970s recorded an LP with excerpts, where he was partnered by Martina Arroyo and Anna Moffo. The only studio recording is with Carreras (review). Here, we hear a long dramatic scene from the second act with Pati, his wife Edris and his brother Amitai – so it is a real family affair!
And the bonus track, a reprise of the Faust cavatina, knits together the beginning and the end of this long and adventurous recital. That Pene Pati is a talented tenor far beyond the ordinary is very obvious, and I hope he doesn’t feel the temptation to take on too heavy roles too early. Those who haven’t heard his debut recital are advised to give this disc a listen. Those who have will know what to expect.
Göran Forsling
Buying this recording via a link below generates revenue for MWI and helps us keep free access to the site
Contents
Giacomo Puccini (1858–1924)
Turandot
1 “Nessun dorma!” (Calaf · chorus / Act III)
Charles Gounod (1818–1893)
Faust (1858 version)
2 “Salut! demeure chaste et pure” –
3 “Et toi, malheureux Faust … C’est l’enfer qui t’envoie” (Faust / Act III) *
Jules Massenet (1842–1912)
Manon
4 “Je suis seul! … Ah! fuyez, douce image” (Des Grieux / Act III)
Pietro Mascagni (1863–1945)
L’amico Fritz
5 “Suzel, buon dì!” (Cherry Duet: Fritz · Suzel / Act II)
Giuseppe Verdi (1813–1901)
Macbeth
6 “Dove siam? … La patria tradita” (Malcolm · chorus · Macduff / Act IV)
Hector Berlioz (1803–1869)
La Damnation de Faust
7 “Nature immense” (Faust / Part IV)
Jules Massenet
Werther
8 “Traduire! Ah! bien souvent … Pourquoi me réveiller” (Werther / Act III)
Gaetano Donizetti (1797–1848)
Dom Sébastien, Roi de Portugal
9 “Seul sur la terre” (Dom Sébastien / Act II)
Giacomo Puccini
La Bohème
10 “Che gelida manina” (Rodolfo / Act I)
Saverio Mercadante (1795–1870)
Il bravo
11 “Non sai tu che non avrai” (Il bravo · Pisani / Act I)
Ernest Guiraud (1837–1892)
orch. Paul Dukas (1865–1935)
Frédégonde
12 “Nous partirons ce soir!” (Brunhilda · Mérowig / Act II)
Gaetano Donizetti
La Favorite
13 “La maîtresse du roi!…
14 Ange si pur” (Fernand / Act IV)
Lucia di Lammermoor
15 “Tombe degli avi miei … Fra poco a me ricovero” (Edgardo / Act III)
Giuseppe Verdi
Macbeth
16 “O figli miei! … Ah, la paterna mano” (Macduff / Act IV)
Fromental Halévy (1799–1862)
La Juive
17 “Tu possèdes, dit-on” (Eudoxie · Éléazar · Léopold / Act II)
Bonus
Charles Gounod
Faust
18 “Quel trouble inconnu me pénètre! … Salut! demeure chaste et pure” (Faust / Act III)
