Rolando Villazón / Ildar Abdrazakov DUETS

The history of recording boasts a long and glorious tradition of duet albums – think of the pairings of Maria Callas and Giuseppe di Stefano, Luciano Pavarotti and Mirella Freni, and Plácido Domingo and Leontyne Price, to name but a few illustrious collaborators. Rolando Villázon himself has already joined forces with one stellar partner in the studio – he and Anna Netrebko released their duet album ten years ago.

The French-Mexican star tenor’s latest recording is devoted to a much less well-known operatic repertoire than that for tenor and soprano. This time he teamed up with Russian bass Ildar Abdrazakov, here making his Deutsche Grammophon debut, to record a collection of duets for two male voices. The two singers have known each other for some years now, having first appeared on stage together in a production of Lucia di Lammermoor in 2009. Abdrazakov is one of the most sought-after basses of his generation, as confirmed by a quick glance at his schedule: Méphisto (Faust) at the Salzburg Festival, Philip II (Don Carlos) in Munich and at La Scala, Milan, Escamillo (Carmen) in Paris, Figaro (Le nozze di Figaro) at the Met in New York – the list goes on and on.

Together he and Villazón put together a programme of stylistically diverse scenes from operas by Bizet, Boito, Donizetti, Gounod and Verdi. Among their choices are classics such as “Au fond du temple saint” from Bizet’s Les Pêcheurs de perles – perhaps the most famous tenor-baritone duet of all – and less familiar excerpts such as “Son lo spirito che nega” from Boito’s rarely performed Mefistofele.

The week-long recording sessions took place in a church in Montreal. Although the workload was intense, all the participants were brimming with admiration for one another. Rolando Villazón has spoken in glowing terms about Abdrazakov’s “chocolatey and characterful voice” and his “outstanding technique”, while conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin is full of praise for the two singers: “They were so perfectly in tune. Naturally, the two of them have very different voices, but their colours blended together wonderfully. It was truly beautiful to hear!”

The album ends with two special musical treats – tributes to the two singers’ home countries. And Villazón and Abdrazakov prepared for their duet versions of Mexican composer Agustín Lara’s celebrated Granada and the Russian folk song Ochi Chernye (Dark eyes) by giving each other a few lessons in Spanish and Russian respectively! (Deutsche Grammophon)