Il ritorno di Pepito al Metropolitan

Monday night at the Met, the queens were out in force, lorgnettes at the ready, hoping to catch a glimpse of José Cura's goods. And it's true: He has the largest one I've ever seen.

I meant his tallit, you skank.

From Newsday, a review of the Met's Samson et Dalila by vilaine fille alter ego Marion Lignana Rosenberg.

On disc, an excellent place to start for Samson et Dalila is Maria Callas's first program of French arias. She never approved her recording of "Mon cœur s'ouvre à ta voix" (released after her death) because she obviously struggles to support the aria's lowest notes. Even so, her silken phrasing and quiet but devastating sensuality make it one of the very best things she set down. Callas's renditions of "Printemps qui commence" and "Amour! Viens aider ma faiblesse" are also wonderful.

Vickers/Gorr/Prêtre is the classic recording of Samson et Dalila, though David Hurwitz excoriated EMI's latest transfer of it. He praised a 1946 set under Louis Fourestier, now on my to-buy list.

And for Pepito?

   

In his complete Samson, led by Sir Colin Davis and featuring the imperious and lush-toned Dalila of Olga Borodina, Pepito is very fine—devout and less wayard than what I heard Monday night at the Met. "Anhelo," a program of Argentinian songs by Ginastera, Guastavino, Piazzolla, and others, is a vilaine fille desert-island disc. Pepito scales down that "vocione" of his and sings with the grace and soul of a poet. (Everyone for whom I've played "Anhelo" has eventually bought it.) While "Anhelo" is a collection of chamber songs, "Boleros" is an unabashed pop record—and a mighty fine one at that. I reviewed it back in 2002 (a lifetime ago).

I much admire Pepito's dark, brooding Des Grieux in the DG Manon Lescaut, masterfully conducted by Riccardo Muti. But it's only for les inconditionnels, given the blowsy and unidiomatic singing of Maria Guleghina and the availability of two surpassingly great Manon Lescaut recordings: Freni/Domingo under Sinopoli (DG) and Albanese/Bjoerling under Perlea (RCA).