Review by Jonathan Teitelman – The Great Puccini

As one of the first dazzling harbingers of the Puccini year to come, Jonathan Teitelman releases his second solo album, dedicated entirely to the Tuscan maestro: performances of “The Great Puccini”, as well as, above all, Teitelman’s complete singing ability. That the aspiring tenor is not afraid of competition (a…recording a pure Puccini program requires courage given the diverse range of recordings), and one is not afraid of direct comparison with the great tenors of the past. The album title itself, with its reference to the 1951 documentary “The Great Caruso”, tempts us to compare it with the same album (while the CD cover suggests more of a reference to “The Great Gatsby”). But Teitelman can certainly handle this. The American with Chilean roots makes Puccini’s great moments shine intensely in the arias, duets and trios of “Turandot”, “Tosca” and “Manon Lescaut”, but also in rarer songs such as “Il Tabaro” or “Le Fille”. As powerful and astonishing as her old-school tenor role model, yet at the same time unaffected, passionate and modern. Pure fun. It’s a shame that the accompanying orchestra can’t always keep up.

The great Puccini
Puccini’s works

Federica Lombardi, Marina Monzo and Vida Meknevici (soprano), Rihab Chaib (mezzo-soprano), Jonathan Teitelman (tenor), Theodor Platt (baritone), Unai Kos (bass), PKF – Prague Philharmonia, Carlo Rizzi (conductor)
German gramophone