Emiliano Gonzalez Toro pays tribute to Francesco Rasi in Avignon – News
Musique Baroque en Avignon, in co-production with the Opéra Grand Avignon, presents a concert by Swiss tenor of Chilean origin Emiliano González Toro at the Lambert Collection Auditorium, accompanied by the Ensemble I Gemelli which he founded in 2018:
As he specifies at the very beginning of the concert, the theme of this rare program is love, in its different forms: upset, tickled, flamboyant. The theme is therefore common but varied and above all concentrated around the tenor Francesco Rasi, emblematic figure of Baroque music in Italy and mythical creator of the Orfeo of Monteverdi. Francesco Rasi having been a composer and singer, pieces he composed and performers are brought together in this program, with Monteverdi, CacciniHere, Falconieri notably.
Emiliano Gonzalez Toro does not take long to show his great musical personality, which he deploys with this tribute by opening the concert with a composition by Francesco Rasi, O che felice giorno. The voice is immediately wide and warm with a velvety timbre, with nuanced vocals and very delicately neat phrasing.
He presents his pieces as he goes along, combining the interest of his interventions with a very present sense of humor, which also involves the members of the ensemble, which contributes to making the show very pleasant from start to finish. fin. He is also very extroverted, and displays great wit during his speeches. His interpretation on stage is very passionate and versatile, even managing to interpret two totally distinct characters in Un di soletto (Jacopo Peri), with its little touch of humor. Its vocal quality remains complete until the end, with piano very well executed, sonorous bass (similar rather to the bass of a baritone), a color that he keeps up to the treble, as well as very agile and chiseled vocalizations, especially in the service of Monteverdi.
The tenor is accompanied by his ensemble I Gemelli, represented for the occasion by three young musicians. Louise Pierrard on the viola da gamba, Marie-Domitille Murez on the harp and Nacho Laguna Navarro on the theorbo who each have their solo moment, repertoire together the tenor, who discreetly directs, through sober gestures, breaths and his voice same. Very attentive to the lead singer, their very conscientious interpretation and adapted to the inflections of the voice, produce a very homogeneous sound but their playing knows how to overflow with delicacy and elegance, with well-defined phrases.
After long applause and the acclamation of the Avignon public, the tenor and the musicians reward the grateful and enthusiastic public, by referring the evening as an encore with Lover Felice by Giovanni Stefani.