Eye to eye
There is something moving in hearing an artist accustomed to large opera stages, with orchestra and choir and to open-air performances in front of crowds, supported by a masterful sound system, present himself at Bozar accompanied by a simple piano in a strictly acoustic performance, without a microphone. Alagna faces this exercise of quasi-Franciscan stripping with naturalness and simplicity. In form, the disparity of the program is surprising. Halfway between Mario Lanza and Luck at songs by the late Pascal Sevran, Alagna does his act and knows – probably better than anyone – how to increase the tension as the evening progresses.
The delicacy
Thus, this voice which resists the assaults of time and an increasingly heavy repertoire, settles cautiously in space, relying more willingly on the subtlety of the musician than on the insolence of his means. vocals. It was therefore with suave pianissimi that Alagna gained the public’s attention and it was in the elegance of his French operatic arias that he received his first cheers.
Beyond suffering, “An ocean of music”, to hold
In the second part – this time with an orchestra – a series of tarantellas and popular songs add to the excitement. The voice, which had taken refuge in a rich and colorful bass, begins to explore the empire of the high notes more frankly. The tenor opens the floodgates, the voice gains power and the insolence of the means ends up extracting a well-deserved standing ovation from the room.
In a single encore, Alagna invites the audience to sing and clap their hands. Questionable, this singing trick flirting with histrionics? Maybe. But isn’t it particularly spectacular to manage to distill treasures of musical subtlety into a program which only aims to entertain? This is, precisely, great art.
