On a musically busy late Sunday afternoon, a large audience gathered in the Elisabeth Murdoch Hall, Melbourne Recital Centre to hear for themselves the voice of Freddie De Tommaso. This British-Italian tenor has been grabbing headlines and recording contracts since he shot to fame in December 2021, jumping into the role of Cavaradossi after the first interval in the Royal Opera’s Tosca at the tender age of 28. In a meteoric rise, De Tommaso is appearing in concerts and operas at the major opera houses around Europe and in the United States.
The program for tenor voice and piano consisted mostly of Italian/Neapolitan songs and a few arias from the nineteenth century, but avoided the most “classic” of tenor showpieces. These lesser performed songs – many in the ever-popular Neapolitan style – gave De Tommaso ample opportunity to display a wide range of techniques in a shorter time than in most operatic arias.
The program began with Tosti’s “Marechiare” and all the articulation techniques, phrasing, crescendo, forte, diminuendo, pianissimo, and rubato were on show, in a Neapolitan song about a beautiful bay, where “when the moon comes out … even the fish are making love”.
De Tommaso spoke very little, and the program proceeded with the absence of surtitles or text in the programs. The focus was therefore on the vocal sound itself, and the effects he could create. The audience was spellbound, with not a sound from the auditorium – not even a cough. It was as though collective breath was being held to ensure that every note could be heard and every effect felt.
Di Capua’s “O sole mio” was not on the program, but his “I’ te vurria vasa” allowed De Tommaso to demonstrate exaggeration of expression with the characteristic “sob” associated with this style of tenor performance. It is strongly present in this tenor’s expressive range, and we heard it to great effect many times again throughout the program, particularly in the aria “Forse la soglia attinse … ma se m’è forza perderti” from Verdi’s Un Ballo in Maschera
From Puccini’s Tosca we heard “Recondita armonia”, and the performance of this aria gave De Tommaso the opportunity to move around the stage a little more, establishing a presence of character with body and voice. Pianist Kate Johnson provided an excellent piano reduction of the orchestral score. A member of the Opera Australia Music Staff, Johnson’s credentials as a pianist and repetiteur are extensive, and her sympathetic piano accompaniment was apparent throughout the program.
Puccini’s charming song “Sole e amore” contained considerable musical interest, with scope for contrasts and variation, which the singer again delivered in spades. It was an interesting and familiar contribution to the program, as Puccini reused the music later in La Bohème.
Immediately before the interval, De Tommaso introduced his wife, London based Australian soprano Alexandra Oomens to the stage. She has recently made her Opera Australia debut in Sydney as Despina in Cosi fan Tutte. Together, they performed the charming Cherry Duet from Mascagni’s L’amico Fritz. Singing of flowers and spring, the couple blended beautifully in a typical love duet.
Beginning the second half, Ponchielli’s “Cielo e mar” from La Gioconda, another love song and reflection on the beauty of sky and sea, allowed Freddie De Tommaso to perform the range of tenor effects leading to a thrilling ending.
More Tosti songs followed, with “L’alba sepàra della luce l’ombra” a highlight, with its very open flowing sound, rubato cadences, and a variety of techniques. Another Neapolitan song, “Passione”, made famous by the popular Neapolitan singer Vittorio Parisi in the 1930s, was thrilling in its romantic longing.
Musical sob story “Tu, ca nun chiagne!” by De Curtis (and made famous by Caruso) was an audience favourite, and De Tommaso announced that the final work on the program was one of his favourites to sing. Cardillo’s “Core ‘ngrato” was commissioned by Caruso, and provided perhaps the most passionate singing of the evening.
The very appreciative audience shouted and applauded their approval, so singer and pianist returned to perform an encore: Arthur Sullivan’s “The Lost Chord”. De Tommaso gave this his full voice, with the appropriate second verse contrast, the piano accompaniment tinkling at the very top of the range to give the effect of “the close of an angel’s psalm”. Reaching the climax we heard the full power of this rich and resonant tenor voice in his sustained top note.
While this was a popular concert with many of the audience members, and one that gave De Tommaso the opportunity to demonstrate his considerable wares, it seemed to me also perhaps a missed opportunity. It was as though we had stepped back in time to an old-fashioned recital where the audience was there to listen to the effectiveness of the artist, but not to take the journey with him. I would like to have followed the texts, or at least had more variety of language, period and style, and perhaps even to see how this tenor voice might be relevant to music of the twentieth or twenty-first centuries.
Nevertheless, in conversations after the concert, audience members were heard musing on whether De Tommaso was the next Pavarotti, Carreras or Domingo, or how he differed from Alagna or Kaufmann. Was he another Caruso or Di Stefano?
The human voice is the most fascinating of instruments. Each voice has a unique physiology determining the basic sound, but that sound can be manipulated to create “style” – the performer’s own style, and the stylistic conventions of the music being performed. Certainly Freddie De Tommaso has a wonderful sound now, but in this early stage of his career, there is ample time to further develop his personal style, and to apply the conventions of a range of music styles. Audiences will watch his progress with interest!
Photo supplied.
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Margaret Arnold reviewed “Freddie De Tommaso – Il Tenore in Concert”, presented by Opera Australia at the Melbourne Recital Centre, Elisabeth Murdoch Hall on August 18, 2024.
