Today, boys and girls, we are going to study the wonder that is Francisco Araiza. His singing career took off in the 1970s, and I first heard him in the 1980s, when I myself. was a student of singing. I recall the wonder with which I watched on TV as he sang Don Ramiro in La Cenerentola at the Salzburg Festival. I also recall the wonder with which I, studying in Salzburg that summer, saw on TV some feature about singers and athletes and medical exams--I don't recall exactly, and I'm not sure I understood at the time--and saw for a few moments his shirtless torso.
I have included him in earlier posts, but this is the first post dedicated to him. Here is his Wikipedia bio, and here is his web site (auf Deutsch). Now for the singing!
La Cenerentola, unspecified production, 1981:
Anna Bolena, Bregenz, 1986:
La Traviata, San Francisco, 1987, with Nelly Miriciou and Juan Pons--a backstage video of a performance:
Cujus animam from Mr. Rossini's Stabat Mater, 1980 film Rossini at Versailles:
Duet from La Boheme in a gala concert to celebrate his career of 40 years, Mexico City, 2011, with Joo-Hee Jung. He's 61 years old and still amazing:
1 comment:
I am also a voice student, and am completely amazed with Senor Araiza's artistry. My first voice teacher is a tenor, the present teacher a soprano specialising in lieder.
Araiza's masterclass in Bologna on Youtube gave me a lot of enlightenment. Then I started to 'find out' about his performances (forgive my prior ignorance - I was so full of Pavarotti, Domingo, Wunderlich et al).
To my amazement, there aren't many 'solo ablums' of Araiza as compared to the other three I mentioned! And even if he appeared in many recordings of concert and operatic performances, his recordings do not represent 50% of the roles and works he has sung!!!
My conclusion - this is a great singer and artist, but no way a man of the world, alas.
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