“Marcelo Alvarez gave his usual passionate and thrilling performance … taking advantage of his beautiful voice by phrasing the musical lines with elegance.” Ingrid Haas This review excerpt, covering a recent Metropolitan Opera performance, is entirely typical of the acclaim that Alvarez – one of the supreme tenors of our time – consistently inspires in his many appearances worldwide. We at Delos offer this album as a richly deserved tribute to a legendary artist, now celebrating his twentieth year of distinguished operatic achievement. In this sterling collection of arias from mostly “Verismo” operas, Alvarez delivers electrifying accounts of both popular and lesser-known selections by masters like Puccini, Leoncavallo, Giordano, Mascagni and Massenet. You will also hear – possibly for the first time – a fascinating array of choice rarities by Verismo-era composers (Gomes, Cilea, Zandonai, and Halévy) who were prominent in their day, but whose music has since fallen into comparative neglect. Maestro Constantine Orbelian – leading the St. Petersburg State Symphony Orchestra – provides skillful and sensitive support.