Ave Maria (Limited Deluxe Version)＜完全生産限定盤＞

「パヴァロッティの再来」「ヴィラゾンの後継者」などと考えられる限り最大の賛辞を贈られ、その甘いマスクがオペラ・ファンの心をとらえて離さないヴィットリオ・グリゴーロ。ソニー・クラシカルへの3枚目は、ヴァティカンのシスティーナ礼拝堂の合唱団で歌い始めたというグリゴーロの音楽のルーツともいえる美しい宗教曲のアリアを収めた充実のアルバムです。 シューベルト「アヴェ・マリア」、フランク「天使のパン」、モーツァルト「アヴェ・ヴェルム・コルプス」など、グリゴーロがシスティーナ時代に繰り返し歌い、自分の心に最も近いところにある名曲を核に、クリスマスの時期にふさわしい静謐でスピリチュアルな歌を収録。輝かしい美声だけでなく、敬虔な祈りさえ感じられる、さらにヴィットリオの魅力を堪能できるアルバムに仕上がっています。共演は、自らが所属していたシスティーナ礼拝堂合唱団とローマ・シンフォニエッタ管弦楽団。指揮のチェローニは、グリゴーロが合唱団に所属していた時の同僚で、現在はバイエルン国立歌劇場の副指揮者をつとめています。
ソニー・ミュージック

Italian tenor Vittorio Grigolo has been touted as the next Pavarotti, or perhaps as the next Andrea Bocelli. Neither description is really apposite. He has nowhere near the musicality of Pavarotti, but what he does have, unlike Bocelli, is power in reserve. Grigolo has aimed his music squarely at the large crossover segment of the British classical market, and he has experienced rapidly ballooning success. Here, he moves mostly to the classical side with a well-worn selection of short sacred pieces. There's nothing here to dismay the followers Grigolo has accumulated so far with the likes of his recording of West Side Story with Hayley Westenra (to whose fans this release is heartily recommended), but he does get to stretch his voice out a bit. The results are mixed. The sound does not vary much from piece to piece, from text to text, or even from phrase to phrase, but there is no question that it's a voice that's enjoyable to hear. It promptly enters the head register and stays there, resulting in a sound that loses none of its pure power while adding a bit of resonance and just a hint of noise. There is every chance that you will fall in love with Grigolo on first hearing him, although there are plenty of singers who can do more even within the relatively restricted set of materials he gets to work with here. By all means, if you're hooked on Grigolo, pick the available deluxe version of this release, which includes Schubert's Ave Maria (one might have thought this a natural for the standard version, but perhaps the intent was to push the faithful toward the higher profit margin), along with full lyrics.