Album: Marcelo Alvarez, The Verdi Tenor (Decca)

The Argentinian tenor Marcelo Álvarez has been tipped as the successor to Pavarotti as the pre-eminent Verdi interpreter of his era, and as these Verdi arias demonstrate, he lacks none of the technical prowess that requires.,/p>

Indeed, there are distinct echoes of Pavarotti in Álvarez's "Oh! fede negar potessi", though he delivers with passion rather than power, before offering an empathic "Quando le sere al placido". Elsewhere, he negotiates the emotion of Manrico's deathly promise "Ah! si, ben mio" from Il Trovatore in measured manner, before wringing every last ounce of emotion out of the hero's death scene from Otello.

Download this: 'Niun mi tema', 'Oh! fede negar potessi', 'Quando le sere al placido', 'Ah! si, ben mio'