Michael Bolton—My Secret Passion: Live from Catania

When opera singers perform popular music—Broadway show tunes, for instance—the result isn't always pretty: the singers possess ample technique, but often miss the requisite style. But even these missteps are preferable to this attempt by crooner Michael Bolton to negotiate French and Italian arias by composers such as Puccini, Verdi, Leoncavallo, and Massenet at this 1998 concert showcasing his then-current CD My Secret Passion. Though Luciano Pavarotti reportedly encouraged Bolton, the results here are likely to sound awful to serious opera lovers: granted, Bolton hits most of the notes, but his tone is nasal and brash, and he occasionally resorts to the sort of vocal swooning that's fine in pop ballads but out of place here. Nor does Bolton seem to have much feeling for the words; even when he's joined by soprano Lucia Aliberti for a duet, there's little emotional connection between them. Julius Rudel, longtime conductor of the New York City Opera, heads up the Orchestra del Teatro Massimo Bellini in Catania, Italy, where the concert was taped (the performances of Bellini's Norma Overture and the Intermezzo from Mascagni's Cavalleria rusticana are good if not distinguished), and here supports Bolton as best he can, but the shots of him at the podium suggest a man who looks embarrassed at being involved in a travesty of his life's work. The only positive aspect of this disc—presented in Dolby Digital stereo—is that it may lead pop music listeners to investigate opera. Otherwise, this is not recommended. Aud: P. (F. Swietek)