David Cangelosi brings a vivid physicality and penetrating tenor to the four servant roles.
Opera Review: The Tales of Hoffamnn, Santa Fe Opera
Scott Cantrell, Dallas Morning News
I was impressed with the energy and physicality of David Cangelosi as the four servants as well. Cangelosi stole the whole show.
Opera Review: The Tales of Hoffmann, Santa Fe Opera
Out West Arts
(Kate) Lindsey needed all the considerable athleticism at her command in this production, as did the intelligent, capable tenor David Cangelosi as the four servants.
Opera Review: The Tales of Hoffmann, Santa Fe Opera
Sarah Bryan Miller, St. Louis Post Dispatch
David Cangelosi as the four comic servants…made powerful contributions.
Opera Review: The Tales of Hoffmann, Santa Fe Opera
John Stege, Santa Fe Reporter
David Cangelosi (see my interview with him at Opera, Drama and the Character Tenor: An Interview with David Cangelosi) has long been associated with the four “grotesque” roles (Andres, Cochenille, Frantz and Pitichinaccio). In this production, all four characters are merged into a ubiquitous presence, with virtually no attempt to differentiate them. That turned out not to be a problem at all.
Cangelosi gave an athletic performance, the stage director Christopher Alden not only using him to meet the vocal requirements of his four named characters, but for numerous stage routines from the mind of Alden, rather than Offenbach or his librettist, Jules Barbier. To show he could perform the core music of the “old” role as well as the new stage business, Cangelosi dispatched Frantz’ humorous aria Jour et nuit je me mets en quatre quite stylishly.
Opera Review: The Tales of Hoffmann, Santa Fe Opera
Operawarhorses.com
“Even the marriage broker Goro, had a big bold tenor, in the person of David Cangelosi.”
Opera review: Madame Butterfly, Dallas Opera.
Scott Cantrell, The Dallas Morning News
“David Cangelosi was a strong-voiced Noctambulist and Pope of Fools, singing with more irony and seductiveness in his odes to bohemian pleasure. (His) long hair and white suit made this rogue foppishly elegant.”
Opera review: Louise, Spoleto Music Festival
Lawrence Toppman, Opera News
“Character tenor David Cangelosi played the Noctambulist/Pope of Fools, spirit of mischief who encourages free love and other bad habits. He is an opera veteran and this showed to full account in his fine interpretation.”
Opera review: Louise, Spoleto Music Festival
Paula Citron, Opera Canada
“Thursday’s third and final Intermezzi series event featured three lead singers from this year’s production of Louise (our only opera this time ‘round) in recital. But significant changes were made from the festival’s program guide: the only singer listed who actually performed was Stefania Dovhan, who handled the opera’s title role beautifully. The listed tenor was Sergey Kunaev, Louise’s male lead — but we heard tenor David Cangelosi (Louise’s Noctambulist/Pope of Fools) instead (and I’m glad we did). Mr. Cangelosi started off with “Pecche,” a lovelorn Neapolitan song that showcased his rich, emotion-laden tenor. His next offerings were art-songs: “Sonntag,” a giddy number by Brahms — and Faure’s “Lydia,” a tender piece that revealed his more pastel vocal colors. And he floated some ravishing, high head-tones in “Vainement, ma bien aimee,” from Edouard Lalo’s Le Roi d’Ys. His final number was “Nothing more than this,” from Leonard Bernstein’s Candide — and he gave it a passionate and ringing rendition that brought the house down.”
Recital review: Spoleto Music Festival
Lindsay Koob
“Cangelosi set the standard high when he opened with Pennino’s “Pecche” (“Why?”) sung in the Neapolitan style. His big, bold, passionate tenor was even more effective when matched with his dramatic style. When he sang two art songs, a Brahms and a Faure, he displayed excellent diction in both German and French. What a lovely falsetto in “Vainement, ma bien-aimee” from Edouard Lalo’s opera “Le Roi d’Ys.” After Cangelosi’s closing piece, “Nothing More Than This” from Leonard Bernstein’s “Candide,” I thought the audience was never going to let him leave.”
Recital review: Spoleto Music Festival
Carol Furtwangler, Post and Courier
“The supporting roles were fleshed out with a good deal of vocal and theatrical flourish. David Cangelosi (Bob Boles) proved especially vivid…”
Opera review: Peter Grimes, Washington National Opera
Tim Smith, Opera News
“David Cangelosi’s Goro, beautifully sung, was refreshingly free of the fawning and mincing usually thrust upon this role, instead portraying him as a canny businessman.”
Opera review: Madama Butterfly, Lyric Opera of Chicago
Richard Covello, Opera Canada
“An outstanding performance was given by David Cangelosi, who avoided overdoing Guillot, singing well instead of cackling; convincing as both a foolish old man and a dangerous villain.”
Opera review: Manon, Lyric Opera of Chicago
Richard Covello, Opera Canada
“David Cangelosi’s Mime was a study in scarcely suppressed fury.”
Opera review: Das Rheingold, San Francisco Opera
Georgia Rowe, Opera News
“Cangelosi’s Mime stole the show. The man’s flinging himself around the stage while singing defies logic.”
Opera review: Siegfried, Lyric Opera of Chicago
Time Out Chicago
“David Cangelosi gave us a vibrant, interesting tenor as Tinca.”
Opera review: Il Tabarro, Metropolitan Opera
New York Times
“David Cangelosi used his precisely focused tenor to suggest the icy calculation behind the spy L’Incredibile’s actions.”
Opera review: Andrea Chenier, Metropolitan Opera
Fred Cohn, Opera News
“Among the other artists, tenor David Cangelosi was an especially impressive Spoletta.”
Opera review: Tosca, Dallas Opera
Willard Spiegelman, Opera News
“Partygoers were treated to cabaret-style performances from opera stars including David Cangelosi, Joyce DiDonato, and Nathan Gunn.”
Gala review: Fantasy of the Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago
Susanna Homan, Chicago Sun-Times
“In a supporting cast well-stocked with Lyric Opera regulars, David Cangelosi stood out for his admirably reptilian Goro.”
Concert review: Madama Butterfly, Ravinia Festival, CSO
John von Rhein, Chicago Tribune
“Longtime board members Donna Bennett and Jim Blake got in a heated bidding war for tenor David Cangelosi’s doodle of the lead characters in Turandot, the production he just starred in at the Lyric Opera of Chicago. Bennett won (with a final bid of) ($4,500) The event took in nearly $40,000.”
Celebrity auction: Chicago Tribune Magazine
Lisa Skolnik, reporting
“Cangelosi, singing arias from Lalo’s Le Roi d’Ys and Korngold’s Die Tote Stadt, both sung with sensitivity and feeling for the characters portrayed….Cangelosi returned to sing I’m off to Chez Maxime from the Merry Widow, and other duets “Stranger in Paradise”, and “You are Love” from Showboat, leading the audience to roar approval in a standing ovation. Cangelosi responded with a solo encore, “A Simple Song” from Bernstein’s Mass.”
Concert review: Montgomery Symphony
James Conely, Montgomery Advertiser
“Even without the famed “Golden Horseshoe” box seats, Ligon Chapel at Huntingdon College had a sense of the Metropolitan Opera. David Cangelosi, one of the Met’s principal tenors, was at the college…singing opera arias, a few art songs, and songs from musical theatre. Cangelosi used his ringing, robust tenor voice very expressively, especially for the Neapolitan songs of Pennino and di Capua that were rich with characteristic Italian passion. Throughout the program his singing was intense and dramatic, befitting his voice and the style of the music. But he gave his best performance in two tender songs, Faure’s “Lydia” and Schonberg’s “Bring Him Home.” Both of those songs were moving without sentimentality and had his best vocal purity and control.”
Recital review: Huntingdon College, Montgomery, Alabama
James Conely, Montgomery Advertiser
“Special mention should go to character tenor David Cangelosi, a Lyric regular, who has the opera’s most nearly villainous role, that of aging aristocrat and would-be dirty old man Guillot de Morfontaine.
Cangelosi has long specialized in characters who blend evil with comedy, and he’s come up with another one. With his red suit and ridiculous (but historically accurate) shoulder-length white wig, Cangelosi’s Guillot is a ridiculous elderly fop who never quite manages to buy Manon — or any other woman, for that matter.
But Cangelosi takes off the wig in the crucial Act 4 gambling scene, revealing a bald head and the naked malice that destroys the young lovers.”
Opera review: Manon, Lyric Opera of Chicago
F.N. D’Alessio, Associated Press
“David Cangelosi gave his usual polished turn as the wicked Monostatos.”
Opera review: The Magic Flute, Santa Fe Opera
Sarah Bryan Miller, St. Louis Post Dispatch
“Speaking of Mime, the real star of Wednesday’s opening night was Lyric Opera Center for American Artists alum David Cangelosi, who combined great vocalism with boundless energy as the scheming Nibelheim dwarf. The scene outside Fafner’s cave in Act 2 in which Siegfried, who after having tasted the dragon’s blood, can read Mime’s evil thoughts, is a consummate acting gem on Cangelosi’s part.”
Opera review: Siegfried , Lyric Opera of Chicago
Bill Gowen, Chicago Daily Herald
“As with any opera, however, Wagner’s music is ultimately about singing, and Lyric Opera of Chicago has a cast that moves from strength to strength. Tenor David Cangelosi, a former member of Lyric’s Center for American Artists, sings Mime for the first time onstage. (He) was another discovery, though Lyric audiences know him well from numerous roles over the past eight seasons, including Tobias Ragg in “Sweeney Todd” and Little Bat in “Susannah.” His Mime, however, was a marvel of nuance and vocal color. In Act I’s talky encounters with Wotan and Siegfried, he was spellbinding as he combined wily wit and vocal power in a portrait without a trace of screechy whining or over-the-top cringing. “
Opera review: Siegfried, Lyric Opera of Chicago
Wynne Delacoma, Chicago Sun Times
“David Cangelosi’s Mime, acted with great, spidery athleticism, was a refreshingly musical change from the character tenors who whine and bark and do everything but sing the role; Cangelosi did sing it, and beautifully so. “
Opera review: Siegfried, Lyric Opera of Chicago
John von Rhein, Chicago Tribune
“Domingo receives stellar support…perhaps most impressively from American tenor David Cangelosi as Mime. For its next “Ring” Cycle coming up in 2005, let’s hope that Lyric (Opera of Chicago) books Cangelosi. “
CD review of Domingo: Scenes from the Ring, EMI
Laura Emerick, Chicago Sun-Times
“Placido Domingo interacts well with tenor David Cangelosi’s crisply defined, sneaky Mime. “
CD review of Domingo: Scenes from the Ring, EMI
La Scena Musicale
“Placido Domingo’s vocal partners are very well chosen: David Cangelosi (Mime), Violeta Urmana (Brunnhilde), and the celestial Forest Bird of Natalie Dessay. ”
CD review of Domingo: Scenes from the Ring, EMI
Melinda Bargreen, Seattle Times
“David Cangelosi has developed into America’s leading character tenor… ”
Opera review: La Rondine, Boston Lyric Opera
Richard Dyer, The Boston Globe
“Vivacious in movement and sound, tenor David Cangelosi was a personality-packed Prunier who enlivened the stage. “
Opera review: La Rondine, Boston Lyric Opera
Peter M. Knapp, The Patriot Ledger
“Tenor David Cangelosi made a real human being out of the secondary character Prunier, and delivered the musically important part with panache. “
Opera review: La Rondine, Boston Lyric Opera
T.J. Medrek, Boston Herald
“Pagliacci’s best singing of the night came from Beppe…in a sweetly sung serenade, courtesy of tenor David Cangelosi. “
Opera review: Pagliacci, Lyric Opera of Chicago
William V. Madison, Opera News
“David Cangelosi had the half-wit Little Bat down to cringing perfection.”
Opera review: Susannah, Lyric Opera of Chicago
John von Rhein, Chicago Tribune
“Tenor David Cangelosi added the simpleminded Tobias to the eccentric characters he’s sung at Lyric; his clear, strong voice shone in “Not While I’m Around.”
Opera review: Sweeney Todd, Lyric Opera of Chicago
William V. Madison, Opera News
“David Cangelosi had the difficult task of transforming Tobias from a simple but not unintelligent lad to a complete madman. He was convincing on all counts as well as vocally lovely in his aria sung to Mrs. Lovett.”
Opera review: Sweeney Todd, Lyric Opera of Chicago
Richard Covello, Opera Canada
“Only halfway through the first act did proceedings get a shot in the arm with the entrance of David Cangelosi, vibrant as always in the role of Basilio.”
Opera review: Le nozze di Figaro, Paris Opera (Bastille)
Richard Covello, Opera Canada
“The comic king of the occasion was David Cangelosi’s Monostatos. Capering, prancing and employing every means at his disposal…Cangelosi almost succeeded in making the viewer forget the orchestra was on stage.”
Concert review: Die Zauberflote, Springfield Symphony
Clifton J. Noble Jr., Music Writer
“As the First Jew, David Cangelosi revealed vocal resources superior to those of most character tenors.”
Concert review: Salome, Boston Symphony Orchestra at Tanglewood
Richard Dyer, Boston Globe
“The adrenalin accelerated seamlessly into Act I where Mary Elizabeth Southworth (Marzellina) and David Cangelosi (Jaquino) dispatched their duet with charm and an undeniable indebtedness to Mozart.”
Concert review: Fidelio, Cincinnati Symphony
Janelle Gelfand, The Cincinnati Enquirer
“Offering more personality was tenor David Cangelosi, who used his in-the-moment communicativeness to make the most of every line of his selections, including “Last Time I saw Paris” from Lady Be Good.”
Pops Concert Review: Colorado Symphony/Central City Opera
Kyle MacMillan, Denver Post
Additional Reviews and Articles:
3/15/00 – Carmen’ at Lyric Opera
8/12/99 – Area Tenor heading up higher register
Fall 2009 – Entrances & Encores
