Rolando Villazón

This was the Mexican tenor's first UK appearance following his second withdrawal from public performance and subsequent operation on his vocal cords – and since his appearances on Popstar to Operastar won him a wide following. Despite the warmth and enthusiasm with which he was greeted, the concert suggested that he has some distance to go to regain the technical skills and vocal quality needed to resume an operatic career at the highest level. Part of the problem lay in the programme itself. It was based on his Handel album, accompanied by the Gabrieli Players under Paul McCreesh, who also provided the accompaniments. But Handel's Italian operas rarely feature the tenor voice prominently, and apart from extracts from Rodelinda and the role of Bajazet in Tamerlano, in which he was joined by soprano Lucy Crowe, the remainder of the programme consisted of operas from which Villazón sang alto arias transposed down. Unfortunately, his lower register virtually disappeared at times. Presumably unwilling to risk high notes in a repertoire more congenial to him, he demonstrated that he currently has no low ones. Equally worrying was his approach to Handel's lines, which came across as a series of notes attacked with vehemence but without a sense of connection. Losing his way in an aria from Serse, he asked the conductor to begin again. A better prepared singer would have found his way back in. Crowe, however, triumphed in her solos from Julius Caesar, bringing the house down with the second. Villazón may have had the audience on his side, but on this occasion he was struggling.