iHe starts with Tosca and proves a natural Puccinian, producing a steady stream of spun tone in ‘Recondita armonia’…Better yet is Cavaradossi’s ‘E lucevan le stelle’, as De Tommaso reveals himself as a master storyteller...it allows you to hear this young tenor for what he is – a thoroughbred.

Tenor voices tend to be the most individual of any voice type and De Tommaso is no exception. His sound is less gleaming than Pavarotti’s, darker, with a lower centre of gravity, but he turns out a ringing climax to “Nessun dorma” from Puccini’s Turandot and holds a well-schooled line through the two arias from Tosca.

His singing, in fact, is admirably secure here, cleanly projected and carefully focused in terms of dynamics...a fine album that confirms his emergence as a talent to be potentially reckoned with in years to come.

His is indeed a splendid instrument, genuinely Italianate in tone and texture...‘Smoky’, ‘attractively veiled’: it’s a voice that instantly seizes the attention, and when rising with breadth and security to the climaxes of the Carmen Flower Song or ‘Nessun dorma’, it provides an authentic thrill...For me, in sum, De Tommaso is a front-rank tenor just out of the chrysalis.

This is a singer who really lives and breathes each phrase rather than micro-managing things for the mics, and there’s a wonderfully natural, slightly old-school quality to his singing that’s more than a little reminiscent of his idols Corelli and Caruso…Given the high-octane programme and the sheer firepower of De Tommaso’s delivery, I’d planned to enjoy this one in instalments rather than devouring it in one sitting – but few lovers of great singing will be able to resist gulping it down whole.

the strength and fervour in his voice is almost frightening.

Possessor of a beautiful, richly coloured lyric voice, Tommaso has matured into a true lirico spinto, with natural italianità and a full-blooded heroic heft that makes him ideal casting for Puccini’s romantic leads. He’s also capable of a disarming sweetness, enabling him to deliver French roles (such as Don José in Carmen) with charm...He incorporates old-fashioned tenor mannerisms without sounding affected.

Already drawing favourable comparisons with Caruso and Pavarotti, Tommaso’s voice finds a place all its own somewhere in between those extremes of poetry and power. If there’s a more reliable touchstone, it’s surely the mahogany-dark, liquidly flowing expressiveness of Franco Corelli...On the strength of what’s here, Decca’s claim for Tommaso as Il Tenoré may well be justified.