Reviews for GHCD 2238/39/40 San Francisco
Opera Gems Vol. I
Bay Area Reporter – January 2004
San Francisco Opera’s glory days are newly out on CD
by Stephanie von
Buchau
These historical recordings were taken from broadcasts in the late '30s and 1940, and they star the
absolute finest vocal artists available in the world at that time. Nobody cared
anything about how they looked, how they dressed or what kind of sets they were,
acting in. Opera in those days was about three things: voices, orchestra, and
emotional expression.
And when the voices included artists such as Bidu Sayao, Tito Schipa, Raoul Jobin, Ezio Pinza,
Elisabeth Rethberg, Jussi Bjoerling, Frederich Schorr, Lauritz Melchoir, Lotte
Lehmann and Kirsten Flagstad - well, possums, read it and weep. If staging "Konzept”
had been in fashion then, these excerpts would be as meaningless as a recording
from most recent SFO productions would be.
There are problems with this set. Broadcasts mean better-than-usual sound considering the
age of the documents, but because of time restraints (to say nothing of the
tin-eared Philistines running, NBC), these "second acts" are not complete. They
often end abruptly. The people at Guild occasionally graft on an ending with the
same artists but from different performances. Also, because of the ear, the
conductors themselves sanctioned internal cuts. (All of this is well-documented
in the accompanying booklet.) And the orchestra has on- and off-nights; things
were not always "better in the old days."
Still, where are you going to hear a Manon like Sayao today? Certainly not Renee Fleming,
whose recent recording from Paris (Sony Classical) reveals a gummy, unrhythmic,
consonant-less approach to "Adieu, notre petite table," which Sayao sings with
crisp diction and subtle rubato, revealing that Manon is clearly a fascinating
little bitch, not a maudlin Grand Opera diva. This is followed by Schipa, 25
years after he made his debut as Des Grieux, still singing the most gorgeously
modulated "Reve." SFO founder Gaetano Merola is the sensitive conductor. (Massenet:
Manon; October 13, 1939)
That's definitely the diamond in these "gems." Carmen's second act benefits from
Pinza’s swaggering Escamillo and Jobin's idiomatic Jose, but soprano Marjorie
Lawrence, a butch, All- American Carmen, sounds more like a tennis pro than a
gypsy out-law. Merola charges through the score at full speed, with little of
the rhythmic charm he applies to Massenet, and the ensemble is atrocious. (Bizet:
Carmen; October 25,1940)
Pinza, Sayao, Rethberg, Rise Stevens and John Brownlee were a Figaro ensemble direct
from the Met. They are obviously having a thumping good old time on stage, but
dry-stick conductor Erich Leinsdorf dims the musical good spirits.
(Mozart: Nozze di Figaro; October 12, 1940)
The part of Un Ballo in Maschera's second act that survives here makes one wish for the
complete opera. Rethberg's soprano tends to reproduce metallically, but the
27-year-old Bjoerling is as ardent as any Riccardo while maintaining honeyed
suavity. Gennaro Papi's conducting is suitably passionate in Verdi's only
Wagnerian love duet.
(Verdi: Un Ballo in Maschera; October 23, 1940)
Finally, we have most of Act II (with the "usual" cuts and a doctored ending) of Die
Walkure, superbly conducted by Fritz Reiner, starring Melchoir and Lehmann
as the Volsung lovers, the magisterial Schorr- as Wotan (though short on top,
he’s devastating in the monologue), and Flagstad in her prime as Brunnhilde (no
trill, but her “Ho-jo-to-hos” are charming). This entire three-disc set is worth
the price for a searing “Annunciation of Death,” with both singers and conductor
on fire. (Wagner: Die Walkure; November 13, 1936.)
MusicWeb – May 23 2003
San Francisco Opera Gems: Volume 1
Live recordings from the War Memorial Opera House, San Francisco in Seasons
1936, 1939 and 1940
CD 1
Jules MASSENET (1842-1912)
Manon, Act 2
Manon, Bidú Sayao (sop); Des Grieux, Tito Schipa (ten); Lescaut, Richard Bonelli
(bar)
Performance conducted by Gaetano Merola; Recorded 13 October 1939
Georges BIZET (1838-1870) >
Carmen, Act 2
Carmen, Marjorie Lawrence (sop); Don José, Raoul Jobin (ten); Escamillo, Ezio
Pinza (bass)
Performance conducted by Gaetano Merola; Recorded 25 October 1940
CD 2
Wolfgang Amadeus MOZART (1756-1791)
Le Nozze Di Figaro, Act 2;
Figaro, Ezio Pinza (bass); Susana, Bidú Sayao (sop); Count Almaviva, John
Brownlee (bar); Countess Almaviva, Elisabeth Rethberg (sop); Cherubino, Rise
Stevens (mezzo); Marcellina, Irra Petina (sop); Don Bartolo, Gerhard Pechner
(bass)
Performance conducted by Erich Leinsdorf; Recorded 12 October 1940
Giuseppe VERDI (1813-1901)
Un ballo in Maschera, Act 2 (part)
Amelia, Elisabeth Rethberg (sop); Riccardo, Jussi Bjorling (ten); Renato,
Richard Bonelli (bar)
Performance conducted by Gennaro Papi; Recorded 23 October 1940
CD 3
Richard WAGNER (1813 – 1883)
Die Walküre, Act 2
Siegmund, Lauritz Melchior (ten); Wotan, Friedrich Schorr (bar); Brunnhilde,
Kirsten Flagstad (sop); Sieglinde, Lotte Lehmann (sop); Hunding, Emanuel List
(bass); Fricka, Kathryn Meisle (mezzo)
Performance conducted by Fritz Reiner; Recorded 13 November 1936
Chorus and Orchestra of the Opera House, San Francisco
‘Immortal Performances’ series - Bargain Price
GUILD
HISTORICAL GHCD 2238-40 [3CDs: 70.50+69.47+65.57]
With this issue Richard Caniell moves, for his American performance selections,
away from the New York ‘Met’ to San Francisco, whilst still depending on NBC
broadcast transmissions for source material. However, the transmissions from
that source, whilst often featuring ‘Met’ roster singers, were usually only of
single acts. Even these were often truncated if the performance was running late
as the broadcaster insisted on the following programme starting on time! For the
sake of completion Guild has interpolated endings from other performances by the
same singers, except in the ‘Ballo’ extract where the voices of other singers
are used as I explain below. Given these circumstances and difficulties, why go
to the trouble? There are two good reasons. The first exemplified by the act 2
of Manon (CD 1). Although there are other preserved performances of Sayao’s
greatly admired Manon, none features Schipa, unequalled in the part of Des
Grieux. Further, the ‘Met’ administration had very clear views as to which roles
the public liked to hear their favourites sing and this often curtailed artists,
who could only show their diversity, or fulfill aspirations, elsewhere. The
recordings are variable with pitch problems in Carmen and Walküre and severe
sonic limitations in the Ballo, which is derived from private as distinct from
the normal official Guild sources. Generally the voices are forward and clear
and orchestral detail satisfactory. Stage noises are present as are surface
clicks and hiss, which become less intrusive to enjoyment than the regular
audience applause.
Manon
There are at least two preservations of Sayao’s renowned Manon. In neither is she matched for vocal
quality by her Des Grieux, sung here by the outstanding ‘tenore di grazia’ of
his (or any?) generation, Tito Schipa. In ‘Manon’ (tr. 3) he shows plenty of
voice, whilst in ‘Instant charmant ... En ferment les yeux’ (tr. 9) his vocal
performance is outstanding with even legato, elegant ‘mezza voce’ phrasing
caught ‘on the breath’, long breathed phrasing through the passagio, and
concluding with an exquisite diminuendo. Sayao was a renowned and admired Manon
with a 'face and figure du part’ She hadn’t the palette of colours in the voice
that Renée Fleming (another singularly beautiful face and figure for the part)
brought in more recent years, but it is still a formidable characterization.
Where I found some difficulty was in her ‘Adieu notre petite table’ (tr. 8),
where she moves from using the lower tones of the voice (I deliberately do not
use the phrase ‘chest voice’) to a prominent vibrato to add stress and meaning.
The broadcast cut the final phrase, which is added, in a slightly different
acoustic, from another Sayao performance. The recording and conducting are among
the best in this collection. However, as might be expected given the quality of
the singing, there are several intrusions of applause.
Carmen
The name part is sung by Marjorie Lawrence (born 1909) who first sang Brünnhilde at age 26 no less. She
shared the leading Wagnerian soprano roles at the ‘Met’ with Flagstad from 1935
to 1941 when her stage career was cruelly cut short by the onset of polio.
Lawrence aspired to sing Carmen. The opportunity arose at San Francisco in 1940
when she was scheduled to sing 'Minnie' in La Fanciulla del West and the
baritone withdrew with vocal problems. The management searched for another new
role for Lawrence, and Carmen was announced with Jobin and Pinza in the other
principal roles. The major pleasure listening to the performance was, for me,
the singing of Pinza as a swaggering Escamillo, (‘Votre toast’ tr. 14) albeit
his French leaves something to be desired. The sheer richness of tone and vocal
inflection bring the part to life and one can imagine how any Carmen would
prefer his extrovert sexuality to Don José’s agonizing. Jobin was in the city to
sing opposite Lily Pons in Lakmé when the changes were made. He is a little
underpowered as José, but sings a more sensitive ‘La fleur que tu m’avais jetée’
(tr. 18) than he does on the famous 1950 recording with Solange Michel in the
title role (Naxos Historical). As Carmen, Lawrence is strong voiced but rather
monochrome. Her inability to express Carmen’s sexual allure is not helped by the
conductor’s fast speeds. Interesting for vocal connoisseurs.
Le Nozze Di Figaro
The opening orchestral introduction is well caught but marred by intrusive applause
caused by either the curtain rising on the scenery (it was the first night of a
new production) or the entrance of Rethberg as the Countess. Rethberg (born
1894) was a renowned spinto at the ‘Met’, and elsewhere, singing Aida, Amelia,
Siglinde, Elisabeth etc). She sings an amazingly steady, and full toned ‘Porgi
amor’ (tr. 2) but sounds somewhat too mature when it comes to planning and
executing capers with Susanna. As her husband, John Brownlee is something of a
hectoring bully of no great vocal distinction whilst Pinza’s mellifluous bass,
and vocal inflections, are ideal as Figaro. As his partner, Susanna, Sayao is
rather light of tone, sometimes sounding too thin, but at least never acidic.
The young Rise Stevens is justifiably applauded for a well shaped and phrased
‘Voi che sapete’ (tr. 6). Leinsdorf conducts adequately whilst a clangy piano
continuo doesn’t help the recits. The broadcast was terminated part way through
the finale and is completed by the interpolation from one on March 9th
1940. I have to note that the ensemble in this finale gets a bit scrappy towards
the end.
Ballo In Maschera
This is the poorest sonically but the most vital vocally of this set of discs. Only 24 minutes of
the act are included and this fragment derives from rather poorly recorded
private sources. Whilst many pitch variations have been corrected there are
still problems in this respect as well as surface noise that is particularly
intrusive at the start of track 28 (‘M’ami, m’ami!’). ‘Holes’ have been filled
with 5 seconds of Hervi Nelli and 20 seconds of Zinka Milanov. In 1940 no
complete recording of Ballo had been made and even the ‘Met’ hadn’t managed a
performance since 1916! However, the work was suddenly revived in San Francisco,
Chicago and New York and has been a staple of the repertoire ever since. This
performance spans two generations. Rethberg (born 1894) had been a ‘Met’ spinto
for 20 years whilst Björling had only just began his international career, soon
to be abbreviated as he returned to his native Sweden for the remainder of the
‘War’ years. Both singers display the skill of long-breathed phrases, and
vitality of characterization, whilst in their phrasing respecting Verdi’s melody
and dramatic thrust. They couldn’t, however, finish the duet (tr. 28) together!
Bonelli is a full-voiced resonant Verdi baritone who sings with meaning and
graceful phrasing. Björling’s personal problems deprived us of a studio
recording of Riccardo, a part ideally suited to his lovely tenor voice.
Die Walküre
I am surprised at Guild including this extract in view of the complete opera in their
‘Dream Cycle’ (GHCD 2215-2217 reviewed elsewhere on this site). The conducting
of Reiner is to be preferred to that of Leinsdorf whilst the Fricka is less
convincing. In my review of the complete opera I was generous about Schorr’s
limitations at the top of the voice. Here, recorded four years earlier, he is
nearer to his great years as the foremost Wotan of his generation. However,
London Green who writes all the informative notes on the performances in the
usual high Guild quality booklet, is very realistic on Schorr’s portrayal of
Wotan’s qualities: ‘But now, in 1936 … no longer a vocal painting, but a pencil
sketch’. Elsewhere the cast sings with the quality that their reputations would
lead you to expect and hope for. Whilst other issues of this performance
conclude, as did the broadcast, well before the end of the act, Guild
interpolate the end from the 1940 performance under Leinsdorf. Pitch variations
are not wholly overcome.
Robert
J. Farr
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