Episode 388. Sopranos en détresse, Part Deux
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A few months ago I published the first of a series of episodes honoring “Over the Top Sopranos,” which presented French repertoire performed by a batch of supremely distressed divas. And today is a follow-up, again featuring “sopranos en détresse” in which I spread the net even wider, featuring every type of soprano from perky coloratura to hefty dramatic and everything in between. The characters represented range from reformed Alexandrian courtesans to vampiric Hungarian murderers. And the chronological spread is wide, too: we sample a wide variety of singers from Félia Litvinne, recorded in 1902, to Anna Caterina Antonacci, recorded in 2009. In between we hear, among others, Germaine Féraldy, Beverly Sills, Emma Calvé, Lucia Popp, Christiane Eda-Pierre (pictured), Patricia Brooks, Germaine Martinelli, Jacqueline Brumaire, Carol Vaness, Nelly Miricioiu, and Janine Micheau. Works range from the familiar (Mignon by Thomas, Manon by Massenet, and Faust by Gounod) to the obscure (Ivan IV by Bizet, Salammbô by Ernest Reyer, Erzsébet by Charles Chaynes, and Virginie by Alfred Bruneau). Attachez vos ceintures; ce sera encore une soirée extravagante!
RECORDINGS HEARD IN THIS EPISODE
Ambroise Thomas, Jules Barbier, Michel Carré [after Johann Wolfgang von Goethe: Je suis Titania (Mignon). Yolanda Marcoulescou, unknown orchestra and conductor [ca. 1957]
Jules Massenet, Adolphe d’Ennery, Louis Gallet, Édouard Blau [after Pierre Corneille]: Pleurez, mes yeux (Le Cid). Félia Litvinne, Alfred Cortot [ca. 1902]
Alfred Bruneau, Henri Duvernois [né Henri-Simon Schwabacher]: Ah! mon Dieu, quelle aventure! (Virginie). Germaine Féraldy, Orchestra conducted by Alfred Bruneau [1930]
Giacomo Meyerbeer, Eugène Scribe, Germain Delavigne: Robert, toi que j’aime (Robert le Diable). Yvonne Brothier [1924]
Jules Massenet, Henri Cain, Arthur Bernède [after Alphonse Daudet]: Pendant un an je fus ta femme (Sapho). Emma Calvé [1920]
Charles Gounod, Jules Barbier, Michel Carré [after Carré’s play based on Johann Wolfgang von Goethe]: Seigneur, daignez permettre à votre humble servant (Faust). Beverly Sills, Norman Treigle, Julius Rudel, New York City Opera Orchestra and Chorus [live 26.X.68]
Charles Gounod, Jules Barbier, Michel Carré [after Carré’s play based on Johann Wolfgang von Goethe]: Alerte, alerte!… Anges purs, anges radieux (Faust). Carol Vaness, Jerry Hadley, James Morris, Emerson Buckley, New York City Opera Orchestra [live PBS Broadcast New York 06.I.1986]
Jules Massenet, Henri Meilhac, Philippe Gille [after Abbé Prévost]: Je marche sur tous les chemins… Obéissons que leur voix appelle (Manon). Patricia Brooks, Anton Guadagno, Orchestra and Chorus of the Vancouver Opera [live 10.V.69]
Jules Massenet, Jules Claretie, Henri Cain [after Jules Claretie, ‘La cigarette’: Mon argent, mes deux mille douros! (La Navarraise). Lucia Popp, Alain Vanzo, Vicente Sardinero, Gérard Souzay, Michel Sénéchal, Antonio de Almeida, London Symphony Orchestra [1975]
Hector Berlioz [after Virgil]: Je vais mourir…Adieu, fière cité (Les Troyens). Anna Caterina Antonacci, Orchestra conducted by François-Xavier Roth [live Paris 2009]
Emmanuel Bondeville, René Fauchois [after Gustave Flaubert]: J’ai revu les mêmes chemins (Madame Bovary). Jacqueline Brumaire, Michel Dens, André Cluytens, Orchestre du Théâtre National de l’Opéra-Comique [1954]
Ernest Reyer, Camille du Locle [after Gustave Flaubert]: Ah, qui me donnera comme à la colombe [Air des colombes] (Salammbô). Germaine Martinelli, Orchestra conducted by Albert Wolff [ca. 1930]
Georges Bizet, François-Hippolyte Leroy, Henri Trianon: Il me semble parfois (Ivan IV). Janine Micheau, Georges Tzipine, Orchestre National de la RTF [1957]
Charles Chaynes, Ludovic Janvier [after his stage play]: Erzsébet [excerpt from final tableau]. Christiane Eda-Pierre, Michael Lonsdale, Elgar Howarth, Orchestre de l’Opéra National de Paris [live Paris 1983]
Jules Massenet, Louis Gallet [after Anatole France]: Te souvient-il du lumineux voyage (Thaïs). Nelly Miricioiu, John Bröcheler, Sergiu Comissiona, Radio Filharmonisch Orkest [live Amsterdam 19.I.1985]
