Search - Edouard Lalo, Elle Cohen, Florian Weiss :: Lalo: Le Roi d'Ys

A curious mixture of Wagner, Celtic melodies and Saint Saens

R. Broadhead | Southwestern USA | 07/01/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I was familiar with the Hispano-French composer Edouard Lalo (1823-1892) through his justly popular Symphonie Esganole and also his beautiful Symphony in G and his cello concerto. Seeing a recording of his opera Le Roi d'Ys was available through Amazon, I decided to try it since his other compositions are quite enjoyable.



Lalo married relatively late in life to Breton mezzo-soprano Julie Besner d'Maligny and promptly proceeded to write a pair of operas for her. Le Roi d'Ys was the second opera (Fiesque was the first). Lalo had difficulty in getting either performed. Eventually he was able to get Le Roi d'Ys perfomed at the the Opera Comique in 1886. Although this opera has not become very popular, it has attracted attention from very fine singers throughout the years.



The music is a curious mixture of styles. Most of the choruses apparently are derived from the folk music of the Brittany peninsula of France. These choruses are quite lovely with their lilting celtic melodies. A few of the arias and duets also can be surmised to have origins in the Breton melodies and these are also quite lovely. Most of the arias, duets, terzettos, quartets, etc. however are definitely Wagnerian in style and contrast markedly with the Breton-type parts of the opera. As I am not overly fond of the heavy strident style of Wagner, I found these a bit hard to get through, but they are nice for the style of music and very well performed. In other places, an organ comes vividly into play with a style evoking Saint Saens. Yet other parts seem to presage Carl Orff a little bit. Throughout the opera, trumpet fanfares are common and add a touch of brightness.



The quality of the performance and the sound are quite good. This performance was recorded in 1973 by the Orchestre et Chouers Lyique conducted by Pierre Derveaux. Although I was unfamiliar with the soloists, Alain Vanzo as Mylio, Jane Rhodes as Margared, Andrea Guiot as Rozenn, Jules Bastin as the King, and Robert Massard as Karnec all sing their roles well. The rest of the cast, chorus, and orchestra also fill their roles well.



This opera is an interesting example of second-tier opera from the past. Although a session with it will bring the listener to an understanding of why it has never become part of the standard repertoire, it has its brilliant moments.I found the Breton-based choruses and arias/duets especially inviting and some of these are quite lovely. The Wagnerian elements are a bit too strident for my tastes and will keep me from listening to this on a frequent basis.



The second CD contains several "bonus tracks" of historical recordings of arias from Le Roi d'Ys that were made between 1901 and 1947. As such, this allows the listener to hear a number of singers who would otherwise remain unknown. Several soprano and tenor arias are presented. There are 5 versions of the tenor aria "Vainement, ma bien-aimee" for the character Mylio. This a particularly lovely aria with a Celtic lilt that the great John McCormack would have been quite at home with. The recordings of this aria date from 1901 to 1932 and are all, in a word, magnificent, performed variously by Leon Lafitte, Miguel Villabella, Joseph Rogatchewsky, Gaston Micheletti, and Andre d'Arkor.



If you like Wagner, you may well like this recording. If you like the lovely melodies of Brittany, you may also like this recording. This may never be destined to become anyone's favorite opera, but it is an interesting piece of operatic history. I do not regret purchasing this recording at the price Amazon offers it at. It will never be my favorite piece of music but it is an interesting listen and I do delight in the numerous versions of Vainement, ma-bien aimee. The melody from this aria is absolutely infectious and I will no doubt listen to the 5 versions offered again and again and again.



"

A Lovely Bit of Froth

Steven Muni | Sutter Creek, CA USA | 02/11/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I bought this opera because I enjoy the music of Lalo, especially the Symphonie Espagnol, I like French opera, and because it features Alain Vanzo. This is an "easy listening" sort of opera, with pleasant, accessible, not particularly memorable but very melodic music, very well performed. The choruses are interesting and there is a definite folk-music feel to some of them.

The plot is a little silly, being a story about a fabled land north of Brittany that is now underwater. Belgian bass-baritone Jules Bastin sings the title role, which is actually not all that large. The major male role, Mylio, is sung by the late Monegasque (born in Monacco) tenor, Alain Vanzo. Vanzo, who died in 2002, was perhaps the last great exponent of the traditional "French" style of tenor: which is a light, lyrical voice, very sweet with refined styling. Vanzo does not disappoint. He brings all his beauty of tone and elegance of style to his role. Vanzo can also be heard to excellent effect on recordings of Delibes' "Lakme", with Joan Sutherland, and Gounod's "Mireille", with Mirela Freni. The other singers are fine without being memorable.

The sound quality is good. GALA is a label whose CDs range from good to dreadful, and this is in the good range. And at the price you can't go wrong.

"

IN SEARCH OF THE UNHEARD

Alfredo R. Villanueva | New York, NY United States | 10/23/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I BOUGHT THIS RECORD FIRST BECAUSE I LIKE LALO'S MUSIC IN GENERAL, BUT ALSO BECAUSE I AM TOTALLY TIRED OF THE STANDARD OPERATIC REPERTOIRE. THUS, I HAVE DECIDED TO TRY FIND THOSE OPERAS THAT HAVE NOT ACHIEVED CANONICAL STATUS AND I AM NOT LIKELY TO SEE PERFORMED EVER IN THE USA. I ALSO LIKE THE FACT THIS IS FRENCH OPERA SUNG BY FRENCH ARTISTS IN THEIR PRIME, PARTICULARLY ALAIN VANZO, WHO IS ALMOST UNKOWN IN THIS COUNTRY AND WHO CAN EASILY BE COMPARED TO A GEDDA OR A KRAUS. THE SOUND IS SURPRISINGLY GOOD. A GREAT INVESTMENT IN MUSIC THAT DESERVES A RE-EVALUATION."