Search - Berlioz, Ferrer, Giraudeau :: Les Troyens

Transcendent Beecham & Orchestra, Genuine French Singers!

Nicholas A. Deutsch | New York, NY USA | 10/29/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"There are 3 good reasons to hear this electrifying performance (actually a 2-day 1947 BBC broadcast): 1) Sir Thomas Beecham; 2) the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, & 3) French singers who can really sing, & who sing real French. Yes, there was life for Berlioz's operatic masterpiece B.C.D. (Before Colin Davis): Beecham conducts a reading that is thrilling, passionate, & refined, with the RPO in wonderful form. But the major revelation for modern listeners will be the work of the leading singers. Not only are they nearly all native French speakers (& the Iopas, Dutch tenor Franz Vroons, might as well be), but they embody the virtues of a now-extinct tradition of singing & text delivery that brings an essential dimension of the piece to vivid life. Their performances have an emotional directness & immediacy, combined with an unselfconscious grandeur, almost entirely lacking in recent, "international" casts. Soprano Marisa Ferrer is a tower of vocal strength as both Cassandra & Dido (& she draws 2 very different characters), singing with impeccable line & elevated expression, as is the veteran baritone Charles Cambon (Chorebus/Narbal) - their clear, expressive delivery of the words, achieved without distorting the shape of the musical phrase, is exemplary. Tenor Jean Giraudeau may lack the ideal timbre & heft for Aeneas (especially at the bottom of his voice), but his strong technique, fine diction, rock-solid rhythmic sense & sensitivity see him through. The British "bit players" & BBC Theatre Chorus give generally excellent support (except for the unfortunate tenor who sings Hylas - he jumps his cue twice). The "bravos" at the end show that this was clearly a special event. There are cuts - about 20 minutes' worth of music - though you do get the Prelude to Act 3 that Berlioz composed when he split the work into 2 parts. In any case, there are 2 fine note-complete modern recordings, both conducted beautifully by Davis, & 1 more-than-complete (the Dutoit version reconstructs & restores a scene Berlioz cut). But of them all, I think this is the one that the composer would recognize as going to the heart of his magnificent vision with unique authenticity."