Will also dissents from my description of the Giannina Russ/Virginia Guerrini recording of “Sola, furtiva al tempio” as a full step below the standard score pitch. I based my statement on the transfer included in EMI’s “La Scala Edition, Vol. 1,” where it is in fact a step low. Will states that although “Mira, o Norma,” recorded at the same session, is down a step, all other versions of the earlier scene, whether from a 78 or a transfer, present it at score pitch. He has been doing research into vibrato rates that will, I think, rather shake things up when completed, and he kindly sent some bits of relevant evidence along with one of the score-key versions. His vibrato-rate findings are always persuasive or at least intriguing, and I agree that Russ sounds more herself (as heard on other recordings, that is) in the higher key. Everything else about the score-pitch version, though, sounds a little wrong to my ear. The accompaniment, especially in the introduction, is timbrally weird, and we now have the deep contralto Guerrini (she was the original Quickly) breaking into chest on downward phrases improbably high, and sounding strained and distorted in the process. Unfortunately, there are no other Guerrini recordings to check against for her registral habits, but these don’t seem likely, and in general the EMI transfer sounds more natural to me. Besides, why would they sing this duet at score pitch, but lower “Mira, o Norma?” The scenes are closely comparable in terms of range (improbably high for a voice of Guerrini’s type), so the florid figures of the “Mira, o Norma” allegro are the only reason I can think of. I still have my doubts.

In aid of my search for a pre-WW1 Pollione of a sort that is convincingly strong yet more flexible than later dramatic tenors, Will submits the “Meco all’altare di Venere” ( with both verses of the cabaletta) of Carlo Albani. He’s hired. The intensity of the vibrato will bother some, but he sings with a firmly guided, malleable line, strong impulse, and well-defined phrasing. The high C, though approached quite differently than indicated in the score, is heady, yet ringing and very much integral to the voice as fully used.

Finally, a few scraps of follow-up to my remarks on the role of Athanaël in Thaïs. I urged listening to Jean-François Delmas’ “Quand la flamme de l’amour” for a sense of the power and color of the part’s creator. To supplement: Maurice Renaud, the baritone of the Manhattan  Opera’s performances that introduced Mary Garden to the U.S., did not record “Voilà donc la terrible cité.” But his interpretations of two other Massenet arias, “Vision fugitive” and “Ah, mon remord te venge,” will get you close enough. Do give Clarence Whitehill, the Athanaël of the first Met performances (opposite Farrar) a listen and, for sure, George London, who never sang the role but recorded the aria in his youthful prime. Any of those will give you a feel for what should be in the role, vocally speaking. I haven’t heard all the complete recordings, commercial and otherwise, that have circulated, but from them I can recommend two Athanaëls, Michel Dens and Gabriel Bacquier, as vocally and stylistically authoritative.