Speaking of which: for those of you with an appetite for early acousticals, there is a version of Capulet’s aria (Pol Plançon’s being the classical reference point) by Léon Melchissédec (b. 1843), one of the most important baritones of the era of heroic French singing. He was by this time into his 60s, and like many early 78s the recording does not disclose all the easements that were no doubt introduced in live performance. But the voice remains that of a powerful, biting dramatic baritone. And here’s the thing: though he did sing Capulet when Roméo first moved to the Opéra-Comique, his role at the work’s premiere at the Opéra (1883, with Patti and the De Reszkes) was Mercutio. That’s the voice that sang Queen Mab—20 years earlier, to be sure, but well-used voices don’t change their fundamental properties. And now listen again (for I’m sure you did the first time, when I recommended it for a sense of the first Athanaël in Thaïs) to Jean-Francois Delmas’ voicing of Bizet’s “Quand la flamme de l’amour.” There’s the Capulet of that same performance at the Opéra. A rather different Act 1, no? Might even qualify for an SPCCG Award.

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NEXT TIME: Well, we have a lot to choose from: two Verdi revivals, plus Montemezzi’s L’Amore dei tre re, plus the BSO, Kaufmann, et al. in Tristan Act  2. Not sure how it will all shake out, but in any case it will happen two weeks from today, Friday, Apr. 27, 2018.