There are no international glamor names on this set. But it does represent both the first and last times that a standing ensemble with this opera in its blood came into a studio to record it—or ever will, given the current status of Louise and of commercial recording in general. I hadn’t heard it for a long time, and was pleased to find a higher level of singing than I’d recalled. I did remember liking The Father of Louis Musy, the veteran baritone who had been the Valentin of the 1930 Victor Faust under Büsser, and who twenty years later directed the Comique’s fiftieth anniversary production of Louise, the one with designs by Utrillo. And I was right. A good bass or bass-baritone is fine in the part, but it is also refreshing to hear a clear, slender-but-strong baritone with a sure, live grasp on it, and the capacity for swinging forcefully into the Fs, F-sharp, and especially the optional G (at the climax of “Les pauvres gens“). The Louise is Berthe Monmart. While not as inimitable as Vallin, she has a voice of lovely timbre, some body, and reasonable technical security, and sings with spirit. André Laroze, of whom I retained only the vaguest impression, surprised me with his overall competence and reliability as Julien. The voice is attractive, and though its narrow color spectrum can in time be wearing, he phrases intelligently, has some deftness with the softer dynamics, and shows no real weakness. Solange Michel, in my experience good in all her recorded assignments, is so here as The Mother, even if I would ideally prefer a deeper contralto sound. Among the supporting roles, it’s great to find two fine bass voices that gained some prominence later on, Gerald Serkoyan and Jacques Mars, as the Ragman and the Junkman. The Noctambulist has here lost his gig as the King of Fools, and I wonder if that was an Opéra-Comique tradition. It does seem strange that Julien’s pals would bring in this weirdo to crown his girlfriend. Fournet’s conducting is shapely but not galvanic, possibly a little too comfortable and trusting, and the sonics are not really a positive—though more present than the ’35 studio or the ’43 broadcast, they never quite find a convincing relationship among solo voices, chorus, and orchestra, or any real depth of tone.
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Among the books and articles consulted for this post, I found most helpful Michael T. R. B. Turnbull’s well-researched, well-written biography of Mary Garden (Amadeus Press, 1997), and two essays in LP record set booklets: “Jules Charpentier,” by Jean Desternes, in Epic SC-6018, and “Realism and Symbolism: An Introduction to ‘Louise,’ ” by Andrew Porter, for Angel LSCX-3846.
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NEXT TIME: I can only assure you that there will be one, and that it will occur on May 14. I am pursuing one very interesting lead that would update my “Before the First Lesson” series, and if productive, that will form at least part of my subject matter. For the rest, there are always developments . . .
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