Ghost of Sunday Classics: I have a song to sing, O!

Luciano Pavarotti and Joan Sutherland sing the "Brindisi" from Act I of Verdi's La Traviata, with Richard Bonynge conducting, at the Met in October 1970.

ALFREDO: Let’s drink, let's drink
from the joyous chalice where beauty flowers.
Let the fleeting hour
to pleasure’s intoxication yield.
Let’s drink to love’s sweet tremors –
to those eyes that pierce the heart.
Let’s drink to love -- to wine,
that warms our kisses.
ALL
: Ah! Let’s drink, let's drink to love --
to wine, that warms our kisses.
VIOLETTA [rising]: With you, with you
I would share my days of happiness.
Everything is folly in this world
that does not give us pleasure.
Let us enjoy life,
for the pleasures of love are swift and fleeting,
as a flower that lives and dies
and can be enjoyed no more.
Let’s take our pleasure!
While its ardent, brilliant summons lures us on.
ALL: Let’s take our pleasure
of wine and singing and mirth,
till the new day dawns on us as in Paradise.
VIOLETTA [to ALFREDO]: Life is just pleasure.
ALFREDO [to VIOLETTA]: But if one still waits for love --
VIOLETTA [to ALFREDO]: I know nothing of that --
don’t tell me --
ALFREDO [to VIOLETTA]: But there lies my fate.
ALL: Let’s take our pleasure
of wine and singing and mirth,
till the new day dawns on this paradise of ours.

by Ken

Extra credit if you saw the title of this post and sang back, "Sing me your song, O!"

In a moment we'll come back to "I have a song to sing, O!," but first, by way of sort-of-explainaton of what we're up to today, it's not exactly a rarity in opera where one character or another is asked to sing for the entertainment of a gathering, often with drinking involved. Nor is it a rarity for one character or another to offer a song to a gathering for their entertainment. I have such a scene in mind, and to get there I thought we'd hit some of the more notable specimens, and we've started with perhaps the most famous of all, the "Brindisi" (drinking song) sung by Alfredo, and joined by Violetta, at the start of Act I of La Traviata.

In fact, we're going to hear the full setting of Alfredo's "Libiamo," but first --

"I HAVE A SONG TO SING, O!"

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Sunday Classics: On the Devil's cue, Faust and Marguerite come together, and damn the consequences

The baritone in Gounod's Faust, Marguerite's brother Valentin, has some fabulous music but had no aria until the composer added one for an early London production for the baritone Charles Santley. "Even bravest heart may swell" was inserted as Valentin prepares to go off to war with the soldiers in Act II; it was translated into French as "Avant de quitter ces lieux," but is sung here in Russian by the great Soviet baritone Pavel Lisitsian, whom we've heard singing Tchaikovsky: the song "None but the Lonely Heart" and Prince Yeletsky's aria from Queen of Spades.

by Ken

REMINDER TO THOSE IN THE NYC AREA: THE FINAL
ST. PETERSBURG QT CONCERT IS THIS AFTERNOON

I've switched the order of today's posts to slip in this final reminder about the final concert in the St. Petersburg Quartet's Shostakovich Beethoven series. On the program, at 3pm at Bargemusic, at the Fulton Ferry Landing in Brooklyn, are the Shostakovich 11th, 12th, and 15th Quartets and Beethoven's Grosse Fuge.

It's been a remarkable series, with last night's program on a par with Friday night's extraordinary one. In Shostakovich, I'm realizing that, as much as I love the St. Petersburg's 1999-2003 recording of the 15 quartets for Hyperion, the performances have evolved significantly, especially in the later quartets, which makes today's program that much more attractive. Seemingly paradoxically, the deeper the quartet delves into the music, the clearer and more readily digestible the music becomes.

At some point we have to hope that somebody undertakes a new St. Petersburg recording of the Shostakovich quartets. How about a video version? I've found it fascinating watching these players play the music. We're going to have to talk about this more, but for now the message is: If you have the opportunity, go! You really don't want to miss this.

Now back to our regularly scheduled program. In Friday night's and last night's Faust previews we've set the stage for the first moment when Faust and Marguerite are finally alone together. Friday night we heard Faust's great aria, "Salut, demeure chaste et pure," and last night we heard Marguerite first having her recollection of the lovelorn old king of Thulé interrupted by thoughts of the dashing stranger she met briefly earlier, and then we heard her discover the casket of jewels left for her by Méphistophélès on Faust's behalf, with a mirror cunningly included at the bottom, enabling the poor girl to see herself astoundingly bedecked in the mysteriously appeared jewels.

I'm sorry to say we're going to skip over the Garden Scene quartet, with the introduction into the scene of Faust and Méphisto as well as Marguerite's nosy neighbor Dame Marthe Schwertlein, as the Devil greets her in preparation for announcing to her the cheerful news, "Your husband is dead, Madame, and greets you." While Méphisto occupies Marthe, Faust and Marguerite have a moment to themselves, but as I say, we're skipping over the whole of the quartet.

Finally the soon-to-be lovers are left alone, with eventually catastrophic consequences for poor Marguerite, but not for Faust, who has one sweet time, and especially not for the Devil, for whom everything is working out according to plan. He pronounces a tingling invocation. We're going to hear it again in the click-through, but let's start at the top with the great Ezio Pinza.

Faust: Act III, Invocation, Méphistophélès, "Il était temps" . . . "O nuit, étends sur eux ton ombre"

Not a moment too soon! Beneath the dark boughs
Our lovers are wending their way back. 'Tis fine!
I must take care not to disturb such tender effusions.

O night, extend your shadow over them!
Love, make their ears deaf to untimely remorse!
And you, subtly scented flowers,
Bloom under this accursed hand of mine
And put the last touch to Marguerite's undoing!
[He vanishes as FAUST and MARGUERITE return.]

Ezio Pinza (bs), Méphistophélès; Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, Wilfred Pelletier, cond. Live performance, March 16, 1940


TO PROCEED TO THE REST OF OUR
FAUST EXCERPTS TODAY, CLICK HERE.

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Sunday Classics preview: Méphisto's masterstroke is slipping that mirror in with the jewels for Marguerite

This is what happens when you have a director too lazy, stupid, dishonest, or just plain contemptuous of the work he's staging. From a 1985 Vienna State Opera production we have Marguerite's "Roi de Thulé," sung quite nicely by the fine Czech soprano Gabriela Beňačková and decently conducted by Erich Binder, but staged as part of some other story -- a quite uninteresting-looking story -- concocted by director Ken Russell.

Recitative
I would really like to know who this young man was,
if he's a great lord, and what his name is.
Aria
“There once was a king of Thulé,
who, faithful unto the grave,
kept in memory of his beloved.
A cup of chiseled gold -- “
[She interrupts her song.]
He bore himself well, it seemed to me.
[She resumes her song.]
“No treasure had so many charms!
On great occasions he used it,
and every time he drank from it
his eyes filled with tears!

"When he felt Death coming,
stretched out on his cold bed,
to carry it up to his mouth
his hand made a supreme effort!”
[Again she interrupts her song.]
I hardly knew what to say, and I blushed at first.
[She resumes her song.]
“And then, in honor of his lady,
he drank one last time;
the cup trembled in his fingers,
and gently he gave up his soul."

by Ken

In last night's preview I tried to introduce the sound world of Gounod's Faust, working from the title character's aria outside Marguerite's "chaste and pure" little house early in the Garden Scene (Act III). The stage is set now for one of the great soprano showcases in the operatic literature, the heroine's double aria, "There was once a king of Thulé" and the spectacular Jewel Song.

The overall form of this double aria is actually quite similar to the game plan for Violetta's bravura Act I-ending scene, which we heard two weeks ago:

* a brief meditative opening recitative pondering the immediate idea in the heroine's head, in this case Marguerite's lingering fascination with the fancy-pants stranger she met at the Kermesse in Act II;

* a basically slow, reflective aria, in this case the innocent young romantic Marguerite recalling the story of the king of Thulé's lifelong devotion to his lost love, interspersed with continued pondering of the mysterious stranger;

* back to recitative, for further contemplation of the situation mixed with new circumstances, in this case Marguerite's discovery of the casket of jewels left for her by Méphisto, which launches her on --

* a brilliant fast second aria, in this case the spectacular Jewel Song.

Here's Renée Fleming singing the Jewel Song in concert:

[MARGUERITE puts on the earrings, stands up, and looks at herself in the mirror.]
Ah! I laugh seeing myself
so pretty in this mirror!
Is it you, Marguerite?
Answer me, answer quickly!
No, no, it's no longer you,
It's no longer your face!
This is the daughter of a king,
To whom everyone bows as she passes.
Ah, if only he were here!
If only he could see me this way!
He would find me as beautiful
As a young lady!
Let's complete the metamorphosis!
I've put off trying on
the bracelet and this necklace!
[She puts on the necklace first, then the bracelet. Rising.]
God! It feels like a hand weighing down on me.

Ah! I laugh seeing myself &c.

TO HEAR THE BIG SCENE SUNG BY VALERIE MASTERSON,
GABRIELLA TUCCI, AND HILDE GUEDEN, CLICK HERE.

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Sunday Classics preview: In which we tune into the sound world of Gounod's "Faust," via Faust's aria

For next season's new production of Faust at the Met: "Tony Award-winning director Des McAnuff updates the story to the first half of the 20th century with a production that won praise in London last season." (To view the promo clip, go to this link.)

by Ken

You may recall that we have unfinished business with our seemingly endless ongoing Valerie Masterson project: We were going to hear her sing a bit of Marguerite in Gounod's Faust. By coincidence, the Met has just announced its 2011-12 season, which is to include a "new" (by way of Covent Garden) production of the opera, "updated to the first half of the 20th century," as noted above.

Now I'm not saying that this updating can't work -- there are too many issues involved to warrant any assumptions. I'm just suggesting that the participants are either ignoring or trying to finesse, presumably for the benefit of Romantic-resistant modern audiences, the era of the music, which is High Romantic grand opera. I feel strongly that such music can speak to a contemporary audience as powerfully as it ever did, but I think there's a problem in pretending that it is other than what it is. Which is why I thought we'd push Valerie M's Marguerite back to tomorrow night and Sunday's main post, and start by hearing how, proximately, we get to the big solo scene we'll hear tomorrow night, in the Garden Scene of Act III, set outside the humble little house where Marguerite has grown up and lives.

So tonight we're going to hear Faust sing to that house, "chaste and pure," in the ravishing and extremely hard to sing tenor aria "Salut, demeure chaste et pure." I think we may actually hear some of the opera's opening scene, in which we witness poor old Dr. Faust make his bargain with the Devil -- his soul in exchange for the magic of youth. The deal-clincher is the image Méphistophélès conjures of the ravishing, pure maiden Marguerite.

The rejuvenated Faust's first effort to woo the maiden not having accomplished much, Méphisto brings him to this humble dwelling, with a diabolical game plan we'll learn more about tomorrow night. In "Salut, demeure," Faust isn't exactly the confident romantic conquistador. For starters we're going to hear just the aria, shorn of its gorgeous introductory recitative, sung by perhaps the greatest Faust of the era of recordings, Caruso. Faust was one of the great roles of his early career, and he actually recorded a fair amount of it on early 78s, mostly in 1906. Unfortunately a 78 side could accommodate only the aria, and the recitative is too brief to have warranted stretching to a second side, so Caruso recorded only the aria.

GOUNOD: Faust: Act III, Aria, Faust, "Salut, demeure chaste et pure"

Hail, chaste and pure dwelling,
Where can be felt the presence
of an innocent and divine soul.
What richness in this poverty!
In this hideaway, what felicity!
What richness in this poverty!
In this hideaway, what felicity!

O nature!
It's there that you made her so beautiful.
It's there that this child slept under your wing,
grew up under your eyes.
There that, your breath
enveloping her soul,
with love you made
the woman blossom
into this angel of the heavens!

Hail, chaste and pure dwelling &c.

Enrico Caruso (t), Faust; orchestra. Victor, recorded Feb. 13, 1906


TO HEAR FAUST'S RECITATIVE AND ARIA SUNG
BY A GALAXY OF STARRY TENORS, CLICK HERE.

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[2/20/2011] On the Devil's cue, Faust and Marguerite come together, and damn the consequences (continued)

I know we haven't quite gotten to Faust and Marguerite's coming together, but in case you were thinking there was a chance in hell this might end happily, here's Faust, backed up by the Devil, trying to rescue the deranged Marguerite in prison for the murder of her illegitimate baby. This is the 1985 Philadelphia production we've been hearing with Valerie Masterson as Marguerite, Alain Vanzo as Faust, and James Morris as Méphistophélès, Serge Baudo conducting.


BEFORE WE PROCEED WITH THE GARDEN SCENE, AS
YOU KNOW, WE HAVE TO GO BACK TO THE BEGINNING

I indicated in the previews that we might spend some time with the opening scene of Faust. It is, for me, one of the great expressions of existential angst in the creative literature, and therefore, although the scene isn't that long, it's just too weighty an undertaking for a quick hit, so instead I'm going to combine our usual rehearing of the very opening of the opera with just a glimpse of the opening scene.

First we hear Giuseppe di Stefano, from the same 1949 Faust as the "Salut, demeure" we heard Friday night. Then we hear a very respectable more modern performance by Richard Leech. Then we hear Franco Corelli, lousy French and all, for the sheer caliber of the voice. Finally, minus the orchestral introduction but going a bit farther into the scene, we hear Georges Thill, whom we also heard singing "Salut, demeure" Friday.

Faust: Orchestral Introduction and beginning of Opening Scene

Faust's study. It is daybreak. FAUST is seated in front of a table littered with parchments. A book is open in front of him.

Nothing!
In vain I interrogate, in my ardent old age,
nature and the Creator.
Not one voice whispers in my ear
a consoling word.
I have languished sad and solitary,
I have languished sad and solitary,
without being able to break the link
that attaches me to the earth.
I see nothing! I know nothing!
Nothing! Nothing!
[He closes the book and stands up.]
The sky grows pale;
in the face of the new dawn
somber night vanishes.
Another day! Another day that torments!
O Death! when will you come
to shelter me under your wing?
[He pours the contents of a flask into a cup.]
Hail! O my last morning!
Hail! O my last morning!
I arrive without terror
at the limit of my journey,
and I am, with this drink,
the sole master of my destiny
[As he brings the cup to his lips, women's voices reach him from outside.]

Giuseppe di Stefano (t), Faust; Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, Wilfred Pelletier, cond. Live performance, Dec. 31, 1949
Richard Leech (t), Faust; Orchestra of the Capitole de Toulouse, Michel Plasson, cond. EMI, recorded Feb. 15-28, 1991
Franco Corelli (t), Faust; London Symphony Orchestra, Richard Bonynge, cond. Decca, recorded 1966
Minus the Orchestral Introduction: Georges Thill (t), Faust; orchestra, Eugène Bigot, cond. Pathé, recorded 1930


NOW BACK TO THE GARDEN SCENE DUET

Well, not quite to the duet just yet. First we have decidedly wayward "specialty" versions -- in French, but by unmistakably foreign basses: a live recording from a 1928 Covent Garden performance by the great Russian Feodor Chaliapin, and a 1927 recording by the great bass-baritone Michael Bohnen (not heard at his best, especially in French; don't ask me what the deal is with those trilled "r"s -- and at the end surely he's reverted to the German form "Margarete" instead of "Marguerite"), and then a recording in German by Gottlob Frick.

Faust: Act III, Invocation, Méphistophélès, "Il etait temps" . . . "O nuit, étends sur eux ton ombre"

Not a moment too soon! Beneath the dark boughs
Our lovers are wending their way back. 'Tis fine!
I must take care not to disturb such tender effusions.

O night, spread over them your dark veil!
Love, make their ears deaf to untimely remorse!
And you, subtly scented flowers,
Bloom under this accursed hand of mine
And put the last touch to Marguerite's undoing!
[He vanishes as FAUST and MARGUERITE return.]

Feodor Chaliapin (bs), Méphistophélès; Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, Eugene Goossens, cond. EMI, recorded live, June 22, 1928
Michael Bohnen (bs-b), Méphistophélès; orchestra. Brunswick, recorded 1927
In German: Gottlob Frick (bs), Méphistophélès; Orchestra of the Deutsche Oper Berlin, Wilhelm Schüchter, cond. Eurodisc, recorded in the early '60s

Now we have two more "standard" performances: by the Bulgarian bass Nicolai Ghiaurov in his vocally luxurious prime; then, from the 1966 Met performance we've been tracking, the Puerto Rican-born bass-baritone Justino Díaz.

Nicolai Ghaiurov (bs), Méphistophélès; London Symphony Orchestra, Richard Bonynge, cond. Decca, recorded 1966
Justino Diaz (bs-b), Méphistophélès; Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, Alain Lombard, cond. Live performance, Dec. 24, 1966

On cue, Marguerite and Faust reenter.

Faust: Act III, Duet, Marguerite and Faust, "Il se fait tard," to end of act

MARGUERITE: It is late now . . Farewell . . .
FAUST [detaining her]: What? Must I plead in vain?
Wait!
[A]: track 1, ; [B]: 0:22
Let your hand linger in mine!
Let me gaze on your face
Under the pale beams
Through which your beauty shines, as though
Through a cloud, caressed by the moon.
MARGUERITE: O silence! Happiness! Unutterable mystery!
Rapturous languor!
I listen and I understand this solitary voice
Which sings inside my heart!
[A]: track 1, ; [B]: 2:18
Pray allow me . . .
[She plucks a daisy.]
FAUST: What is all this?
MARGUERITE: A childish game!
Please, allow me!
FAUST: What are your lips whispering?
MARGUERITE [plucking the daisy]: Loves me! Loves me not!
Loves me! Not! Loves me! Not! Loves me!
FAUST: Yes, believe this flower, blooming under your feet!
Let your heart hear it as the voice of heaven itself!
He loves you!
Do you understand this sweet and sublime word?
To love! To carry in our hearts
A constantly renewed flame!
To be forever drunk with eternal bliss!
[A]: track 2; [B]: 3:22
FAUST and MARGUERITE: Eternal! Eternal!
[A]: track 2, ; [B]: 3:57
FAUST: O night of love, radiant sky,
O sweet transports!
Silent bliss
Instils heaven
Into both our souls!
[A]: track 2, ; [B]: 4:30
MARGUERITE: I want to love and worship you!
Speak again! I am yours!
I adore you! I would die for you!
FAUST: Marguerite.
MARGUERITE: Ah, you must leave!
FAUST: Cruel girl!
MARGUERITE": I can hardly bear it!
FAUST: Must I then part from you ?
MARGUERITE [entreating him]: Leave me!
Ah, you must go, yes, at once!
I tremble, alas, I am afraid!
Please, do not break
Marguerite's heart! etc.
FAUST: You want me to leave you!
See how unhappy I am! . . . Alas!
[A]: track 2, ; [B]: 5:50
Marguerite! Marguerite!
You are breaking my heart!
I beseech you!
MARGUERITE: If you love me...
FAUST: Marguerite!
MARGUERITE: By your love, by this avowal
Which I should not have spoken,
Give in to my plea,
Give in to my wishes!
You must go, yes, etc.
FAUST : You want me, alas, to leave you, etc.
[A]: track 2, ; [B]: 7:39
Divine purity!
Chaste innocence,
Whose power
Triumphs over my will!
I obey. But tomorrow...
MARGUERITE: Yes, tomorrow, as soon as day breaks!
Tomorrow! For ever!
FAUST: Just one more word!
Repeat once more this sweet avowal.
You love me?
MARGUERITE [breaks free, runs to her door and turns to blow him a kiss]: Farewell!
[She runs into the cottage.]
FAUST: Heavenly bliss! Ah, let's go!
[A]: track 3; [B]: 9:07
MEPHISTOPHELES: Madcap!
FAUST: You were listening to us?
MEPHISTOPHELES: And a good thing too!
You stand in sore need
Of some more schooling, doctor!
FAUST: Leave me alone!
MEPHISTOPHELES: Pray, just listen for a moment
To what she has to tell the stars,
Dear master.
[A]: track 3, ; [B]: 9:48
Look! She is opening her window!
[Marguerite stands at the window.]
MARGUERITE: He loves me! My heart is in a turmoil!
The bird is singing, the wind rustling,
All the voices of Nature
Seem to chorus in my ear:
"He loves you!". Ah, how sweet life is!
Heaven smiles at me, the air intoxicates me!
Does the leaf shake and flutter
With pleasure and with love?
Tomorrow! Ah, hurry back,
Dear beloved! Come!
FAUST [rushes to the window and grasps Marguerite's hand] Marguerite!
MARGUERITE: Ah! . . .
MEPHISTOPHELES: Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha!

[A]
Geraldine Farrar (s), Marguerite; Enrico Caruso (t), Faust; Marcel Journet (bs), Méphistophélès; orchestra. Victor, recorded January 1910
[B]
Gabriella Tucci (s), Marguerite; John Alexander (t), Faust; Justino Díaz (bs-b), Méphistophélès; Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, Alain Lombard, cond. Live performance, Dec. 24, 1966

If you've been waiting to hear Valerie Masterson -- who got us into this whole Faust business in the first place -- singing this scene, here she is. This time let's hear this whole chunk, with Méphisto's "Invocation" running into the duet, and on to the end of the act.

Faust: Act III, Invocation, Méphistophélès, "Il était temps" . . . "O nuit, étends sur eux ton ombre!" . . . Duet, Marguerite and Faust, "Il se fait tard," to end of act

Valerie Masterson (s), Marguerite; Alain Vanzo (t), Faust; James Morris (bs-b), Méphistophélès; Orchestra of the Opera Company of Philadelphia, Serge Baudo, cond. Live performance, 1985


RETURN TO THE BEGINNING OF THE POST

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[2/19/2011] Preview: Méphisto's masterstroke is slipping that mirror in with the jewels for Marguerite (continued)

Now it's Mirella Freni's turn to discover those fabulous jewels left for her as a trap by the Devil.


OF COURSE WE STILL HAVE TO HEAR
THE OPERA'S ORCHESTRAL INTRO AGAIN

And tonight we're going to hear it conducted by an old friend of Sunday Classics, Pierre Monteux, from one of his three Met broadcasts of Faust, and by the conductor of our 1966 Met Faust, though not from that performance but from his 1976 Erato studio recording of the opera. Note that the Monteux performance isn't as broad as the timing might suggest: The CD editor has tacked the orchestral introduction to the opening scene, almost up to Faust's first word ("Rien!" -- "Nothing!"), onto the Orchestral Introduction. The Lombard performance, however, is as broad as the very lengthy timing would indicate.

Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, Pierre Monteux, cond. Live performance, Feb. 19, 1955
Strasbourg Philharmonic Orchestra, Alain Lombard, cond. Erato, recorded 1976


NOW TO MARGUERITE'S BIG SCENE

We're going to start off with Valerie Masterson as Marguerite. Then, from the same 1966 broadcast as the John Alexander "Salut, demeure" we had last night, we hear the underappreciated Gabriella Tucci (born 1929), whose full-bodied lyric soprano possessed just about every vocal excellence except an instantly recognizable sound. Finally we hear the lovely Viennese lyric-coloratura soprano Hilde Gueden (1917-1988).

GOUNOD: Faust: Act III, Marguerite, Recitative, "Je voudrais bien savoir" . . . Aria, "Il était un roi de Thulé" . . . Recitative, "Les grands seigneurs ont seuls des airs si résolus" . . . Aria, "Ah! je ris de me voir"

MARGUERITE
Recitative
I would really like to know who this young man was,
if he's a great lord, and what his name is.
Aria
“There once was a king of Thulé,
who, faithful unto the grave,
kept in memory of his beloved.
A cup of chiseled gold -- “
[She interrupts her song.]
He bore himself well, it seemed to me.
[She resumes her song.]
“No treasure had so many charms!
On great occasions he used it,
and every time he drank from it
his eyes filled with tears!

"When he felt Death coming,
stretched out on his cold bed,
to carry it up to his mouth
his hand made a supreme effort!”
[Again she interrupts her song.]
I hardly knew what to say, and I blushed at first.
She resumes her song.[
“And then, in honor of his lady,
he drank one last time;
the cup trembled in his fingers,
and gently he gave up his soul."
Recitative
None but great lords have such a resolute air
with that gentleness.
Come, let's not think about it anymore!
Dear Valentin, if God hears me,
I shall see you again.
Here I am quite alone!
[At the moment of entering the pavillon, she notices the bouquet hanging on the door.]
A bouquet?
[She picks up the bouquet.]
From Siebel, no doubt. Poor boy!
[Noticing the casket.]
What do I see there?
Where could this rich casket have come from?
I don't dare touch it, and yet . . .
Here's the key, I think!
If I were to open it? My hand trembles! Why?
I'm not, in opening it, doing anything wrong, I think.
[She opens the casket, and lets the bouquet fall.]
O God! What jewels!
Is it a lovely dream
that blows me away, or am I awake?
My eyes have never seen such riches.
[She places the open casket on a chair and kneels.]
If only I dared
Adorn myself, for a moment,
With these earrings!
[She takes a pair of earrings out of the casket.]
Ah! here indeed
at the bottom of the casket,
a mirror! How
not to be a coquette?
[She puts on the earrings, stands, and looks at herself in the mirror.]
Aria (Jewel Song)
Ah! I laugh seeing myself
so pretty in this mirror!
Is it you, Marguerite?
Answer me, answer quickly!
No, no, it's no longer you,
It's no longer your face!
This is the daughter of a king,
To whom everyone bows as she passes.
Ah, if only he were here!
If only he could see me this way!
He would find me as beautiful
As a young lady!
Let's complete the metamorphosis!
I've put off trying on
the bracelet and this necklace!
[She puts on the necklace first, then the bracelet. Rising.]
God! It feels like a hand weighing down on me.

Ah! I laugh seeing myself &c.

Valerie Masterson (s), Marguerite; Orchestra of the Opera Company of Philadelphia, Serge Baudo, cond. Ponto, recorded live, 1985
Gabriella Tucci (s), Marguerite; Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, Alain Lombard, cond.
Live performance, Dec. 24, 1966
[Note: Sorry about those couple of technical glitches in the opening line of the "Roi de Thulé" in what's generally a pretty good source.]
Hilde Gueden (s), Marguerite; Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, Jean Morel, cond. Live performance, Jan. 4, 1958


IN TOMORROW'S SUNDAY CLASSICS POST

Finally Faust and Marguerite are left alone together. Is it the most beautiful love duet ever written? Maybe not, or maybe. It is, more than anything, supremely what it is, and tomorrow we try to get a handle on what it is.


RETURN TO THE BEGINNING OF THE POST

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[1/18/2011] Preview: In which we tune into the sound world of Gounod's "Faust," via Faust's aria (continued)

And this, it appears, is how Dr. Faust's laboratory will appear in the opening scene of the Met's new-by-way-of-Covent Garden Faust.


BEFORE WE LISTEN TO ANY MORE OF FAUST,
YOU KNOW WHAT WE HAVE TO HEAR . . .

We're a long way from the opening of the opera, here in the Garden Scene of Act III, but you know we plunge reluctantly into operas without hearing how they start. So here's the orchestral introduction to Faust.

Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, Sir Thomas Beecham, cond. Live performance, Jan. 30, 1943
Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Sir Colin Davis, cond. Philips, recorded February 1986


NOW, BACK TO "SALUT, DEMEURE"

From consecutive Decembers, 1949 and 1950, we hear first the refulgent-voiced young Giuseppe di Stefano and then the incomparable Swede Jussi Bjoerling. While Bjoerling did record a sprinkling of arias, including "Salut, demeure," in French, he reportedly refused to make complete recording any of his French roles -- and Gounod's Faust and Roméo were two of his greatest -- because he didn't want critics attacking his French. In fact, as you'll hear, it was pretty darned good. (I see, by the way, that Sony has initiated a new series of Met broadcast issues which includes the famous 1947 Sayão-Bjoerling Gounod Roméo et Juliette.)

Content note: The CD track that contains the di Stefano-Pelletier performance continues on with the brief Faust-Méphisto exchange on up to the point of Marguerite's entrance, which is where we'll pick up in tomorrow night's preview. The Bjoerling-Cleva performance, for which I made my own digital file, stops before the applause that greeted the aria, which -- trust me -- was ample.

GOUNOD: Faust: Act III, Recitative and Aria, Faust, "Quel trouble inconnu me pénètre" . . . "Salut, demeure chaste et pure"

Recitative
What unknown trouble penetrates my heart.
I feel love taking possession of my soul.
O Marguerite, at your feet here I am!

Aria
Hail, chaste and pure dwelling,
Where can be felt the presence
of an innocent and divine soul.
What richness in this poverty!
In this hideaway, what felicity!
What richness in this poverty!
In this hideaway, what felicity!

O nature!
It's there that you made her so beautiful.
It's there that this child slept under your wing,
grew up under your eyes.
There that, your breath
enveloping her soul,
with love you made
the woman blossom
into this angel of the heavens!

Hail, chaste and pure dwelling &c.

Giuseppe di Stefano (t), Faust; Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, Wilfred Pelletier, cond. Live performance, Dec. 31, 1949
Jussi Bjoerling (t), Faust; Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, Fausto Cleva, cond. Live performance, Dec. 23, 1950

AND NOW, JUST BECAUSE WE CAN . . .

. . . and, well, for fun, let's jump ahead nearly a decade and hear how di Stefano (in a 1958-ish studio recital recording of the aria, his Faust-ing days being well behind him, I believe) and Bjoerling (from a 1959 Faust broadcast) were holding up. Actually, not badly in either case. For the 1958-vintage di Stefano the aria can't have been easy, and he does insist on his rather than Gounod's rhythms, but he still manages better pretty darned well. Bjoerling, meanwhile, less than a year from his untimely death, is sounding if anything better in 1959 than in 1950.

Giuseppe di Stefano (t), Faust; Tonhalle Orchestra (Zurich), Franco Patané, cond. Decca, recorded c1958
Jussi Bjoerling (t), Faust; Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, Jean Morel, cond. Live performance, Dec. 19, 1959

Of course a great native French-speaking tenor can make the sound as well as sense of the words a potent weapon in his expressive arsenal. That said, it would be hard to imagine two tenors more unlike than the radiant Georges Thill and the less elegant but vibrantly plain-spoken Corsican César Vezzani. (The Vezzani performance is from the complete 1930 recording of Faust with Marcel Journet, who had been the Méphisto of Victor's 1906 recordings of Faust excerpts with Caruso and Geraldine Farrar, in the role.)

You'll note that Thill does something absolutely extraordinary here, and almost brings it off: He attacks the high C softly, kind of the way Gounod wrote it. For even upper-caliber tenors it's a formidable enough task just to land a ringing high C; the more sensitive among them may attack it in full voice and then, if all goes well, taper the volume off to a more appropriate sound. Thill doesn't fudge it at all, and produces a very different effect with the moment.

Georges Thill (t), Faust; orchestra, Eugène Bigot, cond. Pathé, recorded March 6, 1930
César Vezzani (t), Faust; Paris Opera Orchestra, Henri Büsser, cond. Pathé, recorded 1930

Finally, it may seem unfair to toss him in with this competition, but I think the enormously likable American John Alexander, who made regrettably few recordings (the only operatic role I can think of is Pollione in the first Sutherland Norma) holds his own very nicely, I think, though the French is decidedly so-so. (Tomorrow night and Sunday we're going to continue listening through the Garden Scene from this Faust, with Gabriella Tucci as Marguerite and Justino Díaz as Méphisto. And if we get into the opera's opening scene on Sunday, we may well hear Alexander and Díaz do that too.)

John Alexander (t), Faust; Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, Alain Lombard, cond. Live performance, Dec. 24, 1966


IN TOMORROW NIGHT'S PREVIEW . . .

Méphisto executes his plan to attract Marguerite's attention for Faust. Then on Sunday we hear the plan come to fruition.


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