Jennie Tourel was born in Russia and fled, with her
family, to France, via Danzig, at the time of the Bolshevik Revolution.
It was in Danzig where, according to Malcolm Walker’s brief but informative
note, Jennie made her first stage appearances. However, it was in Paris
that her career took off, first with the ‘Opéra Russe’, and then
from 1933 to 1939 at the ‘Opéra Comique’ where she sang over
two hundred performances of Carmen as well as appearing as Charlotte,
Cherubino and Mignon. It was in the latter role that she first appeared
at the New York ‘Met’ in1937. She escaped from France to the United
States at the outbreak of World War Two and sang at both the ‘Met’ and
‘City Opera’. In 1951 she created the role of ‘Baba the Turk’ in a cast
including Schwarzkopf as Anne Trulove. By that time, however, Tourel
concentrated on recitals in which she built up a worldwide reputation.
Jennie Tourel’s justifiable reputation was based on
the beauty of her true mezzo voice, with its span of three octaves,
and the characterization she brought to her singing. I should also add,
her facility in English, French and Russian, all of which are heard
here. Her Carmen ‘Habanera’ and ‘Séguidille’ are even in tone,
vivacious and sensual (tr 8-9). Equally impressive is her 1952 rendering
of Rossini’s ‘Bel raggio’ (tr 3). In this demanding aria her coloratura
is secure and the voice even. In the succeeding ‘Una voce poco fa’ (tr
4) from the same series of sessions, she takes the runs and high notes
with pinpoint accuracy and without aspiration, which is nowadays a far
too common fault among singers.
The secure foundation of Tourel’s technique secured
her a renowned place on the concert platform in Europe and the United
States, and it is her singing from her concert repertoire on this disc
that really enables this generation to appreciate what a great singer
she was. The variety of nuance, tone and character she could bring to
a song are well illustrated by Haydn’s ‘Mermaid Song, (tr 1), Chopin’s
‘Zyczinie’ (tr 5) with it’s lovely soft singing, and Ravel’s ‘Vocalise’
(tr 11) where her chest register is formidably sonorous; all the excerpts
are examples of legato allied to expression.
In my review,
elsewhere on this site, of the disc devoted to Tourel in Decca’s ‘Singers
Series’, I regretted not finding any other discs of the singer’s art
available in the U.K. This issue with its clear forward remastering
is an excellent addition to her available discography. Can we hope for
a Volume 2? In her prime she made many recordings and Naxos have a good
reputation in this respect, but it all depends on commercial reality.
I suggest all lovers of great singing should add this disc to their
collection.
Robert J Farr
Jennie Tourel
