This was a splendid
night at the Met’s French Wing. The
two leads were both Belgian – the veteran
René Maison, or so we like to
think of him but he was actually only
forty-two at the time - and Ghent-born
Vina Bovy who was in the middle of her
very short two-year engagement at the
Met. In later life she became Director
of the Ghent Royal Opera. Then there’s
Tibbett whose French pronunciation is
bluff to say the least but whose powerful
projection is secure at all times. The
Italian comprimario Angelo Badà
makes a fine showing and the Russian
Irra Petina (who lived to be ninety-three,
dying over a decade ago) spent many
years at the Met and was a reliable
and able musician. Supervising all is
Maurice de (the de was dropped
later) Abravanel, at one time the youngest
ever conductor at the Met.
Firstly, the sound
quality. It’s good: maybe slightly recessed
and occasionally scuffy but basically
unproblematic. There are moments of
aural distortion and other ancillary
concerns that should be noted. In the
Prologue (track 4 Dans les roles)
there’s a bit of a blizzard of acetate
damage for a little while and there’s
more of the same and a complete break
up in Act I Tu me fuis? (Track
nineteen) and more scuffs in Act II
Morbleu! (CD II track 3). There
are in fact similar small occurrences
throughout but veterans of operatic
broadcasts of this vintage will have
heard much, much worse. The pleasures
far outweigh the problems. This is a
set that was released not so long ago
on Naxos and derived from Bovy’s acetates;
this one comes from an alternative source,
NBC’s own 16" transcription discs.
The Guild, as is company wont, also
includes commentaries and curtain calls,
giving period flavour to the proceedings.
It’s something I happen to like but
other companies, such as Naxos, generally
don’t.
Maison floats his top
notes with great skill (Il etait
une fois) but can get Wagnerian
metal into the voice when required as
in Je vous dis moi to conclude
the Prologue. The voice itself I find
exceptionally sympathetic in this role
– forward, focused, subtly deployed.
Bovy is superb – it’s remarkable to
think her Met career was so short. Her
dynamics in Les oiseaux are compellingly
deployed, the technique is cast iron
and the trill is immaculate; her impersonation
is theatrically and vocally highly impressive.
Listen to their duet in Act II Malhereux,
mais tu ne sais donc pas where helped
by the conductor’s energising warmth
the two display increasing urgency of
declamation. Maison’s ardency is matched
by Bovy’s clarity and incremental increase
in theatrical pressure; really fine
musicianship. Tibbett takes a little
time to warm up and he tends to bark
early on but grows in command and menace
and by the time we reach Pour conjurer
le danger in Act III he’s exhibiting
all his accustomed power and theatrical
menace. Angelo Badà raises a
laugh with his hoarse games as Frantz
in his Act III Jour et nuit and
the excellent Petrina impresses with
her immaculate trill and clarity of
projection. It’s a shame that the recording
tends to cover Bovy’s exquisitely soft
singing toward the end of Act III but
certainly enough remains to mark this
down as a memorable impersonation.
As I said this was
a splendid night and its restoration
has been accomplished with skill and
care, notwithstanding the obvious aural
considerations. And how amazing, and
regrettable, is the fact that the two
leads have sunk so low in the race memory
of operagoers. As we have discovered
from Maison’s Wagner at the Met it is
high time for a reappraisal.
Jonathan Woolf
Chorus and Orchestra of the Metropolitan Opera/Maurice
Abravanel 
