Jules MASSENET
(1843-1912)
Manon – En fermant les yeux
Werther – Pourquoi me reveiller
Edouard LALO
(1823-1892)
Le Roi d’Ys – Vraiment ma bien aimée
Benjamin GODARD
(1849-1895)
Jocelyn – Berceuse
Dante – Nous allons partir with Geraldine
Farrar (soprano)
Georges BIZET
(1838-1875)
Les Pêcheurs de perles – Au fond
du temple saint with Marcel Journet
(bass)
Giacomo MEYERBEER
(1791-1864)
Robert le Diable – Du rendez-vous with
Marcel Journet (bass)
Charles GOUNOD
(1818-1893)
Roméo et Juliette – Ange adorable
with Geraldine Farrar (soprano)
Arrigo BOITO (1842-1918)
Mefistofele – Lontano, lontano with
Geraldine Farrar (soprano)
Jean-Baptiste
LULLY (1632-1687)
Amadis de Gaule – Bois Epais
Francois-Adrien
BOIELDIEU (1775-1834)
La Dame Blanche – Viens, gentille dame
Jules MASSENET
(1843-1912)
Manon – Le rêve
Manon – Ah fuyez, douce image
Werther – O nature
Werther – Pourquoi me réveiller
Leo DELIBES
(1836-1891)
Lakmé – Fantasie, aux divins
mensonges
Lakmé – Viens, dans la forêt
profonde
André MESSAGER
(1853-1929)
La Basoche – Je suis aiméde la
plus belle
La Basoche – A ton amour
La Basoche – Villanelle quand tu connaitras
Colette
La Mage – Soulève l’ombre de
ses voiles
Pietro MASCAGNI
(1863-1945)
Cavalleria rusticana – Sicilienne
Jean-Baptiste
LULLY (1632-1687)
Au clair de la lune with Geraldine
Farrar (soprano)
Jules MASSENET
(1843-1912)
Sonnet matinal
BEMBERG
Ca fait peur
Il neige
WECKERLIN
Bergère légère
PESSARD
L’adieu du matin
ARCADET
En passant par la Lorraine
Robert SCHUMANN
(1810-1856)
Sous ta fenêtre with Geraldine
Farrar (soprano)
FAURE
Les Rameaux
WECKERLIN
Jeunes fillettes
L’amour s’envole
Hector BERLIOZ
(1803-1869)
Les nuits d’été – L’absence
Claude DEBUSSY
(1862-1918)
Romance
Green
ANONYMOUS
Les Filles de la Rochelle
BEMBERG
Il neige
Gabriel FAURÉ
(1845-1924)
Clair de lune
Poéme d’un jour; Adieu
Franz SCHUBERT
(1797-1828)
Die Forelle (as La truite)
Francesco CAVALLI
(1602-1676)
Fuyez, jeunes filles
DUBOIS
Rondel
ROUBAUD
Il est d’étranges soirs
Reynaldo HAHN
(1874-1947)
Mai
Cimitière de campagne
D’une prison
PAËR
Hélas, c’est près de vous
Edvard GRIEG
(1843-1907)
Je t’aime
WIDOR
Il primo amore
Charles KOECHLIN
(1867-1950)
Si tu le veux
BARBIROLLI
Je ne veux que des fleurs
Giovanni Battista
MARTINI (1706-1784)
Plaisir d’amour
Edmond Clément
(1867-1928) was one of the leading French
lyric tenors of his generation. Though
on stage he remained somewhat circumscribed
in his roles – Hoffmann, Don José
and the established lyric assumptions
– he did sing in the premieres of Gounod’s
Mireille and Pierné’s
La Fille de Tabarain. His early
base was the Opéra-Comique and
the Salle Favart, with temporary excursions
to the Met (in 1909 in the roles in
which he was most admired, Werther,
Des Grieux, Fenton) and Boston. He continued
his opera and recital appearances until
1927, dying the following year.
He recorded quite extensively
and as a result maybe Clément
tends to be taken for granted. Nevertheless
his was an uncommonly fine voice that
reveals many beauties and subtleties
characteristic of that now extinct breed,
the French lyric tenor. He was certainly
an expressive singer – this was noted
by his contemporaries – and had superb
diction, which was never foisted on
the listener or over-italicised. He
had command of coloratura with a sound
technique to support it and good breath
control. He was a master of rubato (see
the sides with Farrar who is not quite
his equal at it, at least here) and
of rallentando and the voice, whilst
clearly small, was equally clearly capable
of projection. If the Met didn’t re-engage
him after 1910 it may have had more
to do with the vogue for Italian tenors
and repertoire than any limitations
in Clément’s voice or stage magnetism
(though it is undeniable that he must
have lacked the sheer heroism and heft
of his Italian counterparts).
Malibran have compiled
a two CD set of his Victors and Pathés.
They therefore only come into partial
competition with Marston which has released
a similar 2 CD set but containing the
complete Victors and Odéons.
The Victors (1911-13) therefore overlap
but the rest of the set differs, Marston
going for the earlier recordings made
in 1905 and Malibran concentrating on
the later Pathés (1916-26). Highlights
here? Too many to mention but let’s
consider a few. I mentioned excellent
breath control earlier so I must immediately
contradict myself and say that it’s
not under such control in the extract
from the Victor Manon – but what a personable
singer he is and despite the sense of
strain in the higher register what an
elegant and attractive performance this
is. Similarly his Godard Jocelyn, much
mucked about by slithering string players,
retains in Clément’s performance
a rather beautiful and unsullied lyricism
and genuine sense of legato. The Boito
duet with Farrar is equally special;
he managing to provoke feeling rather
more than she, the voices – perhaps
improbably – matching well together.
His Messager shows the sheer elegance
and nobility that he could cultivate,
the 1913 Victor of the Lully meanwhile
emphasising his sovereign command of
pacing and rubato.
Bemberg’s Ca fait
peur aux oiseaux has drunk deeply
from Reynaldo Hahn – or maybe the influence
was the other way around - and brings
with it intimacy and a kind of keening
head voice (his head voice was not always
perfect but it was invariably sensitively
deployed). His Arcadet shows the jaunty,
masculine side of Clément’s nature
and he can easily encompass the folkloric
charm of Weckerlin as well as the desolate
strangeness of parts of Roubaud’s Il
est d’étranges soirs. His
Hahn has plenty of brio and style and
the more famous settings by French contemporaries
are all idiomatically and convincingly
enunciated.
Generally the copies
are good though there is wear on some
of the 1916-19 Pathés and I can’t
say they’re state of the restorative
art. If you need to make a decision
between Malibran and Marston one would
point out that Malibran’s notes consist
of a concise but small paragraph whereas
Marston’s sports a full booklet and
that on balance theirs are the better
transfers. However Malibran give us
a later set of recordings and they’re
not noticeably inferior in terms of
technique or temperament. Maybe this
is a suitable case for the Clément
completist needing to have them both.
Jonathan Woolf
With Frank La Forge (piano) and other unidentified
accompanists 