Marston continues its
exceptional series devoted to the restoration
of Pathé’s acoustic opera sets
with this rare Faust recorded in Paris
in 1911-12. At the helm was François
Ruhlmann, an increasingly able youngish
conductor, whom some will recognise
from his extensive studio work. He presides
over a then standard Parisian text with
its excision of Avant de quitter
ces lieux and also Siébel’s
Act Four aria.
The cast was essentially
an admired Paris Opéra one. Jeanne
Campredon was twenty-seven, a long serving
soprano whose specialism in the French
repertoire certainly did not exclude
her from premiering Rosenkavalier
in the French capital as late as
1927 – she was the Marschallin to Germaine
Lubin’s Octavian. Rather like Campredon
the Siébel, Marguerite d’Elty,
toured the French provincial circuit
as well as securing a base in Paris
though she made fewer recordings. Jeanne
Golancourt took minor roles on the Paris
stage and so far as is known made no
solo recordings which makes her ensemble
work all the more valuable. Then of
course there is the Faust of Léon
Beyle who was approaching his peak at
forty. A famously broad repertoire made
him an admirable call for everything
from Gluck to Wagner and he was assiduous
in propagating new work as well taking
roles in operas by Rabaud and Richepin.
Oddly Faust didn’t feature much in his
performances and it seems that he never
sang it at all in Paris – remarkable
if true. Méphistophélès
is André Gresse, son of a perhaps
even more famous father and the Valentin
is the oldest of the cast members, Jean
Noté, the most well remembered
of them all and then fifty-two. Belgian-born
he recorded widely and fortunately a
number of his discs are currently available.
Pathé exercised
then unique largesse in the number of
sides it granted to these complete opera
(and theatrical) recordings. There were
28 discs – 56 sides – and unlike some
more hurried sets this one unfolds at
a generous tempo. The Introduction for
example shows immediately how natural
sounding the rhythm is and arouses expectations
that Ruhlmann by and large well meets.
As Faust Léon Beyle has a slightly
heavy sounding voice – not lacking mobility
but just a touch lacking in flexibility.
One of the remarkable things about these
and other sets is that, despite some
inherent pressing faults and a certain
familiar Pathé "hollowness,"
the voices are very forward with no
great loss of orchestral detail, albeit
the band is obviously very much reduced
in size. I should also point out that
no galumphing supporting brass instruments
detract from one’s enjoyment, as they
so frequently did in pre-electrics.
If they’re there they are discreet and
well blended. Listen to the fine Parisian
winds and the excellent strings in Viens!
the concluding Act I scene between Faust
and Méphistophélès.
André Gresse
has his moments but his is rather monochromatic
a voice though it’s much more impressive
than that of the bleaty Wagner of Pierre
Dupré. Theatrically Gresse doesn’t
sound especially dramatic in his Act
IV scene 3 Vous qui faites l’endormie.
The chorus is generally well marshalled
but it can get messy, as it does in
Act II’s Voyez ces hardis compères.
Beyle’s Salut! Demure chaste
et pure is attractive though not
especially ardent, quite slow but rhythmically
elastic. He has a very masculine and
swaggering Ce qui doit in Act
IV scene 3 and throughout he’s not quite
as rough toned as he could sometimes
be. Campredon sounds older than twenty-seven;
hers is a strong, forwardly produced
voice but not ideally steady. She has
a fine coloratura though, which she
spins off in Il était un roi
de Thulé and she shows quite
a command of style.
As an appendix and
a most welcome and substantial one we
have a selection from Faust sung by
some distinguished singers. We can hear
such as Muratore, Delmas, Agussol, Landouzy,
in individual arias, a real role call
of style.
As with Faust these
are transferred with clarity and presence.
Such faults as there are in the Faust
are inherent, pressing bumps, a rather
hollow presence on occasion and so on.
But this is a recording now getting
on for its century and it bears up remarkably
well in all the circumstances. Marston
continues to provide first class booklets
with cast details and photographs and
this completes a fine restoration to
the catalogues of a performance never
before released, so far as I’m aware,
in its entirety.
Jonathan Woolf
Orchestra conducted by François Ruhlmann
