Adolphe Sibert (1899
– 1991), to whose memory this disc was
produced and first released in 1995,
was Austro-Hungarian by birth, Parisian
by adoption. He started playing the
violin at the age of six and later studied
piano, counterpoint, composition and
conducting under Furtwängler and
Clemens Krauss. At the age of 24 he
became conductor at Vienna Radio until
the Anschluss in 1938, and during those
years he worked with Lehár, Kálmán,
Stolz and Richard Strauss. He then settled
in France, first at Nice and later in
Paris where for many years he produced
broadcasts of Viennese and light orchestral
music.
On this disc are excerpts
from five Lehár operettas, Frédérique
and La danse des libellules recorded
in studio, the others are live recordings
with lots of applause from an enthusiastic
audience. Everything, with one notable
exception, is sung in French, the chorus
and the orchestra not always delivering
the smoothest of playing and singing.
But the enthusiasm is just as great
as that of the audience, no doubt thanks
to that fiery spirit Adolphe Sibert.
Apart from some over-sentimental playing
and arrangements these are generally
lively, high-spirited performances.
The soloists are mostly very good -
several of them important names of their
day, not only in France - but the sound
is variable and can sometimes be quite
rough. Big concerted scenes tend to
be congested and the recording balance
is a matter of swings and roundabouts.
The choice of items seems rather capricious
but I would guess that the producer
has sorted out the less successful bits
and pieces. What remains is a string
of pearls - genuine gems (oh, those
metaphors!) - with Der Graf von Luxemburg
filling more than a third of the disc.
Without going into
detailed analysis of each number I will
point to a few things of interest. Starting
with Der Zarewitsch we hear the
chorus trying to sound Russian with
a horde of balalaikas placed well in
the foreground. Remy Corazza sings a
sensitive Volga Song while the light
soprano Lina Dachary, the most frequently
featured soloist on the disc, is a very
French light soprano. Her voice is bright
with some extra sharp edge but singing
with real flair, spontaneity and perfect
control, if that isn’t a contradiction
in terms. Don’t be put off by her singing
in the first excerpt, she is much better
further on.
From Giuditta,
Lehár’s last stage work, premiered
at the Vienna State Opera in 1934 with
Richard Tauber and Jarmila Novotná,
we get the two great tenor arias sung
with the right rhythmic lilt and seductive
tone by that favourite tenor Alain Vanzo.
In Freunde, das Leben ist lebenswert
from the first act he caresses the phrases
so lovingly, although the background,
chorus and strings, may be sweeter than
is good for one’s digestion. From the
third act we hear Du bist meine Sonne,
where in the French translation the
Sun becomes a star, Oh, ma belle
étoile. He is a little strained
at the top but otherwise he is a model
for how this should be sung and his
final note in falsetto is goose-pimple
stuff. In between we hear the obviously
German soprano Anita Ammersfeld singing
Meine Lippen sie küssen so heiss
in the original language with brilliance
and warmth and a somewhat too generous
vibrato, but this is a voice with star
quality. Ovations from the audience!
For the rest it’s very
much Lina Dachary who is a real charmer.
Listen to her last aria from Friederike
(track 8). See what I mean? Just before
that she has had a duet with Aimé
Doniat, a little dry-voiced but an old
hand at operetta. André Dran,
who joins her in several numbers from
Der Graf von Luxemburg is also
a bit dry and strained but he too can
act, but the one piece on this disc
that really has "face" is
the little duet with Dominique Tirmont
and Monique Stiot (track 13).
Finally in Libellentanz
she is partnered by the elegant and
well-modulated Henri Legay, famous for
his participation in Monteux’s recording
of Massenet’s Manon with Victoria
de los Angeles in the 1950s.
For the true Lehár
enthusiast this is highly interesting
and a valuable document of what Radio
France served their listeners in the
field of Viennese operetta. Others might
feel compilations in the original German
more to their liking but adventurous-minded
listeners should still consider this
issue, not least for the opportunity
to hear some excellent soloists.
Göran Forsling
Chorus and Orchestre Lyrique of the ORTF/Adolphe
Sibert 
