This broadcast recording by NBC from one of Jussi Björling’s
last opera performances, has been issued before on Robin Hood
Records RHR 5021-5023 but in rather poor sound. I haven’t heard
the LPs but trustworthy ‘ear-witnesses’ state that the present
issue is a vast improvement. My first reaction was also that
for its age – the recording was made 62 years ago – the sound
is remarkable. It is true that sound recording and reproduction
technique had developed enormously during the first decade of
the LP record. Stereo recordings had been made in some quarters
for about five years and the dynamic range in some recordings
and notably Decca had their Full Frequency Stereo Sound. It
should be remembered that about this time Decca issued Solti’s
Das Rheingold, the first instalment in the epoch-making
Ring cycle. They also had Karajan’s tremendous Otello.
Those were studio recordings but broadcasts were for many years
hampered by poor frequency range. The sound here is mono and
the dynamic expansion is fairly limited. It is however a clean
sound and one gets a rather realistic image of the orchestra.
The voices are well projected and free from distortion. At times
the orchestra comes across as almost too brilliant, even aggressive,
but that may be due to Jean Morel’s not insensitive but energetic
conducting. The waltz (CD 1 tr 8) is more thrilling than in
any other recording I’ve heard. The reverse side of this coin
is also notable: a number of unwanted sounds from the stage
are also reproduced with true fidelity. We have, however, become
used to stage noises during the first decade of the new millennium,
when more and more opera recordings are made live – and now
with even higher fidelity. I have reported in some reviews of
especially noisy productions where I have taken shelter behind
furniture to avoid being hit by flying objects. No such danger
here but there is an assortment of extra-musical sources of
sound that have to be coped with while enjoying the music and
the singing.
The music is well known. Even though Gounod’s sometimes over-sweet
idiom is quite unfashionable no one can honestly deny the abundance
of beautiful, and sometimes dramatically valid, melodies. Those
who know their Faust should be warned that there is
far too little of the music on offer here. This is easy to understand
from the number of discs. There isn’t room for all the Faust
music on two CDs. That was the state of affairs at the Met in
those days. The opera had always been performed heavily cut.
All the titbits are there but the filling is sometimes meagre.
To some this may be a blessing, others want the whole thing
– and 2:36:43 still makes a pretty big cake.
Where no one can complain is in relation to the quality of the
singing. Jussi Björling was a great Faust. I have friends who
maintain that he was at his very best in French repertoire.
Unfortunately he only retained two French roles when he embarked
upon his international career – and neither Faust nor
Romeo et Juliette was recorded commercially. We are
lucky to have both in good live recordings from the Met, Faust
twice. When I reviewed the 1950 Faust (review)
some years ago the first paragraph read ‘This 3 CD set contains
some of the most glorious tenor singing ever recorded. Buy it!!!’
Here, nine years later, almost to the day, he is still in tremendous
shape. He was an extraordinary singer with remarkable stamina.
Not yet five years old he gave his first public concert together
with his brothers and his father. During the next twelve years
the boys gave more than one thousand concerts all over Sweden
and in the US. From the age of 19, when he made his debut at
the Stockholm opera and until his untimely death in September
1960 when he was only 49, he sang another two thousand opera
performances and recitals. His heart problems had increased
during the 1950s and when this performance took place he had
less than nine months to live. Even so, there is very little
in his singing that reveals weakening health or diminishing
vocal ability. He slightly fluffs the very first phrase but
after that he is just as magnificent as on the 1950 recording.
Once or twice the voice seems marginally heavier but it is,
by and large, the same Björling as ever. Those who doubt my
judgement need only lend an ear to Quel trouble ... salut,
demeure (CD 1 tr 12) the famous cavatina. Whether it surpasses
the 1950 recording is open to debate. Maybe the high C is not
as free this time, but it is still a reading that must be counted
among the best on record. The garden scene (CD 2 tr 1-3) is
further evidence that here is a singer still in his prime.
In this scene there is also a magical rapport between Björling
and his Marguerite. She is the young Elisabeth Söderström, who
had made her Met debut a couple of months earlier as Susanna
in Le nozze di Figaro - she was later to become the
Contessa. A couple of weeks before the broadcast she sang her
first ever Marguerite. She had been Manon Lescaut opposite Björling
in Stockholm but this was something much bigger. In her memoirs
I min tonart (In My Key) (Bonniers, 1978, not available
in English, I believe) she recalls the situation: ‘It was with
terror in my heart and on trembling legs that I walked to the
theatre that evening: we had had only one run-through with orchestra
and sets, I wasn’t sufficiently prepared. I bewailed my distress
to Jussi, who looked at me with compassion and answered: ‘Little
friend, you have nothing to be afraid of, there aren’t many
who demand much of you yet. It is much worse for me; everybody
expects to find out whether I am finished or whether I can live
up to my reputation.’” I haven’t been able to find a review
of her Faust debut but the reception of her house debut
some weeks earlier should have strengthened her self-confidence:
‘Elisabeth Soederstroem was a delightful Susanna in every respect.
Her bright, flexible voice was always dependable and she proved
to be a resourceful actress. One of the most impressive indications
of her artistry was the fact that her singing in the ensembles
was just as finished as it was in her solo arias.’ (Robert Sabin,
Musical America). Le nozze di Figaro was a new production and
there had been adequate rehearsal time, while Faust had been
in the repertoire for ages and guest singers just popped in
and out. Listening to this recording one can conclude that everything
worked exactly as it should. Ms Söderström shows her credentials
with aplomb in a gloriously sung Jewel aria (CD 1 tr. 14). All
through the performance she is in radiant voice and draws a
vivid portrait of a character that can seem one-dimensional
when sung prettily without proper characterization. I have admired
Söderström ever since I first heard her – probably on the radio.
I have enjoyed her on so many recordings and in the flesh in
opera and recital. Vocally she has never sounded better than
here. It should be mentioned that she had a long career and
sang her last performances at the Met as the Countess in Queen
of Spades in April 1999, almost forty years after her debut
there. She passed away in November 2009. Readers who know little
about this many-sided artist may access some information from
my obituary (here).
There is even more vocal splendour on offer in this performance.
Cesare Siepi repeats his Mephistopheles from the 1950 recording
and is as magnificent here. The intervening nine years gave
him even more authority and the voice is still in fine fettle.
Another stalwart at the Met, Robert Merrill, pours out golden
tone that surpasses most of his baritone colleagues. Not the
most charismatic of actors, he still manages to invest his portrait
of Valentin with power and energy. Mildred Miller is a very
fine Siebel and Thelma Votipka is a Marthe to reckon with.
There is another irritant that must not pass unnoticed: the
Met audience’s bad behaviour. They start clapping long before
a number is finished. As always with live recordings one has
to accept blemishes like that. The singing is what counts and
no one is likely to be disappointed on that account. This issue
is a must for Jussi Björling’s many admirers and it is a real
bonus to get world class performances from Söderström, Merrill
and Siepi in the bargain.
Göran Forsling
Jussi Björling (tenor) – Faust; Elisabeth Söderström (soprano) – Marguerite;
Cesare Siepi (bass) – Mephistopheles; Robert Merrill (baritone) – Valentin;
Mildred Miller (soprano) – Siebel; Thelma Votipka (mezzo) – Marthe; Ronald Reitan (bass) – Wagner