Charles GOUNOD (1818
– 1893)
Faust
1. Salut! Demeure chaste et
pure² [5:01]
Georges BIZET (1837 – 1875)
Les Pecheurs de perles
2. Au fond du temple saint ¹² [4:40]
Carmen
3. La fleur que tu
m’avais jetée² [4:08]
Giacomo MEYERBEER (1791 – 1864)
L’Africaine
4. O Paradiso!²
[3:34]
Giuseppe VERDI (1813 – 1901)
Don Carlo
5. Io l’ho perduta!¹² [10:30]
Rigoletto
6. Cortigiani, vil
razza dannata¹ [4:26]
Il trovatore
7. Il balen
del suo sorriso¹ [3:14]
La forza del destino
8. Solenne in quest’ora¹²
[4:15]
Un ballo
in maschera
9. Eri tu¹ [4:15]
Otello
10. Credo in un Dio
crudel¹ [4:45]
11. Si, pel ciel¹²
[4:29]
Pietro MASCAGNI (1863 – 1945)
Cavalleria rusticana
12. Il cavallo
scalpita¹ [2:44]
13. Mama, quell vino è generoso²
[3:58]
Ruggiero LEONCAVALLO (1858 –
1919)
Pagliacci
14. Si può?
Si Può?¹ [4:57]
15. Vesti la giubba² [4:00]
Giacomo PUCCINI (1858 – 1924)
La bohème
16. Che gelida
manina² [5:11]
17. O mimi, tu
più non torni¹² [4:14]
Jussi Björling (tenor)²,
Robert Merrill (baritone)¹
RCA Victor Orchestra/Renato
Cellini (1, 2, 4, 5, 8, 11, 15, 16, 17); Arthur Fiedler (6,
7, 9, 10, 12, 14); Swedish Radio Orchestra/Nils Grevillius
(3; 13)
rec. New York, November 1949 (6, 7, 9, 10 12, 14); November
1950 (5); January 1951 (2, 8, 11, 16, 17); March 1951 (1, 4,
15); Stockholm, September 1950 (3, 13)
The centrepiece
of this release is the series of duets that Björling and Merrill
recorded, one that has stood the test with the best of those
‘from the dawn of recorded time’ as the phrase sonorously has
it. We have never lacked for transfers of this material but
its appearance here, in the context of solo forays from the
two men, is still warmly to be welcomed.
I
suppose the most famous is The Pearl Fishers duet, a
recording that has doubtless graced many a Desert Island gramophone
over the half century since its release. The mellifluousness
and warmth of the singing are imperishable but no less admired,
surely, is the Forza del Destino extract. This is every inch a match for the classic
Peerce/Warren recording, singing of nuance and authority. Even
though Björling never sang it on stage his singing of it is
characteristically insightful as to dynamics and blending with
the more overtly extrovert Merrill.
The
duets are interspersed among solo items sung by both men. This
is a perfectly reasonable position programmatically – it brings
variety to the seventy-eight minute recital. Björling sings
Salut! Demeure chaste et pure with a highly expressive legato and discloses an
unusually warm and interior dramatic self. The sole aria from
Carmen, La fleur que tu
m’avais jetée is a most attractive
example of his vocal art, though he doesn’t make much of the
concluding pianissimo and the interpretation is inclined to
sound somewhat generic.
His
companion in arms Merrill takes a stentorian, forceful and dramatic
approach to Rigoletto’s Cortigiani,
vil razza dannata. It’s splendidly
done, as far as it goes, but is a touch unsubtle. His Un Ballo though is
considerably better – commanding and sensitively done. The two
men take one aria each from Pagliacci,
then Bjorling moves onto La Boheme
singing Che gelida manina before he and
Merrill sing the duet from the same opera.
Not
all the solo songs are as well known, by a long way, as the
duets so they will be a catch for collectors especially in these
very quiet and attractive sounding transfers.
Jonathan Woolf
see also
review by Goran Forsling
NIMBUS NI 7945
[78:31] 
