Albert ROUSSEL (1869-1937)
Le Testament de la Tante Caroline, Operetta in three acts (1932–33)
One-act version, 1964 – ed. Marcel Mihalovici (1898–1985)
Libretto by Nino (pseudonym of Michel Veber)
Béatrice /Chorus - Marie Lenormand, Mezzo-soprano
Christine /Chorus - Marion Gomar, Soprano
Noémie /Chorus - Lucile Komitès, Mezzo-soprano
Jobard /Chorus - Aurélien Gasse, Baritone
Ferdinand /Chorus - Charles Mesrine, Tenor
Lucine /Chorus - Marie Perbost, Soprano
Noël /Chorus - Fabien Hyon, Tenor
Maître Corbeau /Chorus - Till Fechner, Bass-baritone
Patogène /Chorus - Romain Dayez, Baritone
Orchestre des Frivolités Parisiennes/Dylan Corlay
rec. 13 June 2019, L’Athénée Théâtre Louis-Jouvet, Paris, France
First recording
NAXOS 8.660479 [79:00]
The vein of comic operetta runs strong and deep in French culture. Several composers’ names will immediately spring to mind from Offenbach to Messager, even Chabrier amongst the most familiar. However, Albert Roussel the serious neo-classicist whose stage works ranged from the unique and magnificent Padmâvatî to the jewel-like perfection of Le Festin de l'araignée is not a name you would instantly associate with the genre. Yet at the age of 68, having just completed his somewhat rigorous string quartet, he decided to turn his hand to the form. The libretto was by Nino (the pseudonym of Michel Veber) who provided the text for Jacques Ibert’s Angelique – a composer you might have expected to be attracted to the style and conventions of the form. Certainly an innocent ear would struggle to identify the composer of the work under consideration here. Le Testament de la Tante Caroline finally had its French premiere in March 1937 just some five months before the composer’s death with mixed reviews. Adherents to the traditions of French Operetta found the plot somewhat distasteful and the score unmemorable. Admirers of Roussel’s previous work simply could not relate what they heard to what they knew. My feeling is that it was rather wonderful that a composer of Roussel’s age and distinction was willing to lavish considerable care, time and talent on a project clearly outside of his comfort zone. Whether or not the result is anything but a footnote and a curio is a more of a question.
The recording on this disc was taken from a live performance. The pluses are the fine, idiomatic and skilled playing of the Orchestre des Frivolités Parisiennes under the sympathetic direction of Dylan Corlay and the wholehearted and enthusiastic participation of the francophone cast. There are several caveats. This is a very noisy live recording with a frequently audible audience coughing, chuckling and applauding. Alongside this there is plenty of stage noise too. The acoustic of the L’Athénée Théâtre Louis-Jouvet Paris is quite cavernous which inflates the extraneous noises considerably. That said the actual balance between stage and pit is well-managed. The plot is a fairly predictable romp but this does translate into an acting style that might best be characterised as technicolour pantomime. Given that there is a lot of dialogue – roughly twenty six of the disc’s seventy nine minute running time is devoted to rapid fire French - this does rather grate to a non-French speaker. Most of the time the dialogue sections occupy separate tracks so it is possible to skip to the next musical number. After all the shouty dialogue Roussel’s rather sophisticated (and well-sung) musical numbers come as something of a balm to the ear.
The Naxos disc comes with a very brief synopsis only – no text and no link to any online libretto. To summarise; Aunt Caroline has died having amassed a fortune as a “lady of the night”. Her three nieces - who avoided her in life – have gathered to hear the will. The terms of this will state that the inheritance will pass to the first of these three women who give birth (all are currently childless) within a one year time limit. Fast forward one year – the two married nieces have failed in the task. The third niece Béatrice is a deaconess and “old maid” so is likewise (unsurprisingly) without offspring. Just as it seems likely the will will lapse, it is revealed that Aunt Caroline’s chauffeur Noël is Béatrice’s illegitimate child given up at birth when she then joined a religious order to atone for her sins.... cue general rejoicing..... curtain.
Not a lot more can be said about the plot except that it makes for a very lopsided work. As performed here Part I lasts 63:28 with Part II (one year later....) just 15:28. I cannot speak as to the wit or sophistication in the dialogue – the audience seem to enjoy it although their responses are more chuckles than any full-on laughter. The music does come across as well-crafted and I enjoyed the characterisations of all of the singer/actors here.
Despite these merits I cannot imagine this disc of being particular interest except to Roussel and/or French operetta completists. This is a world premiere recording and as such has value – not that I can imagine there being the need for a second recording anytime soon. There is a definite sense that other operetta composers worked more effectively in the field and that Roussel wrote with greater originality and effectiveness in other genres with the result of which - as the French might put it – this disc does rather "avoir le cul entre deux chaises".
Nick Barnard
