San Francisco Opera Gems: Volume 2
CD 1
Jacques François
HALÉVY (1799-1862)
La Juive, Act 2 complete.
Rachel, Elisabeth Rethberg (sop); Eleazer,
Giovanni Martinelli (ten)
Conducted by Gaetano Merola. Recorded
October 30th 1936
Richard WAGNER
(1813-1883)
Die Walküre, Act
3 scene 3
Wotan, Friedrich Schorr (bar); Brünnhilde,
Kirsten Flagstad (sop)
Conducted by Gaetano Merola. Recorded
November 1936
CD 2
Umberto
GIORDANO (1867-1948)
Andrea Chenier, Act
1 scene
Chenier, Beniamino Gigli (ten); Madeleine,
Elisabeth Rethberg (sop)
Conducted by Gaetano Merola. Recorded
October 7th 1938
Ruggero LEONCAVALLO
(1858-1919)
Pagliacci
Nedda, Licia Albanese (sop); Canio.
Raoul Jobin (ten); Tonio, Francesco
Valentino (bar); Silvio, Mack Harrell
(bar); Beppe, Alessio de Paolis (ten)
Conducted by Gaetano Merola. Recorded
October 7th 1945
CD 3
Georges BIZET
(1838-1870)
Carmen, excerpts
Carmen, Risë Stevens (mez); Don
Jose, Charles Kullman (ten); Micaëla,
Eleanor Steber (sop)
Conducted by Georges Sebastian. Recorded
October 21st 1945
Richard STRAUSS
(1864-1949)
Der Rosenkavalier, Act
3 complete
Marschallin, Lotte Lehmann (sop); Octavian,
Risë Stevens (mez); Sophie, Nadine
Conner (sop); Baron Ochs, Lorenzo Alvary
(bass)
Conducted by Georges Sebastian. Recorded
October 18th 1945
Chorus and Orchestra of the Opera House,
San Francisco
This second volume
of ‘San Francisco Opera Gems’ seems
to serve much the same function as volume
1. The San Francisco Opera often
provided opportunities for singers on
the Met roster to sing roles and leads
not offered them at the premier house.
There was also the matter of repertoire.
One of the most interesting items in
this collection is the 1936 recording
of act 2 of La Juive with Elisabeth
Rethberg as Rachel and Giovanni Martinelli
as Eleazer. Eleazer was Caruso’s last
appearance on the stage when he sang
the role at the Met on Christmas Eve
1920. In great pain he never really
recovered and died the following summer.
(see Life
of Caruso on Naxos). It is a role
which, as London Green notes in the
booklet (p.8), requires a genuine heroic
voice. Giovanni Martinelli sang the
role at the Met in its first revival
there three years after Caruso’s death.
By the time of this recording there
are signs of vocal wear. He does not
sing the part with the open-throated
freedom of his great predecessor as
can be heard on the final disc of Naxos’s
Caruso survey (Vol.
12) The portrayal of Rachel by Elisabeth
Rethberg provides the real pleasure.
Her full even tone and superb legato
are a joy to hear. Her introduction
to Il va venir and the following
music (CD1 trs. 6-9) are the highlights.
It is a great pity that the recording,
derived from four sixteen-inch transcription
discs, has so much surface noise.
Rethberg makes a brief
contribution to the scene from Andrea
Chénier (CD2 trs. 1-4). The
notable performance here is by Beniamino
Gigli. The 1938 series of performances
at San Francisco, from which this recording
is taken, marked Gigli’s return to the
American opera stage after the contretemps
of his departure from the Met six years
earlier (see my review The
Life of Gigli on Naxos). His studio
version is well known and admired. It
is good to know from this live recording
that his essentially lyric voice could
hit the high notes with full tone and
no strain in the theatre too (tr. 4).
The remainder of the second disc features
act 1 of Pagliacci. The recording
derives from four transcription discs
made for the featured tenor Raoul Jobin.
The sound quality is variable. The interest
for me is the Nedda of Licia Albanese.
She is richer and warmer of tone than
de los Angeles in the recently re-issued
studio recording (see
review) and her characterisation
is good (CD 2 trs. 12-14). I am no more
impressed by Raoul Jobin’s Canio than
I was by his Don José in volume
1 of the series. His phrasing lacks
grace and he substitutes volume for
subtlety (trs. 8-9 and 19-20). Francesco
Valentino as Tonio introduces the work
well (tr. 5), but at the end of the
day one can hear why he was pushed into
smaller parts at the Met after the arrival
of Warren and Merrill.
On the third CD Risë
Stevens makes a thoroughly vibrant,
secure-toned and sexy Carmen (CD 3 trs.
2 and 4). Charles Kullman as Don José
sings tastefully if without any distinctive
beauty of tone (tr. 3). The American
soprano Eleanor Steber is a vocally
secure Micaëla (tr. 5). The recording
quality of this 1945 performance is
amongst the best in this collection.
The act 3 from Der Rosenkavalier
from the same year, and which follows
the Carmen, is of much poorer
quality (trs. 6-20). The best singing
comes from Risë Stevens as Octavian,
although I agree with the booklet note
that she overdoes the Mirandel episode.
Lotte Lehmann, born 1888, is here past
her considerable best. Although her
artistry is still there so too is thin
tone and downward transposition.
I haven’t mentioned
the Die Walküre extract.
Frankly, Schorr and Flagstad have had
excessive exposure on the various ‘Immortal
Performance’ issues on Guild. Volume
1 of ‘San Francisco Opera Gems’ included
a whole disc of act 2 of Die Walküre
conducted by Reiner and featuring
these artists plus Melchior and Lehmann;
this was recorded the same year. London
Green justifies these further extracts
on the basis of the freshness of Flagstad’s
manner, caught here in the earlier years
of her Wagnerian career. Certainly the
forward placing of the voices helps
appreciation of the purity and tonal
beauty of her singing (CD 1 tr. 13).
The downside is that we can too clearly
hear the worn parts of Schorr’s instrument.
Given the surface noise, pitch variation
and the necessity of interpolation for
the sake of dramatic continuity, the
time could have been better used.
The main item of interest
in this collection is the extracts from
La Juive and Rethberg’s contribution
in particular. Otherwise this disc is
for those with a specialist interest
in particular singers from the past
and whose ears can tolerate the sonic
limitations.
Robert J Farr
GUILD
HISTORICAL IMMORTAL PERFORMANCES GHCD 2287-89
[3CDs: 66.38+59.27+73.21] 
