Gigli had debuted at
the New York ‘Met’ in November 1920,
a month before Caruso’s final, pain-ridden,
performance. With the latter’s premature
death, the following summer, at only
48, the search was on for a successor,
particularly for the Italian and French
lyric repertoire.
Gigli’s first Victor
recordings had quickly followed his
‘Met’ debut. Like the ‘Met’ the Victor
Company saw the singer as Caruso’s natural
successor and began recording him singing
arias from the roles he had just sung,
or was about to sing, at that theatre.
On this disc his powerfully sung ‘O
paradiso’ (tr. 1) was set down a month
before he sang the role on the ‘Met’
stage. His performance catches a baritonal
hue to the voice as he deepens the tone
for an aria and part that require a
fair amount of vocal heft. Recorded
the following day, his rendering of
the brief but lovely aria from Catalani’s
‘Loreley’, is lighter and more lyrical
of tone with the final note strong and
well held (tr. 2). The two duets from
Gounod’s Romeo and Juliette (trs. 3
and 4), recorded in March 1923, commemorate
the ‘Met’s’ revival of the opera the
previous autumn.
Gigli’s diction is
admirable even if his French does not
match the standard that Caruso attained
in his later years. Gigli’s phrasing
and honeyed legato is a delight here
although, unlike others, I find Bori
rather tweety, albeit tasteful. However,
the singers do not finish together at
3.45 of tr. 3.
An arrangement of ‘Le
Cygne’ (tr. 5) is a rarity that Gigli
treats very seriously, the arrangement
lying well for his middle voice. Elsewhere,
as with Caruso’s later recordings, Victor
feature their tenor in a selection of
Neapolitan songs which were very popular
in recitals at that time. Fortunately
for the collector there is not much
overlap with Caruso’s recordings of
this genre. Gigli, like his great predecessor,
treats them to his full range of expression,
smooth legato, plangent tone and elegant
phrasing. But when it comes to the delights
of Gigli’s vocal art, they are best
heard in Flotow’s ‘M’appari’ (tr. 6)
and the Donizetti arias (trs. 14-17)
the performances alone being well worth
the price of the disc.
Perhaps the most interesting
facet of this issue is that the recordings
span Victor’s March 1925 changeover
from acoustic to electrical recording.
Also, as Mark Obert-Thorn, the restorer,
points out, there is a distinct difference
in sound between the New York venue
(trs. 5, 8, 9, 19 and 20) and the discs
cut at Victor’s headquarters at Camden,
New Jersey. Both venues are featured
using both recording techniques. Certainly
one gets the impression that the new
process, and microphone technology,
caused Victor some problems and purists
might prefer the sound of the acoustic
tracks (trs. 1-9) at this early stage
of electrical recording.
Much of the material
on this CD has already appeared as part
of Romophone’s version of Gigli’s recordings.
However, Mark Obert-Thorn has revisited
those restorations for this Naxos issue
with both minor and major improvements
evident to make an enjoyable record
of the singer at a critical stage of
his burgeoning career. An interesting
and enjoyable issue.
Robert J. Farr
Beniamino Gigli (1890-1957) (tenor)