Today
the big companies have more or less ceased recording complete
operas. We have to be grateful then for the few star singers
who are regarded as being such safe sellers that complete recordings
will command good sales figures.
The
main selling point for this new Werther is, of course,
Andrea Bocelli. It is comforting that so many buyers seem to
listen to opera, not only on recital discs, that Decca see it
as profitable enough to release even a relative rarity like
Werther. Hopefully Bocelli’s admirers will want more,
even if he isn’t the main attraction. His qualities as a singer
have been debated intensely during the last few years and they
have divided opinions, to say the least. Coming from the popular
camp he wasn’t always regarded as “clean” by some commentators
and even Giuseppe Di Stefano was openly critical of Bocelli
singing Bohème on stage.
I
haven’t heard much of him, I have to admit: one or two opera
arias which left me in two minds and some cross-over material
that was decidedly poor. But last year I heard an excerpt from
the complete Il trovatore on a sampler and his singing
of Ah si ben mio really made me sit up. Here was a singer
with a good ring to his voice but also the ability – and willingness
– to sing softly. His treatment of that warhorse put several
big names to shame. So it was with some anticipation that I
received this new set. I was not disappointed.
His
voice is obviously not very big but at least there is nothing
here that indicates that he was recorded more closely than the
other singers; a factor commented upon in reviews of some other
operas. And Bocelli’s is certainly a beautiful voice. It reminds
me of the young Pavarotti: the timbre is similar although he
doesn’t have the older singer’s ease at the top. A recording
of A te, o cara from I puritani, some years ago,
showed him fighting a losing battle with the top notes, where
Pavarotti sailed effortlessly up into the stratosphere. While
Pavarotti in the 1970s and 1980s gradually became more careless
about note values and even voice production, Bocelli has obviously
gone in the opposite direction. His voice has filled out and
the shrillness that was apparent in some of those early recordings
is more or less gone. What is instead characteristic of his
singing is the warmth and the ability to shade and colour the
voice. He can sing ravishing pianissimos without a hint of falsetto,
witnessed in Mais, comme après l’orage (CD 1 end of track
14). He is also capable of good heroic singing; the second act
aria J’aurais sur ma poitrine is a fine example (CD 1
track 13). Just occasionally he resorts to shouting at fortissimos
(CD 1 track 17) but that is a rare exception. What is, on the
other hand, obvious is the surprisingly full and baritonal sound
in the lower range of his voice, something that contributes
to the feeling of warmth. Listen to Ah! qu’il est loin ce
jour plein (CD 1 track 16). I have deliberately avoided
making comparisons with tenors from the past and not so distant
past. There are, of course, masterly interpretations of this
part from, say, Gedda, Kraus and Domingo, not to forget the
70+ years old recording with Georges Thill. However, taken
on its own, Bocelli’s assumption of the part is definitely worthy
of that illustrious company.
None
of the other singers is quite up to Bocelli’s level, even if
they all have their merits. Every performance of this great
opera, whether on disc or in the theatre, stands or falls with
the two main characters, but it helps to have a good Albert
and Sophie. The Albert here is Natale di Carolis, the only singer
in this recording, apart from Bocelli, that I knew from before.
His is a good voice with a characteristic rapid vibrato in fortes
- not unattractive – and he is careful about phrasing. Sophie
is sung by Magali Léger. She is a typical French lyric soprano,
very much in the mould of Mady Mesplé, light and slightly fluttery.
Giorgio Giuseppini, here singing the Bailiff’s brief part, has
vocal qualities that would be interesting to hear exploited
in something more important. His is a sonorous and expressive
voice and his two friends, Schmidt and Johann, are ably acted
by Pierre Lefebvre and Armando Ariostini.
Charlotte,
one of the truly great female parts in French opera, is here
entrusted to the young Russian mezzo-soprano Julia Gertseva.
She has a fine voice of not inconsiderable size and she can
be thrilling when she opens up in fortissimos. She can also
scale down the voice and sing a ravishing pianissimo. Listen
to her on CD 2 track 2 from 5:25,
where she is deeply involved in Charlotte’s predicament. On the debit side there is a prominent vibrato (yes,
I know, vibrato has become my hang-up and I know that different
listeners react differently to this) whenever she sings above
mezzoforte. Also there is a sameness to her voice colour, whether
she is happy or sad. Still, in crucial situations, she rises
admirably to the requirements and she is at her best in the
third act aria Va! Laisse couler mes larmes (CD 2 track
4).
Yves
Abel avoids the “sentimentality trap” that some Massenet conductors
fall into. He lets the doom-laden drama unfold with inescapable
consistency, tempos being generally well judged. The whole performance
feels very much of a piece, the result no doubt of being recorded
directly after the live performances. I don’t know if the music
was recorded in the order it is presented here, but it seems
plausible, considering the ensemble was so ‘into’ the drama.
Indeed I think that this is the best compromise in the eternal
debate about live vs studio recording. Here you get the best
of two worlds.
The
booklet gives the full text with English translations and a
three language essay by Arthur Holmberg entitled “Werther: Tears
and Laughter”, dealing mainly with Goethe’s novel and to some
extent the differences between the novel and the libretto. It
wouldn’t have come amiss to give a few words about the singers,
though.
The
verdict: this issue may not shake the hierarchy of existing
recordings (Prêtre, Plasson, Colin Davis, Pappano and the historical
Cohen) but it is a good one and, in the case of Bocelli, an
excellent one. Bocelli fans should not hesitate of course, but
others should give it a chance too.
Göran Forsling
