Puccini’s first two operas, Le villi premiered on 31 May
1884, and Edgar at La Scala on 21 April 1889, had not set
the composer on the path to fame; the latter work being very modestly
received. Having enticed Elvira Gemignani from her husband he
had her and her two children to support. He considered joining
his brother in South America, but the latter’s reply to his letter
promised little. He abandoned the plan and turned his thoughts
to a new operatic project. His publisher, Ricordi, made various
suggestions that Puccini rebuffed before settling on the subject
of Manon. The original librettist was to have been Puccini’s contemporary,
the composer Ruggero Leoncavallo who declined the commission.
Puccini turned to the dramatist Marco Praga who chose Domenico
Oliva as his collaborator. Disagreements with Puccini resulted
in these two withdrawing from the project part way through although
they had done much work in recasting the sequences of the opera
as Puccini wished. Ricordi turned to Giuseppe Giacosa who in turn
suggested the poet Luigi Illica who agreed to further reshape
the libretto, a task made the more difficult by the fact that
Puccini had already composed some of the music for some scenes.
By the spring of 1891 Giacosa had agreed to help Illica and both
playwrights were busily writing and rewriting scenes whilst Puccini
worked on the music. These two were to provide the librettos for
La Boheme, Tosca and Madama Butterfly. At
the premiere seeing that six people had been involved in the production
of the libretto, none were willing to put their name as librettist
and the press presumed the composer had written it himself! Given
such a tortured gestation a circumspect Ricordi, aware that La
Scala was to premiere Verdi’s last opera shortly after the scheduled
premiere of Manon Lescaut, and keen to avoid any further
failure for Puccini at that theatre, presented the work in Turin.
By the time of the premiere even Puccini felt he had a success
coming and despite last minute fears the work was a resounding
triumph. The applause began with the brief tenor aria Tra voi,
belle in act 1 (CD 1 tr. 2) when Puccini had to appear on
stage to acknowledge the plaudits. At the end of the performance
the composer and cast took thirty curtain calls (The Complete
Operas of Puccini. Charles Osborne. Gollancz 1981). Although
choice of story was always an agony for the composer he never
looked back and had a secure financial future that was only marred
by his womanising and smoking habit.
The outpouring of
melody and arias for the principals continues from the opening
of the opera. Several of the individual arias have become regular
pieces in concerts and on recital discs. They are a gift for
accomplished singers as are the duets trios and ensembles. In
this recording the principals are never less than good and in
the case of Björling and Merrill, more than that. Björling’s
plangent tone, well-coloured and covered, with plenty of heft
for the vocal climaxes was, I suspect, the raison d’être
of the recording. His singing of Donna’ non vidi mai
(CD 1 tr. 6) and particularly in the final act (CD 2 trs. 8-12)
is distinctive and a pleasure to hear. Merrill’s mellifluous
tone as Lescaut is no less a pleasure. He is sometimes criticised
for lack of characterisation. I would rather have the secure
singing on offer from him here than over-mannered and exaggerated
characterisation at the expense of vocal allure. I believe he
has the balance right, particularly in the scenes with Manon
(CD 1 trs.13, 14 and 16).
As Manon, Licia
Albanese is a curious mixture. Italian-born she had debuted
at the Met in 1940, becoming a leading lyric soprano there.
She recorded Mimi and Violetta for Toscanini. In the second
act as the coquettish kept mistress of Geronte she adopts a
light tone, failing to hold a good legato line; her Il quelle
trine morbide (CD 1 tr. 15) is pinched. I worried how she
would cope with the dramatic demands of act four and the big
aria Sola, perduta, abbandonata (CD 2 tr. 11). In fact
she sings the whole act with distinctly fuller tone and with
a wider palette of colour to her voice. The aria is not ideally
steady but its emotions are well portrayed. So too are the desperate
emotions of Björling’s Des Grieux as the tragic situation reaches
its climax. The smaller roles are adequately taken although
I would have preferred a more significant voice than Franco
Calabrese as Geronte. The Romanian conductor Jonel Perlea supports
his singers whilst also doing justice to the drama and Puccini’s
sophisticated orchestration.
The opera excerpts
in the appendix catch Licia Albanese in better and younger voice.
By today’s standards her singing is not that distinguished but
their inclusion here is welcome as they provide a memento of
an artist who made nearly three hundred appearances at the Met.
Prior to this recording RCA had used their American orchestra
and the Robert Shaw Chorale for opera recordings. Increased
costs and union restrictions made them transfer to Rome. This
recording was the first of a series made in the Rome Opera House
with the resident orchestra and chorus. When the latter became
contracted to EMI they were called the RCA Italiana Opera Orchestra
and Chorus listed as recorded in the company’s Rome studio.
The first impact on the listener will be the sound, particularly
if compared with the various contemporaneously issued Callas
recordings made in La Scala. Here the sound is distinctly superior,
being clearer, better balanced and more forward. Mark Obert-Thorn,
the restoration engineer, has realised the acoustic properties
of the original recording using British LP pressings. He notes
that at about two minutes into CD 1 tr.16 there is a momentary
pitch fluctuation and that this is present on the master tape
and all subsequent editions of the recordings. If he had not
pointed it out the defect might have passed without notice as
I enjoyed this performance of Manon Lescaut, particularly
the recording clarity and quality for its day. Above all I enjoyed
the singing of Jussi Björling, a prince among tenors, for tone
and vocal taste. I commend it to all lovers of Puccini as an
excellent addition to the ranks of recordings of the composer’s
first real success.
Robert J Farr
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Manon Lescaut, Licia Albanese
(sop); Lescaut, Manon’s brother and Sergeant in the Kings Guard, Robert
Merrill (bar); Cavalier des Grieux, a student, Jussi Björling (ten); Geronte,
wealthy Treasurer-General, Franco Calabrese (bass)
