THUMBS UP
On 6 June 1992, the
Swedish National Day, Nicolai Gedda
gave an opera recital at the Royal Opera
with the Royal Orchestra conducted by
Sixten Ehrling. The purpose was to celebrate
his debut in the house forty years earlier.
That debut, on 8 May 1952, caused a
sensation. Here a tall, handsome young
singer displays not only one of the
most beautiful tenor voices imaginable
but he was also capable of letting rip
an effortless high D natural, which
is required in Adam’s Le postillon
de Lonjumeau. Rumour spread, Walter
Legge of EMI came, listened, was won
over and contracted him for the recording
of Boris Godunov, which took
place in Paris in July. Listening to
the Polish scene from that recording
(CD 2 tr. 1) one is stunned: what beauty,
what brilliance, what confidence, what
intensity! No wonder the opera houses
queued up to engage the young Swede.
Not only did he sing like a god, but
he was also intelligent, had an almost
infallible sense of style and he was
an accomplished linguist, being fluent
in Swedish, English, German (the family
lived for several years in Germany during
his formative years), Italian, Spanish
and Russian (his stepfather Michail
Ustinoff was Russian).
The Boris recording
wasn’t even his first recording. He
recorded the aria from Le postillon
de Lonjumeau with the Swedish Radio
Orchestra and Choir under Stig Rybrant,
unclear when but supposedly quite soon
after the premiere. There is however
a live recording from the Royal Opera,
made on 10 April 1952, two days after
the premiere with Kurt Bendix conducting.
It is available on CD on "Famous
Swedish Opera Singers at the Royal Opera
House in Stockholm" (Gala GL 333)
and it is easy to understand the sensation.
On every track on this 2 CD set all
the attributes I expressed in the first
paragraph are in full evidence, most
of all perhaps his delectable half voice
and his superb phrasing.
Why did I mention the
recital in 1992? Because there he sang
several of the arias he recorded at
the beginning of his career and miraculously
there were few signs of ageing. A little
more effort once or twice, a slight
hardening of tone at forte but he sang
the Pearl Fishers aria with the
same impeccable legato, the same delectable
mezza voce, Una furtiva lagrima
was as youthful and beautiful as here
and Lenski’s aria was as heartrending
and lovely as ever. The recital was
seen as a celebration but also a retrospect
on a truly successful career. Towards
the end Gedda gave a speech to a standing
audience that was charged with emotion
and he ended the evening in the same
way this set ends, with Dein ist
mein ganzes Herz from The Land
of Smiles. This operetta was very
close to his heart and he sang in it
and other operettas as well from 1959
to 1985, not least in many productions
at the Vienna Volksoper. But his career
was not over with this retrospect. He
continued to sing – and record – and
here I have to make an adjustment to
Alan Bilgora’s liner-notes where he
says that he was still recording in
1993. In fact he recorded well into
the new millennium. In May 2001 he was
the Emperor in Turandot and in
June 2003 he was the High Priest in
Idomeneo – both operas recorded
by Chandos in their ‘Opera in English’
series. Today, at the age of 83 he lives
in Switzerland.
The first disc is devoted
entirely to French repertoire, where
he was supreme during the 1950s and
1960s, even well into the 1970s. Leopold
Simoneau and Alain Vanzo were not too
far behind and Alfredo Kraus was also
a French stylist but none of them had
the brilliance and the dramatic power
of Gedda. He was primarily a lyric tenor
but his volume could be overpowering.
Just listen to his ardent as well as
mellifluous singing as Vincent in the
two excerpts from Mireille, where
the brilliance in the upper regions
is stunning, unforced and never merely
strong. The best known piece from the
opera, Anges du Paradis, at the
beginning of track 3, is exquisite,
as always with great attention to nuance.
His Mireille, Janette Vivalda, has a
typical light and bright French soprano
voice with a quick attractive vibrato.
As Roméo he
is brilliant and vigorous and it is
good to have more than half an hour
of music from his first Faust
recording, if I remember correctly set
down in 1954. The booklet gives no year
for these excerpts. Half a decade later
EMI re-recorded the opera in stereo
with the same conductor and the same
trio of lead singers and that version
has always been regarded as a top contender.
To my mind Victoria de los Angeles is
even lovelier here and her top notes
have hardly ever rung out so freely
and effortlessly. In the finale (CD1
tr. 7) she is truly ethereal. Boris
Christoff’s larger-than-life Mephistofeles
is certainly expressive and he is truly
fiendish but his throaty delivery and
execrable French make him less than
idiomatic. Gedda shines in his aria
(CD 1 tr. 5). Cluytens allows him finely
judged rubatos where he caresses the
sweet melody. The brilliant high C is
integrated into the long drawn phrases
and doesn’t stick out like a sore thumb
as is often the case with less accomplished
singers.
Gedda’s honeyed mezza
voce singing of En ferment les
yeux is subtle and the aria from
Werther impassioned and intense.
In a radio interview many years ago
he rated Werther as one of his absolute
favourite roles and opera-lovers obviously
shared his affection. When Rudolf Bing
chose Corelli instead of Gedda for the
1971 MET revival of the opera there
were demonstrations: ‘Gedda for Werther!’
In the final French
number, the aria from La muette de
Portici, half voice is again employed
to superb effect. His scrupulous attention
to nuance includes a heavenly pianissimo
on the final note.
Issay Dobrowen’s inspired
and alert conducting is a big asset
for the long scene from Boris Godunov,
where Eugenia Zareska is an eminent
Marina. The scene from Ruslan and
Ludmila is another valuable example
of Gedda’s excellence in Russian repertoire.
The weak Lensky was another of his favourite
roles that he continued to sing until
very late and eventually recorded complete
when he was well past 60. He sings it
here softly and inwardly as an interior
monologue.
Lyonel’s aria from
Martha is sung in the original
German, whereas most famous tenors have
preferred the Italian text M’appari.
Gedda sings it intimately and lovingly
with no big gestures and saves his fortissimo
for the brilliant end. In Una furtiva
lagrima he challenges even the legendary
Tito Schipa in style and caressing beauty
and surpasses him in ardency and glorious
tone. Spirto gentil is sung in
Italian, as was common fifty years ago,
and though Gedda’s voice character isn’t
specifically Italianate this is one
of the most thrilling and lyrical readings
I know. He sang relatively few Verdi
roles – he was an excellent Gustavus
in Un ballo in maschera, and
besides the Duke of Mantua he also appeared
in La traviata. The latter two
roles were recorded complete. Of Rigoletto
there is even a live recording from
the Stockholm opera – on BIS – with
Sixten Ehrling conducting at white heat.
On that set Hugo Hasslo is one of the
noblest of Rigolettos and Margareta
Hallin surpasses every other Gilda in
the world, while Gedda is arguably too
vivacious at times but certainly more
spirited than most competitors. His
amorous Duke from 1953 is seductive
and virile and the aria proper Parmi
veder le lagrime is honeyed and
noble. An aristocrat knows how to behave
– no bawling here.
The role of Enzo Grimaldo
in La Gioconda was probably too
heavy for Gedda to sing complete but
he has no difficulties with the aria
Cielo e mar – lyrical and beautiful,
but there is no lack of vitality and
he ends on a ravishing pianissimo. Few
have sung E la solita storia
so beautifully.
The three operetta
bonbons are delicious and the duet from
Die lustige Witwe, where he is
partnered by the delectable Emmy Loose,
has probably never been surpassed and
challenged only by himself in the stereo
remake from roughly ten years later.
Gedda was a splendid
Mozart singer, especially during the
first twenty years or so of his career,
and I would have liked something from
that repertoire. He recorded an LP of
Mozart arias with Cluytens conducting
in June 1957, and it is out of copyright
by now so let’s hope for a volume 2
with Gedda. There is material aplenty,
Gedda presumably being the most recorded
tenor ever.
Alan Bilgora’s notes
are well researched and interesting
to read but I must take him to task
for the first sentence: ‘Although not
blessed with a highly individual, and
therefore instantly recognisable vocal
timbre like …’ and then follows a list
of great tenors. To my mind Gedda is
just as individual and instantly recognisable
and he was certainly one of the most
musical and most versatile tenors of
the 20th century. For those
who only know him from his prime in
the 1960s and 1970s, these ‘early prime’
recordings should be essential listening.
Even though much of this material has
been available from time to time it
is good to have it again – and in splendid
transfers.
Göran Forsling
NIMBUS PRIMA VOCE NI 7943/44 
[75:16
+ 70:13]
