Let’s get the moaning out of the way first.
The production values of this disc are really sloppy: no timings (the
above are mine, derived from putting the disc into my laptop); no crediting
of any conductors, orchestras or co-singers; no recording venues or
dates beyond “1954 - 1962”; no libretto; no indication of
whether a recording is live, mono or stereo - although obviously that
becomes apparent as one listens.
However, if you read French, there is in the booklet an extensive, informative
and quite polemical article by Roland Mancini assessing Vanzo’s
career, a shorter biography translated into English and several nice
photographs of the chubby Vanzo in his prime. Furthermore - and this
is the raison d’être of the disc - on offer here is an anthology
of one of the most engaging and attractive French lyric tenors of the
second half of the 20
th century.
Vanzo’s was a voice type once common and now virtually extinct.
Going back into the great French tradition of the sweetly elegiac lyric
tenor, however, one thinks of Edmond Clément, Joseph
Rogatchevsky,
Miguel
Villabella, Henri Legay, French-Canadian Léopold
Simoneau, Michel Sénéchal, Eric Tappy and perhaps Roberto
Alagna in his earlier years. Of modern exponents I can think offhand
only of Jean-Luc Viala. It would seem that in many ways the vocal category
died with Vanzo in 2002. In the interview from 1982 (track 15, in French),
he remarks how the disappearance of opera troupes, the closure of institutions
such as the
Opéra-Comique
and the
Palais
Garnier and the rise of the international “star system”
have removed the traditional training grounds for young singers. He
sang comprimario roles alongside great French tenors such as Thill,
Luccioni and Jobin - and clearly learned from them all.
So there is all the more reason to prize this compilation, which, regardless
of its significance to the history of French opera, presents some of
the most sheerly elegant and engaging tenor singing on record. I have
played it many times since its arrival only a few days ago and each
time find myself more in admiration of the singer’s finesse. It
is not a big voice and there is a certain nasal, grainy quality about
it typical of a singer who sang exclusively in French, but it is very
beautiful within its Fach.
Yet for all his pre-eminence amongst French tenors of his generation,
Vanzo never really gained the international recognition he deserved.
Yes, he achieved great acclaim in 1960 when he appeared as Edgardo in
Lucia
di Lammermoor with
Joan
Sutherland in at the Palais Garnier, and again in 1965 when he partnered
Montserrat Caballé in her Carnegie Hall debut in
Lucrezia
Borgia. He did eventually sing in the great houses of Europe and
North and South America, but he sang only once on the stage of Met in
1977 as Faust, on tour with the Paris Opéra. Meanwhile other
French-singing singers such as Gedda and Kraus gained the recording
contracts and the big engagements in the greatest opera houses. During
the interview, he ruefully observes, in his charming southern accent,
that he was always the “go to” tenor in the event of another’s
withdrawal or a casting crisis, yet although frequently called upon
“pour sauver la situation”, he was never offered the opportunity
to record Werther, eventually his signature role, as it was clearly
not as commercially appealing as a recording made by a more internationally
celebrated tenor. Nor was he especially happy with those comparatively
few recordings he did make - such as
Lakmé, with Sutherland,
Mignon,
with Marilyn Horne and
Les pêcheurs
de perles, with Cotrubas. Yet on the basis of the evidence here
he need fear no invidious comparison with any rival.
The earliest recording comes from 1954, shortly after he had won first
prize at Cannes. The voice is still very light so it is interesting
to compare it with the aria from
Werther recorded later. Vanzo
wisely followed George Thill’s advice not to attempt the whole
role on stage until he was forty. This perhaps accounts for the fact
that he preserved his voice right up until his death aged 74, from complications
following a stroke. He very gradually introduced heavier roles into
his repertoire, so that in addition to the
Werther aria we hear
superb accounts of tenor arias from
Benvenuto Cellini, Les vêpres
siciliennes and
Don Carlos,
in which he has retained
delicacy but added heft to his tone.
Vanzo’s singing is characterised by his pellucid diction, a superb
messa di voce - as evinced by the diminuendo on the high C is the
Faust
aria and the smoothness of his legato. The selection here covers some
of the most melodic arias in French opera before moving into the heavier
items which Vanzo gradually undertook in accordance with the advice
he received as a young singer. We veer between all kinds of acoustic
and recording quality, the least sonically appealing being the Grétry
number which distorts, but for the most part it’s all very listenable
whether it’s in mono or stereo. The best sound comes in tracks
16 and 17, in the
Werther and
La Navarraise arias, which
also represent the peak of Vanzo’s art, so delicately yet passionately
sung with just the right amount of “les larmes dans la voix”.
The audience reaction to the live Verdi items confirms how much reserve
of power Vanzo could call upon when required despite the essential elegance
of his tone.
The more unusual or notable tracks include the previously mentioned
first recording from 1954,
Le rêve passé, a song
popularised by Irish tenor Joseph Locke, who sang it in virtually all
his concerts and in the film “What a Carry On!”. It was
written by Georges Krier and Charles Helmer to words by Armand Foucher,
and harks back to the military glory days of Napoleon.
The other curiosity is Vanzo’s cover of France’s entry for
the 1963 Eurovision Song Contest - they came fifth out of 16! Vanzo
sounds right at home in its Latin dance rhythm; he was as comfortable
in other musical traditions as he was in Grand Opera and could easily
have been another Luis Mariano. Indeed, he also wrote songs and composed
stage works, including his operetta performed in Lille in 1972 and a
“lyrical drama” premiered at
Avignon,
in 1982.
However, the inclusion of this track implies that Malibran must be wrong
to tell us that the latest recording here comes from 1962, given that
this song was written for the 1963 contest. My feeling, too, is that
the tracks featuring the heavier roles come from later in Vanzo's recording
career, although I have no evidence of that beyond my ears and the obviously
better sound. I suspect that some of these recordings were made in the
mid-to-late 1960s, especially as they include arias from operas that
Vanzo tells us he did not perform until he was forty - and he was born
in 1928.
One thing is certain: everything he sings is worth hearing for the intrinsic
charm and beauty of his very Gallic lyric tenor.
Ralph Moore
Track listing
Georges Charles GOUNOD (1818-1893)
Faust - Cavatine [5:51]
Mireille - Anges du paradis [3:34]
Roméo et Juliette - Cavatine [4:12]
Air du tombeau [6:50]
André Modeste GRÉTRY (1741-1813)
Richard Coeur de Lion - Si l'univers entier m'oublie [4:36]
Hector BERLIOZ (1803-1869)
Benvenuto Cellini - Sur les monts les plus sauvages [3:54]
Ambroise THOMAS (1811-1896)
Mignon -
Adieu Mignon, courage [2:29]
Georges BIZET (1838-1875)
Les pêcheurs de perles - Romance de Nadir [5:02]
La jolie fille de Perth - Sérénade [3:43]
Edouard LALO (1823-1892)
Le Roi d'Ys - Aubade [3:24]
Leo DELIBES (1836 - 1891)
Lakmé - Ah! Viens dans la forêt profonde [2:32]
Jules MASSENET (1842-1912)
Manon - Le rêve de des Grieux [3:11]
Manon - Air de Saint Sulpice [5:00]
Georges KRIER (1872 - 1946) & Charles HELMER (1871 - 1938)
Le rêve passe [3:20] - Alain Vanzo’s first recording, 1954
Interview: 1982 avec Jacques Bertrand
Jules MASSENET (1842-1912)
Werther - Pourquoi me réveiller [6:19]
La Navarraise - O bien aimée [1:25]
Giuseppe VERDI (1813-1901)
Les vêpres siciliennes - O jours de peine [5:16]
Don Carlos -Je l’ai perdue [3:11]
Alain BARRIÈRE (1935 - )
Elle était si jolie [3:10]
