Messager Coups de Roulis
View record and artist detailsRecord and Artist Details
Composer or Director: André (Charles Prosper) Messager
Genre:
Opera
Label: Gaieté Lyrique
Magazine Review Date: 11/1993
Media Format: CD or Download
Media Runtime: 97
Mastering:
ADD
Catalogue Number: 20241-2
Tracks:
| Composition | Artist Credit |
|---|---|
| Monsieur Beaucaire |
André (Charles Prosper) Messager, Composer
André (Charles Prosper) Messager, Composer André Balbon, Captain Badger French Radio Lyric Chorus French Radio Lyric Orchestra Georges Foix, Townbrake Gilbert Moryn, Mirepoix Henri Bedex, Nash Jacques Pruvost, Bantinson, Tenor Jules Gressier, Conductor Lina Dachary, Lady Mary Carlisle Lucien Lovano, Winterset, Baritone Marcel Enot, Rakell, Baritone Nicole Broissin, Lady Lucy René Lenoty, Molyneux Willy Clément, Monsieur Beaucaire, Baritone |
Composer or Director: André (Charles Prosper) Messager
Genre:
Opera
Label: Gaieté Lyrique
Magazine Review Date: 11/1993
Media Format: CD or Download
Media Runtime: 99
Mastering:
ADD
Catalogue Number: 20238-2
Tracks:
| Composition | Artist Credit |
|---|---|
| Coups de Roulis |
André (Charles Prosper) Messager, Composer
Génio, Blangy Aimé Doniat, Kermao, Soprano André (Charles Prosper) Messager, Composer Charles Daguerressar, Haubourdin, Bass Claudine Collart, Sola Myrrhis, Soprano Dominique Tirmont, Gerville Gaston Rey, Puy Pradal Jacques Pruvost, Pinson, Tenor Jean Hoffmann, Subervielle Lina Dachary, Beatrice Marcel Cariven, Conductor Michel Fauchey, Bellory ORTF Lyric Chorale ORTF Lyric Orchestra Pierre Saugey, Saint-Mesmin René Lenoty, Muriac |
Composer or Director: Charles-François Gounod
Genre:
Opera
Label: Gaieté Lyrique
Magazine Review Date: 11/1993
Media Format: CD or Download
Media Runtime: 64
Mastering:
ADD
Catalogue Number: 20234-2
Tracks:
| Composition | Artist Credit |
|---|---|
| Philémon et Baucis |
Charles-François Gounod, Composer
Anne-Marie Rodde, Baucis Charles-François Gounod, Composer Félix Giband, Vulcan French Radio Lyric Orchestra Henri Gallois, Conductor Jean-Claude Orliac, Philemon, Tenor Pierre Néquecaur, Jupiter |
Composer or Director: (Clément Philibert) Léo Delibes
Genre:
Opera
Label: Gaieté Lyrique
Magazine Review Date: 11/1993
Media Format: CD or Download
Media Runtime: 141
Mastering:
ADD
Catalogue Number: 20239-2
Tracks:
| Composition | Artist Credit |
|---|---|
| (Le) roi l'a dit |
(Clément Philibert) Léo Delibes, Composer
(Clément Philibert) Léo Delibes, Composer A. Lequenne, Agathe André Girard, Conductor Annette Martineau, Marquise French Radio Lyric Chorus French Radio Lyric Orchestra G. Donnarieix, Chimene G. Wion, Marquis Geneviève Aurel, Philomene Germaine Parat, Angélique Jacques Scellier, Gautru, Baritone Janine Micheau, Javotte, Soprano Joseph Peyron, Flarembel, Tenor M. Le Breton, Pacôme Michel Hamel, La Bluette, Tenor Michel Sénéchal, Benoit, Tenor Pierre Saugey, Merlussac René Lenoty, Miton |
| (L') Omelette à la Follembuche |
(Clément Philibert) Léo Delibes, Composer
(Clément Philibert) Léo Delibes, Composer Anthony Rolfe Johnson, Cecco, Tenor Arleen Augér, Flaminia, Soprano Benjamin Luxon, Calandro, Tenor Christiane Jacquin, Soprano Della Jones, Dardane, Soprano Domenico Trimarchi, Buonafede, Baritone Edith Mathis, Clarice, Soprano Frederica von Stade, Lisetta, Mezzo soprano James Hooper, Official; Dervish Jean Brebion, Conductor Jean Mollien, Bass Jonathan Prescott, Sultan; Dervish Lina Dachary, Soprano Linda Zoghby, Rezia Lucia Valentini-Terrani, Ernesto, Soprano M. Pieri, Singer Margaret Marshall, Balkis, Soprano Nicolas Scarpinati, Dervish ORTF Lyric Orchestra René Lenoty, Tenor |
| (Les) serpent à plumes |
(Clément Philibert) Léo Delibes, Composer
(Clément Philibert) Léo Delibes, Composer Anton Niessner, Mirko Zeta, Baritone Bernard Plantey, Bass Christiane Harbell, Soprano Denis Dowling, Junius, Baritone Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, Hanna Glawari, Soprano Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, Hanna Glawari, Soprano Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, Hanna Glawari, Soprano Emmy Loose, Valencienne, Soprano Emmy Loose, Valencienne, Soprano Emmy Loose, Valencienne, Soprano Erich Kunz, Danilo, Tenor Erich Kunz, Danilo, Tenor Erich Kunz, Danilo, Tenor Flora Nielsen, Bianca, Mezzo soprano Frederick Sharp, Tarquinius, Baritone Jean Brebion, Conductor Joan Cross, Female Chorus, Mezzo soprano Josef Schmidinger, Ottokar, Baritone Josef Schmidinger, Ottokar, Baritone Josef Schmidinger, Ottokar, Baritone Joseph Peyron, Tenor Margaret Ritchie, Lucia, Soprano Monique Stiot, Mezzo soprano Nicolai Gedda, Camille de Rosillon, Tenor Nicolai Gedda, Camille de Rosillon, Tenor Nicolai Gedda, Camille de Rosillon, Tenor Norman Lumsden, Collatinus, Bass ORTF Lyric Orchestra Otakar Kraus, Cascada, Baritone Otakar Kraus, Cascada, Baritone Otakar Kraus, Cascada, Baritone René Lenoty, Tenor Willy Ferenz, Carnero, Bass |
Composer or Director: Edmond Audran
Genre:
Opera
Label: Gaieté Lyrique
Magazine Review Date: 11/1993
Media Format: CD or Download
Media Runtime: 149
Mastering:
ADD
Catalogue Number: 20240-2
Tracks:
| Composition | Artist Credit |
|---|---|
| Miss Helyett |
Edmond Audran, Composer
Aimé Doniat, Paul, Soprano Claudine Collart, Manuela Fernandez, Soprano Dominique Tirmont, Pasteur Smithson Edmond Audran, Composer Gabrielle Ristori, Señora Fernandez Gaston Rey, Bacarel Lina Dachary, Miss Helyett Lise Arseguet, Norette Marcel Cariven, Conductor Michel Hamel, Puycardas, Tenor ORTF Lyric Chorale ORTF Lyric Orchestra René Lenoty, James Richter |
| (La) Poupée |
Edmond Audran, Composer
Duvaleix, Tenor Génio, Singer Cheryl Studer, Elsa, Soprano Edmond Audran, Composer Ekkehard Wlaschiha, Telramund, Baritone French Radio Lyric Chorus French Radio Lyric Orchestra Gabriele Schnaut, Ortrud, Soprano Gabriele Schnaut, Ortrud, Soprano Gabriele Schnaut, Ortrud, Mezzo soprano Gabrielle Ristori, Mezzo soprano Gwendoline Killebrew, Waltraute, Mezzo soprano Huguette Hennetier, Mezzo soprano Ilse Gramatzki, Wellgunde, Soprano Jacques Pruvost, Baritone Joseph Peyron, Tenor Katie Clarke, Third Norn, Soprano Manfred Schenk, King Henry, Bass Marcel Cariven, Conductor Norma Sharp, Woglinde, Soprano Paul Frey, Lohengrin, Tenor Pierre Roi, Singer René Lenoty, Tenor Robert Massard, Baritone |
Author: Patrick O'Connor
Remove the dialogue, incidental music and dances from an operette or its immediate predecessors, the opera-bouffe and the lighter side of the opera-comique repertory—and there is sometimes hardly anything left. This is born out when one hears a work such as Messager's 1918 Monsieur Beaucaire, first written for production in England but best known in its 1925 French version. The selection of highlights I reviewed a few months ago (EMI, 5/93) are delightful, especially for Michel Dens in the title-role. Hearing the whole work complete as in this new Gaiete-Lyrique issue, taken from a 1958 radio production, it is enhanced considerably. The way the numbers, whether light-hearted duets, choruses or romantic love songs, grow out of the plot makes Messager's achievement in welding eighteenth-century pastiche to contemporary popular style all the more impressive.
Jules Gressier, who is also the conductor on the EMI extracts, directs the performance with just the right pace, while Willy Clement in the main part, although he hasn't the star quality of Michel Dens, and Lina Dachary, the resident prima donna in the Radio Lyric studio, are both completely at home in the dialogue and sing the famous numbers with passion.
Beaucaire is all about disguise, prince as barber, and each of these works revolves around some sort of mistaken identity. The other Messager operette here is his last work for the stage, Coups de Roulis first given in 1928, a few months before his death at the age of 75. A shipboard romance, like his earlier Passionement (in the same series, 3/92) it shows the elderly composer working with painfully thin material—government minister's daughter, disguised as Papa's secretary falls for dashing young officer—nevertheless as always Messager comes up with a couple of irresistibly catchy melodies: in this case especially the hero's ''Pardonnez un moment d'emoi'', beautifully sung by Aime Doniat.
Coups de Roulis is conducted by the veteran Marcel Cariven, whose name features on many pre-war French light-music 78s. He is also in charge of what proved to be the pleasant surprise of this new series, Audran's Miss Helyett.Autres temps, autres moeurs! The plot of Miss Helyett concerns an American lady whose undergarments and more are glimpsed by a fellow-mountaineer during a climbing accident. Her father decrees that such is the intimate contact implied by this indiscreet glimpse, duet ''Ah! le superbe point de vue'', that the man must marry her, She, of course, was upside down and therefore cannot identify him. This naughty-nineties nonsense prompts from Audran a bubbling, totally delicious operette which for me is the gem of this batch.
From the drum-roll that introduces the rollicking ''Valse du Casino'', one is propelled into the world of Beraud's paintings; visions of monocled moustachio'd officers profering bouquets to simpering maidens. Perhaps Miss Helyett doesn't have the strength or originality of Audran's most famous work, La Mascotte, but it is entrancing; the English and American accents are hilarious as interpreted by the French singers and tune after tune tumbles out, enough to set the whole Musee d'Orsay dancing. The fill-up, extracts from Audran's 1899 La Poupee, is also charming. This variation on the Coppelius story was a huge hit in London with Edna May as the girl posing as a doll. That elegant baritone, Robert Massard sings the role of Father Maximin who sends the blushing novice Lancelot out into the world to recover the fortunes of the monastery. Suffice to say that by the end of the story he is no longer a novice in any sense of the word. It is such a special pleasure to hear the French language delivered in an operatic context by such seasoned performers, which makes one regret all the more the apparent lack in the intervening years of younger French singers able to master theopera comique-operette style, or perhaps the recording industry's failure to nurture those artists who could.
The earliest work featured among these CDs is Delibes'sL'omelette a la Follembuche, the big number from which, ''Ah! Flic, flac, floc'' is a demonstration by the heroine, sung by Lina Dachary, into the mysteries of omelette-making. Try this in an opera-quiz one day, ''In which operette bouffe does a Marquise make an omelette?'' The main Delibes work, Le roi l'a dit boasts Janine Micheau and Michel Senechal in the main roles. The disguises here, which must have delighted the mashers of 1873, put two of four daughters into tights, masquerading as boys at the court of Louis XIV. This set is great fun, although Micheau sounds a bit mature for the flighty maid, Javotte, and Delibes's music, elegant and fast-moving, doesn't really equal the tunefulness of his more famous ballets. Le roi l'a dit notched up 75 performances at the Opera Comique before 1900, but then faded from the repertory. The third Delibes work featured Le serpent a plumes, is a story of an explorer who returns home with the creature of the title, to the chagrin of his wife. There is a charming duet in the Spanish style, ''Si blonde est ta chevelure''. Like L'omelette, this one-acter dates from the years when Delibes was composing for Offenbach's theatre, the Bouffes-Parisiens and Lakme was more than 20 years in the future, but already one hears that limpid mixture of exotic and danceworthy tunes. The sound is remarkably good considering these performances are all over 20 years old and were originally for the radio.
The most recent recording is of Gounod's Philemon et Baucis, once a very popular work, which he composed just after Faust. Collectors of early recordings will be familiar with the aria for Vulcan, ''Au bruit des lourds marteaux'' as recorded by Pol Plancon and that for Jupiter, ''Que les songes heureux'' by Paul Payan, among others. The story is basically that of the Gods-go-a'begging, the mortal couple who live to regret their request for eternal youth, are sung with considerable style by Jean-Claude Orliac and Anne-Marie Rodde. It is a ravishing little opera, full of gentle melody and exquisite orchestration—listen to the entr'acte which precedes the divine transformation of elderly, poverty-stricken couple into wealthy beauties. This is perhaps the most valuable recording of the group, but spare a thought all the same for the more obviously ribald Miss Helyett on her mountain.'
Jules Gressier, who is also the conductor on the EMI extracts, directs the performance with just the right pace, while Willy Clement in the main part, although he hasn't the star quality of Michel Dens, and Lina Dachary, the resident prima donna in the Radio Lyric studio, are both completely at home in the dialogue and sing the famous numbers with passion.
Beaucaire is all about disguise, prince as barber, and each of these works revolves around some sort of mistaken identity. The other Messager operette here is his last work for the stage, Coups de Roulis first given in 1928, a few months before his death at the age of 75. A shipboard romance, like his earlier Passionement (in the same series, 3/92) it shows the elderly composer working with painfully thin material—government minister's daughter, disguised as Papa's secretary falls for dashing young officer—nevertheless as always Messager comes up with a couple of irresistibly catchy melodies: in this case especially the hero's ''Pardonnez un moment d'emoi'', beautifully sung by Aime Doniat.
Coups de Roulis is conducted by the veteran Marcel Cariven, whose name features on many pre-war French light-music 78s. He is also in charge of what proved to be the pleasant surprise of this new series, Audran's Miss Helyett.
From the drum-roll that introduces the rollicking ''Valse du Casino'', one is propelled into the world of Beraud's paintings; visions of monocled moustachio'd officers profering bouquets to simpering maidens. Perhaps Miss Helyett doesn't have the strength or originality of Audran's most famous work, La Mascotte, but it is entrancing; the English and American accents are hilarious as interpreted by the French singers and tune after tune tumbles out, enough to set the whole Musee d'Orsay dancing. The fill-up, extracts from Audran's 1899 La Poupee, is also charming. This variation on the Coppelius story was a huge hit in London with Edna May as the girl posing as a doll. That elegant baritone, Robert Massard sings the role of Father Maximin who sends the blushing novice Lancelot out into the world to recover the fortunes of the monastery. Suffice to say that by the end of the story he is no longer a novice in any sense of the word. It is such a special pleasure to hear the French language delivered in an operatic context by such seasoned performers, which makes one regret all the more the apparent lack in the intervening years of younger French singers able to master the
The earliest work featured among these CDs is Delibes's
The most recent recording is of Gounod's Philemon et Baucis, once a very popular work, which he composed just after Faust. Collectors of early recordings will be familiar with the aria for Vulcan, ''Au bruit des lourds marteaux'' as recorded by Pol Plancon and that for Jupiter, ''Que les songes heureux'' by Paul Payan, among others. The story is basically that of the Gods-go-a'begging, the mortal couple who live to regret their request for eternal youth, are sung with considerable style by Jean-Claude Orliac and Anne-Marie Rodde. It is a ravishing little opera, full of gentle melody and exquisite orchestration—listen to the entr'acte which precedes the divine transformation of elderly, poverty-stricken couple into wealthy beauties. This is perhaps the most valuable recording of the group, but spare a thought all the same for the more obviously ribald Miss Helyett on her mountain.'
Messager Monsieur Beaucaire
Messager Coups de Roulis
Gounod Philémon et Baucis
Delibes Opéras-Comiques
Audran Miss Helyett. La Poupée
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