Oh dear, having just recommended to you, with only a few reservations, the notable Abbado (DG) recording, and while still remaining reasonably faithful to the Maazel (Erato), I have to say that this Beecham set should be in every collection. It is without doubt, hors concours—and that French expression is just the right one for a performance that breathes French elegance, wit and charm in a way still not equalled elsewhere, while not neglecting the passion and tragedy when they are called for. In brief, Beecham is the complete Carmen conductor in a way nobody else, not even Abbado, succeeds in emulating—listen to the entr'actes, if nothing else, if you don't believe me. The only way he sins is in preferring the Guiraud recitatives on which he was nurtured rather than the more authentic dialogue. As I reported when the set was last issued on LP, Philip Hope-Wallace, who loved the score to distraction, greeted it on its first appearance in typical fashion thus: ''I send up a loud ole'', while Rodney Milnes called it a ''milestone in the history of Carmen on record'' and he, like me, admires Victoria de los Angeles inordinately for her sense of humour in Act I, the elan, the seductiveness of Act 2, the fatal acceptance of the card scene, the proud dignity of the finale. While missing nothing in verbal clarity or of subtle interpretation, she actually sings the role as musically as one would want. Berganza (for Abbado) is her peer in that respect but sounds a little detached by comparison with her Spanish predecessor. Indeed, los Angeles captures virtually every facet of the consistently fascinating part, if she is not quite so immediately alluring as Migenes (Maazel) or obviously so commanding or demanding as Callas (also EMI), but then Callas has little charm here.
Gedda turned in one of his most persuasive performances as Jose, one full of good singing but wanting only the sense of dark, doomed intensity for the last two acts that Domingo manages (Abbado, Solti on Decca, Maazel—where he's at his very best), but nobody achieves the natural flow of the Flower song so easily as Gedda. Blanc is as idiomatic as any Escamillo except van Dam (Solti), Micheau is also authentic in timbre, but somewhat dry of tone at this stage of her career. It is worth noting that Xavier Depraz, Zuniga here was still singing the role to good effect at Glyndebourne last summer. A change of Mercedes was needed as the first singer of the role unfortunately died in the 15 months intervening between the two series of sessions. EMI honestly point this out in an accompanying note, which also suggests that on CD the change in recorded quality is marked. It did not detract much from my enjoyable re-acquaintance with this admirable set. Even if the range of sound overall is a shade restricted I like its natural immediacy and perfect balance between voice and orchestra.'