Georges Bizet (1838-1875)
Carmen (1875)
Carmen – Consuelo Rubio (soprano)
Don José – Léopold Simoneau (tenor)
Micaëla – Pierrette Alarie (soprano)
Escamillo – Heinz Rehfuss (baritone)
Choeurs des Concerts de Paris, Les petits Chanteurs de Saint Nicolas
Orchestre des Concerts de Paris/Pierre-Michel Le Conte
rec. 1959, Paris
Ambient Stereo XR remastering by Andrew Rose
Libretto with English translation available to download, as well as full score and vocal score
Pristine Audio PACO217 [2 discs: 141]
For this Pristine Audio release of Carmen, there have already been two previous reviews by Ralph Moore and Göran Forsling. They were reviewing the downloadable release whereas my review is of the CD as supplied by Pristine.
The review copy arrived at my door with a note from the manufacturer, which takes a slightly defensive tone explaining that reviewers have sometimes criticized them for not supplying librettos and translations and that they do provide downloadable online resources for such things (when they exist in royalty-free availability). In all honesty Pristine needn’t have bothered to justify themselves on this point, especially at a time when even the major labels are releasing products that are often devoid or inadequate when it comes to text resources. Reviewers who carp to a niche label such as Pristine Audio about such things are emulating the Madwoman of Chaillot by living in their memories of the past.
This recording certainly sounds as if it was coming from some distant past. Recorded in 1959, it has never been among the most widely available sets. This was my first encounter with it despite 40-odd years of CD and vinyl collecting. It falls into that small group of recordings of this opera that are the most resolutely French in style from the stereo era. Its closest sisters are two EMI recordings from the same era; the Beecham recording (with Victoria de los Ángeles) and the Prêtre recording (with Maria Callas). All three share a likeness of possessing lead singers who are extremely well-versed in French style without actually being native to France.
This set has the benefit of another fine Spanish singer as Carmen in Consuelo Rubio. She certainly has all of the notes and a thoroughly even tone throughout her range (nowadays that is something of a rarity); however, I find her slightly coarse in her delivery, especially in comparison to Callas and de los Ángeles. In addition, her tone as recorded is sometimes alluring; however, at other times allure is curiously absent. Her Carmen can be memorable, but only intermittently.
Léopold Simoneau was an experienced Don José on stage in Europe, and less often in North America. His voice falls in line with the lighter-voiced traditions of French opéra comique which had a long history of casting lighter French tenors who frequently sang the role during the first 60 or so years of the opera’s performance history in France and Belgium. Simoneau possesses a very heady tone with a facility for emitting a very elegant vocal line. His Flower song wafts along with grace, making it among the most gently perfumed accounts of this much-recorded aria that one will ever encounter. However, since the 1950s the performing traditions of Carmen have acquired a more verismo approach, particularly in regards to the character of Don José. Those listeners who have been teethed on a diet of Corelli (spectacularly un-French), Vickers, Domingo and Carreras may find Simoneau just too light of timbre to convey the sense of being a viable threat to Carmen in the later Acts. This reviewer is convinced that the sheer beauty of Simoneau’s singing outweighs any reservations about being too lightweight for the part.
Simoneau’s wife Pierrette Alarie sings Micaëla on this recording. Both were French-Canadian singers of the highest achievement and spent much of their careers singing as a team. Alarie’s Micaëla is very bright in tone and quite girlish, despite being 38 when this recording was made. Her voice has a very pretty sound which is quite in keeping of a traditionally light-voiced Opéra Comique soprano. Unfortunately, this same lightness makes Micaëla almost pointless as part of the drama. Alarie sings the big aria with charm and taste but she simply doesn’t touch the heart in the manner of the far less French styles of Cotrubas and Freni on later recordings. For a singer who incorporates the true French style, one can look to the excellent Jeannette Pilou on Alain Lombard’s recording on Erato.
Heinz Rehfuss, an excellent Swiss-born baritone who featured on several French opera recordings during the 1950s, matches Simoneau for the elegance of his vocal lines. Unfortunately, he finds much of the role of Escamillo simply too high for his voice, or perhaps he recorded it too late in his career. His song of the
The Toreador has swagger, and a soupçon of taste, but the high notes simply elude him (although he nicely achieves the lowest notes which are the bane of many other baritones when they sing the aria). He is happier with the tessitura in the duel scene with Don José (which is slightly cut). The smaller roles are cast with singers who give vivid accounts of themselves despite not being remembered today.
Le Conte’s conducting of the Paris forces is a distinct pleasure. His direction has clarity and brio with nothing smudged or glossed over. Neither does he indulge in overloading the orchestra with a tonal weightiness that is quite inappropriate (as von Karajan does on both of his recordings and Bernstein is not immune to this tendency either). As a sampling, I point the reader to Carmen’s entrance where Le Conte lets the strings lash out with a superb flourish in which the listener can almost see a mantilla being flounced about in a most determined manner. In another example of Le Conte’s success with the score, he makes the opening chorus of the strolling gentlemen of Seville as light as a freshly made churro. The orchestra and chorus at his disposal are by no means perfect but they are caught up in his interpretation. It is Le Conte’s overall success that is the best reason for hearing this recording.
The sound remastering by Pristine is superb. The acoustic has a nice feeling of space about it and gives the voices in particular a warmly resonant facsimile of having been recorded in an opera house. I did note some occasional congestion at some of the louder climaxes but this is no doubt present in the vinyl source discs that Pristine obtained.
While I won’t be changing my allegiance to the Callas recording (review) as the most vividly French sounding of Carmens on disc, I feel that this Pristine release more than justifies their efforts to preserve it. It will sit happily alongside the Beecham recording, in a high-ranking space, reasonably ahead of versions by Schippers, Frühbeck de Burgos, Ozawa and, even von Karajan’s two sets – all of whom are among the lesser achievers on my Carmen shelf.
Mike Parr
Previous reviews: Ralph Moore (September 2024) ~ Göran Forsling (October 2024)
Availability: Pristine Classical
Other cast:
Frasquita – Maria Lopez (soprano)
Mercédès – Francine Arrauzau (mezzo-soprano)
Le Dancaïre – José Serrano (baritone)
Le Remendado – Pierre Louvier (tenor)
Moralès – Bernard Delacroix (baritone)
Zuninga – Pablo Ferme (bass)
