Gounod, Berlioz, Massenet: Arias and Duets

The disc is worth having for the Berlioz extracts, especially for Miss Kolassi’s beautiful and sensitive singing of the two Marguerite pieces … [her] Letter Scene is beautifully done. — Opera, December 1955 More…

Release Date: 28th Apr 2017
Catalogue No: ELQ4824621
Label: Eloquence
Length: 65 minutes

Usually despatched in 3 - 4 working days

Gounod: Roméo et Juliette - original version - Act 2

Work length7:58

Raoul Jobin (tenor), Pierre Mollet (baritone)
Choeur du Théatre National de l'Opéra de Paris, Orchestre de l’Opéra national de Paris
Alberto Erede
Recorded: 1953-06
Recording Venue: La Maison de la Mutualité, Paris

Entr'acte - O nuit! sous tes ailes obscurs

Track length3:44

L'amour! l'amour! oui, son ardeur a troublé

Track length4:14

Berlioz: La damnation de Faust, Op. 24, H 111 / Pt. 2

Work length5:34

Raoul Jobin (tenor)
London Symphony Orchestra
Anatole Fistoulari
Recorded: 1954-10-07
Recording Venue: Kingsway Hall, London

Sans regrets j'ai quitté les riantes campagnes

Track length5:34

Berlioz: La damnation de Faust, Op. 24, H 111 / Pt. 3

Work length10:36

Raoul Jobin (tenor), Irma Kolassi (mezzo-soprano)
London Symphony Orchestra
Anatole Fistoulari
Recorded: 1954-10-07
Recording Venue: Kingsway Hall, London

Autrefois un roi de Thulé

Track length5:51

Grands dieux! Que vois-je?

Track length4:45

Berlioz: La damnation de Faust, Op. 24, H 111 / Pt. 4

Work length12:22

Raoul Jobin (tenor), Irma Kolassi (mezzo-soprano)
London Symphony Orchestra
Anatole Fistoulari
Recorded: 1954-10-07
Recording Venue: Kingsway Hall, London

D'amour l'ardente flamme

Track length7:34

Nature immense (Invocation à la Nature)

Track length4:48

Massenet: Werther / Act 1

Work length5:10

Raoul Jobin (tenor)
London Symphony Orchestra
Anatole Fistoulari
Recorded: 1954-10-07
Recording Venue: Kingsway Hall, London

Je ne sais si je veille

Track length5:10

Massenet: Werther / Act 2

Work length3:37

Raoul Jobin (tenor)
London Symphony Orchestra
Anatole Fistoulari
Recorded: 1954-10-07
Recording Venue: Kingsway Hall, London

Oui, ce qu'elle m'ordonne...Lorsque l'enfant revient d'un voyage avant l'heure

Track length3:37

Massenet: Werther / Act 3

Work length19:59

Raoul Jobin (tenor), Irma Kolassi (mezzo-soprano)
London Symphony Orchestra
Anatole Fistoulari
Recorded: 1954-10-07
Recording Venue: Kingsway Hall, London

Werther! Werther...qui m'aurait dit la place

Track length7:51

Ah! Mon courage m'abondonne!...Oui! C'est moi...Pourquoi me réveiller...N'achevez pas

Track length12:08

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Unlikely in theory, fruitful in practice: for the first time on CD, Eloquence presents a duet record of the Greek-born, French mezzo-soprano Irma Kolassi and French-Canadian tenor Raoul Jobin. Kolassi was no creature of the stage: her brief recording career centres around Decca recital albums which have also been newly remastered and reissued by Eloquence (4824637). Meanwhile Jobin was a well-loved fixture both at the Metropolitan Opera, New York, and in front of the notoriously picky opera-going audience in Paris.

Together they recorded the prime set-piece arias and duets from La damnation de Faust and Werther in London: a classic ‘Decca sound’ record from October 1954 supervised by Peter Andry and engineered by Kenneth Wilkinson. The previous year, John Culshaw had recorded Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette in Paris, and the first two numbers from Act II are presented here. Jobin can now be appreciated as among the last of a great procession of Francophone tenors.

The Berlioz and Massenet extracts were enjoyed for making unusual and welcome selections from works not much blessed at the time of their release with complete recordings. Even more, though, did critical attention focus on Kolassi, whose intelligent and captivating mezzo could not otherwise be savoured in operatic music: ‘just right for the Romance,’ thought an early Gramophone reviewer (April 1958), ‘and the playing by the London Symphony under Fistoulari is admirable.’

‘The disc is worth having for the Berlioz extracts, especially for Miss Kolassi’s beautiful and sensitive singing of the two Marguerite pieces … [her] Letter Scene is beautifully done.’ Opera magazine, December 1955

‘This was recorded late in the tenor’s career, but his excellent diction and the strong attack and reserves or power are very much in evidence. The Charlotte is a Greek mezzo-soprano who never appeared on the stage, but her sensitivity as a recitalist is evident here.’ Opera magazine, March 1977

Reviews

December 1955

The disc is worth having for the Berlioz extracts, especially for Miss Kolassi’s beautiful and sensitive singing of the two Marguerite pieces … [her] Letter Scene is beautifully done.

March 1977

This was recorded late in the tenor’s career, but his excellent diction and the strong attack and reserves or power are very much in evidence. The Charlotte is a Greek mezzo-soprano who never appeared on the stage, but her sensitivity as a recitalist is evident here.

Gounod, Berlioz, Massenet: Arias and Duets

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