Four Vintage Fausts

Faust: César Vezzani		Faust: René Lapelletrie
Marguerite: Mireille Berthon		Marguerite: Germaine Martinelli
Méphistophélès: Marcel Journet		Méphistophélès: José Beckmans
Valentin: Louis Musy		Valentin: Charles Cambon
Siébel: Marthe Coiffier		Siébel: Bernadette Lemichel du Roy
Dame Marthe: Jeanne Monfort		Dame Marthe: Mme. Nidoc
Wagner: Michel Cozette		Wagner: Michel Cozette
Paris Opéra Orchestra and Chorus		L'Orchestre de l'Association des Concerts Lamoureux
Henri Busser, conductor		Albert Wol ff, conductor
Recorded in 1930		Recorded in 1930
	Andante Opera 3996-99 (4 CDs)
Faust: Georges Noré		Wagner: Ernest Frank
Marguerite: Geori Boué		Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and Chorus
Méphistophélès: Roger Rico		Sir Thomas Beecham, conductor
Valentin: Roger Bourdin		Recorded in 1947-48
Siébel: Huguette Saint-Arnaud		Naxos Historical 8.110117-18 (2 CDs)
Dame Marthe: Betty Bannerman
Faust: Léopold Simoneau		Wagner: Dominique Weber
Marguerite: Pierrette Alarie		Orchestra of the Vienna Festival
Méphistophélès: Heinz Rehfuss		Chorus of the Vienna Opera
Valentin: Paul Bicos		Gianfranco Rivoli, conductor
Siébel: Liliane Berton		Recorded in 1963
Dame Marthe: Suze Leal		VAI Audio vaia 1143-3 (3 CDs)

Gounod's remarkably resilient old warhorse has outlasted the national tradition that saw the work's evolution between 1859 and 1869. As with its recent impressive issue of a composite Pelléas containing historically important recordings from a time when the traditions of its performance were still vitally coherent, the Andante label's double Faust anthology handily and handsomely provides a point of reference whose value it is difficult to overestimate. The notion of tradition has taken many a bad rap, but immersion in an idiom sufficient to make it instinctive beats bland and inoffensive in my book, particularly in the French repertoire where the words correctly pronounced are themselves an integral part of the music.

Since so much of Gounod's writing is syllabic—one syllable to each note of the vocal line—the accurate projection of the text is important. This statement applies even more to the operas of Massenet, but he absorbed its validity from Gounod. Today when so many singers seem to sacrifice textual clarity and vividness to well-shaped tone the loss in sheer communicativeness is dismaying. The discs under review can offer substantial evidence of dramatic involvement allied to vocal prowess. Consider such phrases as Siébel's "Faites-lui mes aveux" or Faust's "Salut! demeure chaste et pure" or Marguerite's "Seigneur, accueillez la prière des coeurs malheureux!" The shape of the musical phrase mirrors the verbal emphasis.

To begin with the performance led by Henri Busser and first issued on the French Gramophone label (and later on HMV and Victor): it is extraordinary because it preserves in full the Méphistophélès of Marcel Journet (1867-1933), who made his operatic debut in 1891 and pursued a brilliant career singing roles as varied as Wotan, Tonio in Pagliacci, and Golaud. His interpretation of Gounod's satanic figure is rich in irony and detached persuasiveness, but not without an occasional flash of menace. The voice of the sixty-three-year-old Journet is in fine shape, easy at the top, rounded down to bottom-line F, and still rich though perhaps a shade drier than it once had been—all in all, an instrument to make one sit up and take notice. The authority of Journet's performance is impressive.

The other great merit of this 1930 recording is the conducting of Henri Busser (1872-1973), who had known Gounod personally; in fact the composer helped the twenty-year-old Busser obtain an appointment as organist at the Church of Saint-Cloud. Debussy admired Busser to the extent that he made a point of having him engaged to succeed Messager as the conductor of Pelléas et Mélisande in the spring of 1902. He made his debut as chef d'orchestre at the Opéra in April 1906, embarking on a career there that lasted into the 1930s. His approach to Gounod's score...