Description

GASTON MICHELETTI (TAVACO, CORSICA, 5 JANUARY, 1892 – AJACCIO, CORSICA, 21 MAY, 1959)

 

 

 

 

A Corsican tenor, Micheletti spent the major part of his career (from 1925 to 1946) as one of the stalwarts of the Paris Opera-Comique, where he was justly acclaimed in a wide variety of roles, admirably represented by this careful remastering of his Odeon recordings. Since he has until now been best known as the partner of Supervia in her Carmen recordings and as Des Grieux opposite Emma Luart’s Manon (already reissued by Vintage, 4/97), this solo recital is most welcome.

His pleasing, plangent lyric tenor, with the quick vibrato typical of its era and operatic milieu, is used with the utmost artistry in a wide range of French repertoire, most notably perhaps as Faust, Roméo, Wilhelm Meister, and Werther, all four of whose solos are included here. Micheletti’s high notes were not produced effortlessly, so it is not surprising — indeed, rather gratifying — to hear him take the high C in Faust’s cavatina as an exquisitely produced head note.

In an age when Francophone singers, particularly tenors, are at a premium, it is a pleasure to hear these pieces sung with such sensitivity to the shape and timbre of the text, nowhere more so perhaps than in the duet from Hoffmann, where he is partnered by Luart — a gently romantic rendering, both artists singing lightly and naturally from the text in a manner rarely encountered in modern recordings of the work.

The same may be said of the “Chanson du Magali” from Mireille, where he sings with another of his Opera-Comique partners, Marie-Thérèse Gauley (who created the role of the Child in the premiere of L’enfant et les sortilèges). The recital concludes with four songs: two Italian pieces and, most hauntingly, two Corsican folk songs with guitar accompaniment — true collectors’ items, as the original recordings are exceedingly rare.

 

TRACKLIST

 

 

Manon (Massenet) Je suis seul! 188.660, 188660, Ki2408, Ki2409 Odéon, Paris, 22 May 1929

Manon (Massenet) Le reve de Des Grieux 188.655 Odéon, Paris, 17 April 1929

Marechiare (Tosti) 188.878 KI 5633 Odéon, Paris, 27 October 1932

Martha (Flotow) Air des larmes 188.813 Odéon, Paris, 9 May 1931

Mignon (Thomas) Adieu, Mignon, courage! 188.506 Ki1101 Odéon, Paris, 18 February 1927

Mignon (Thomas) Elle ne croyait pas 171.019 xxP6458 Odéon, Paris, spring 1927

Mireille (Gounod) Air de Vincent 188510 Ki1133-2 Odéon, Paris, 9 March 1927

Mireille (Gounod) O Magali! (w. Gauley) 171.017 xxP6567-2 Odéon, Paris, 27 January 1928

Mitrane (Rossi) Ah! Rendimi quel core  AS 131-1 Anthologie sonore

Moglie e maritu (Agostini) (w. Angelici) 281125 Ki7806 Odéon, Paris, 29 December 1936

Ninni nanna (Lacuire) 281189 Ki8075 Odéon, Paris, 8 June 1937

Paese nativu (de Bozi) 281189 Ki8074 Odéon, Paris, 8 June 1937

Paillasse (Leoncavallo) Avec moi tenter ce jeu 188.708 KI 3190 Odéon, Paris, 24 March 1930

Paillasse (Leoncavallo) Non, Paillasse n’est plus 188.582 Odéon, Paris, 19 April 1928

Rigoletto (Verdi) Comme la plume au vent 188867 Ki5399 Odéon, Paris, 13 May 1932

Romeo et Juliette (Gounod) Cavatine de Romeo 171.019 xxP6463 Odéon, Paris, spring 1927