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

 

 

A canzone di li fiori (Agostini) (w. Angelici) 281125 Ki7807 Odéon, Paris, 29 December 1936

A Pipa (Tessarech) Chanson corse 188.790 KI 3872 Odéon, Paris, 21 November 1930

Addio a Napoli (Cottrau) 188.878 KI 5632 Odéon, Paris, 27 October 1932

Air des Muletiers (Tessarech) Chanson corse 188.790 KI 3871 Odéon, Paris, 21 November 1930

Airs sérieux et à boire Pt 1 (Monteclair – L’Affilard – De La Barre) 98 AS188 L’Anthologie Sonore

Airs sérieux et à boire Pt 2 (Monteclair – L’Affilard – De La Barre) 98 AS189 L’Anthologie Sonore

Ajacciu bellu (Mario) 166710 Ki5958-1 Odéon, Paris, 13 April 1933

Carmen (Bizet) C’est toi, c’est moi!… Mais moi, Carmen je t’aime encore (w. Supervia) 123774, 123774, xxP7263, xxP7264 Odéon, Paris, 24 April 1931

Carmen (Bizet) Carmen (Bizet) Je vais danser (w. Supervia) 123772 xxP7266 Odéon, Paris, 24 April 1931

Carmen (Bizet) Je suis Escamillo (w. Endreze) 123776 xxP7271 Odéon, Paris, 9 May 1931

Carmen (Bizet) Je vais danser en votre honneur (w. Supervia) 123772 Odéon, Paris, 24 April 1931

Carmen (Bizet) La fleur123650 xxP6900-1 Odéon, Paris, 24 May 1929

Carmen (Bizet) Non tu ne m’aimes pas (w. Supervia) 123773 xxP7265 Odéon, Paris, 24 April 1931

Carmen (Bizet) Près des remparts de Séville (w. Supervia) 123714 xxP7098 Odéon, Paris, 10 July 1930

Cavalleria Rusticana (Mascagni) C’est toi, Santuzza… Oh marjolaines! (w. Cernay & Héna) 123819, 123819, xxP 7275, xxP 7274 Odéon, Paris, 13 March 1933