Gounod: Roméo & Juliette - Gheorghiu, Alagna, Plasson (3 CD)

Posted By : fredoking | Date : 03 Dec 2010 20:17:16 | Comments : 6 |

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Assuming for a moment (as perhaps one should not) that the reader does not have to be persuaded that the work itself deserves a place in the collection, then the question is simply: is this new recording better than its two nearest rivals, and if so is the superiority such as will merit the additional expenditure that is (presumably) involved in the purchase of three discs rather than two. The most recent alternative version is the one under Leonard Slatkin, with Ruth Ann Swenson and Placid° Domingo as the lovers, appreciatively reviewed by AB, as indeed was its predecessor, with Catherine Malfitano and Alfredo Kraus and conducted by Michel Masson who is also in charge of the new version. Certainly if the opera's brief Prologue is representative, this present set is the best of the three. Compared with his earlier self, Plasson is more assuredly his own man, taking a broader view of the turbulent, dramatic opening, and especially of the fugato which introduces its second section. This now has the unhurried, confident thrust of an expert duellist, and in place of a rather generalized picture, a much more specific and vivid one forms in the mind. The contrast is stronger with Slatkin, who urges forward, piles on the brass, and achieves an arresting but altogether cruder effect. Then comes the chorus's introductory narration which the Munich choir under Slatkin sing like oratorio. Plasson's 1983 recording from Toulouse puts greater emphasis on story-telling, but that too is not nearly so imaginative as the quieter, more intimate style he favours now, the chorus having more light-and-shade, better rhythmic pointing, more 'face'.
At curtain-up for Capulet's ball, Plasson now leads a subtly textured waltz where Slatkin's is a thick-soled, heavy-downbeat sort of thing. and when his chorus, supposedly seeing Juliette, exclaim "All! qu'elle est belle", they are really seeing little more than their copies. Plasson's people catch the vision with their subdued exclamation of wonder. In all of this, and so on throughout the performance, the new version marks a sure improvement, almost a breakthrough.
But Romeo et Juliette means Romeo and Juliet, and here the preference may be slightly less clear-cut. Catherine Malfitano, Plasson's earlier Juliette, had a fresh, girlish quality which, rather doll-like at first, gains tenderness and sensitivity. Swenson, for Slatkin, makes less of the character and sings the famous Waltz song without pace or gaiety, or dreaminess either. Gheorghiu, here, immediately makes her listeners echo the chorus's "Alll qu'elle est belle", for the sound matches the imagined sight. Its beauty is more mature than Malfitano's, and to that extent perhaps less appropriate, but as the part develops towards tragedy so her warmer, richer tone is better able to embody the depth of feeling, and she brings a fine conviction to the despairing scene with Friar Laurence and then to the scene of the potion.
Alagna's Romeo has, of course, youth on his side if he is similarly to have the rivals brought up for comparison. Domingo performs magnificently in what now seems an unlikely role, while Kraus. a 56-year-old Romeo at the time of the recording, is still clear-toned and has no problems on high. Alagna does not sound too happy with the B flats of "Ah, leve-toi, soleil", and sometimes the voice appears to have added weight in a way that makes him less suited to the nart than he was when we first admired him at Covent Garden. Yet there are many, many things to enjoy as one listens, and still more as one compares.
Actually, Romeo and Juliet are not all: the opera abounds in rewarding secondary roles. In one of these, that of Stephano the page, the new recording loses to Slatkin. Marie-Ange Todorovitch has some sense of style but not the voice for this, and especially not when compared with the delightful Susan Graham. The Friar is still Jose van Dam ('still' because he sang it with Plasson nearly 15 years ago), and is gravely firm and fine as ever. The Capulet, Alain Fondary, is a bluff father-figure not unlike his predecessor, Bacquier. As Mercutio, Simon Keenlyside is excellent, though I think not better than Gino Wilco, outstanding in the 1983 set. The others even out reasonably well, but it is not these on whom the choice depends.
On the merits of the cast, and perhaps still more on those of the choral singing, orchestral playing and recorded sound, I would certainly recommend the new version above its rivals. But there remains the question of that third disc. Essentially it is there to accommodate the ballet music. This is pleasant, tuneful and well-orchestrated, but the opera is better off without it. As a statutory requirement of the Paris Opera, it was placed between the night of Juliet's agony and her awakening for the proposed marriage to Count Paris, destroying the dramatic tension at a crucial moment. I would not buy the recording for that; I would for almost everything else. To those who may be still unconvinced that the opera itself is worth attention, may I just add my own experience, which is that it endears itself steadily (almost stealthily) over the years.
Gramophone Magazine

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Opera in 5 acts based on a libretto by Jules Barbier & Michel Carré

Cast:
Roméo: Roberto Alagna
Juliette: Angela Gheorghiu
Friar Laurence: José van Dam
Stephano: Marie-Ange Todorovitch
Mercutio: Simon Keenlyside
Capulet: Alain Fondary
Gertrude: Claire Larcher
.....

Choeur et Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse
Michel Plasson

Tech specs
3xCD + Bonus CD
Recorded in October 1995, Halle aux Grains, Toulouse
Editor: EMI (6 40700 2)
Recording date: 1995
XLD Rip, Flac + Cue + log
Scans: Back & Front Covers, Booklet (HiRes)
Approximative size: 700 MB
Approximative time 3h00

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XLD Log CD 1

XLD Log CD 2

XLD Log CD 3

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Posted By: juloqui Date: 04 Dec 2010 11:47:35

Mucha gracias por el aporte, hay un fallo en el fichero numero 1 no descarga en su totalidad, gracias

Problema arreglado, muchas gracias

Posted By: oak Date: 05 Dec 2010 12:06:23

Many thanks for this nice upload!!!
However, cue files doesn't work, or at least the don't for me. Any suggestion?
Thanks again, have a nice time

Posted By: kokovox Date: 07 Dec 2010 03:39:38

Thank you very much for this one. However, there is some problem with the CUEs of CD 2 and 3. Any idea how to fix them?

Posted By: fredoking Date: 07 Dec 2010 17:12:51

@oak, @kokovox
I have no issue with the CUE files. They are generated by XLD on my Mac, the only possible cause I see (because you don't seem to have problems with CD1) is the French "accentuation": é, è, à, .... The files are text ISO coded, maybe bot well recognized by Windows. Try replacing all theese characters with non acenntuated ones.

Posted By: oak Date: 07 Dec 2010 20:55:44

Thanks fredoking for the advice.

Posted By: tacite Date: 14 May 2011 19:10:41

Thank you very much!

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