Huguette Tourangeau - Recital
A fascinating reminder of a powerful personality and a very individual voice
View record and artist detailsRecord and Artist Details
Composer or Director: Daniel-François-Esprit Auber, Nicola Vaccai, Jules (Emile Frédéric) Massenet, Michael William Balfe, Gaetano Donizetti, Aimé Maillart, Georges Bizet, Giuseppe Verdi
Genre:
Opera
Label: Classic Recitals
Magazine Review Date: 2/2006
Media Format: CD or Download
Media Runtime: 52
Mastering:
Stereo
ADD
Catalogue Number: 475 6812
Tracks:
Composition | Artist Credit |
---|---|
Sventurata Ildegonda |
Michael William Balfe, Composer
Huguette Tourangeau, Mezzo soprano Michael William Balfe, Composer Richard Bonynge, Conductor Suisse Romande Orchestra |
Chiuso nell' armi e splendido |
Michael William Balfe, Composer
Huguette Tourangeau, Mezzo soprano Michael William Balfe, Composer Richard Bonynge, Conductor Suisse Romande Orchestra |
Djamileh, Movement: Nour-Eddin, roi de Lahore |
Georges Bizet, Composer
Georges Bizet, Composer Huguette Tourangeau, Mezzo soprano Richard Bonynge, Conductor Suisse Romande Orchestra |
(L') Assedio di Calais, Movement: Al mio core oggetti amati |
Gaetano Donizetti, Composer
Gaetano Donizetti, Composer Huguette Tourangeau, Mezzo soprano Richard Bonynge, Conductor Suisse Romande Orchestra |
(Le) Cheval de bronze, '(The) Bronze Horse', Movement: Ah pour un jeune coeur |
Daniel-François-Esprit Auber, Composer
Daniel-François-Esprit Auber, Composer Huguette Tourangeau, Mezzo soprano Richard Bonynge, Conductor Suisse Romande Orchestra |
(Le) Cheval de bronze, '(The) Bronze Horse', Movement: O tourment du veuvage |
Daniel-François-Esprit Auber, Composer
Daniel-François-Esprit Auber, Composer Huguette Tourangeau, Mezzo soprano Richard Bonynge, Conductor Suisse Romande Orchestra |
Hérodiade, Movement: ~ |
Jules (Emile Frédéric) Massenet, Composer
Huguette Tourangeau, Mezzo soprano Jules (Emile Frédéric) Massenet, Composer Richard Bonynge, Conductor Suisse Romande Orchestra |
Oberto, Conte di San Bonifaco, Movement: ~ |
Giuseppe Verdi, Composer
Giuseppe Verdi, Composer Huguette Tourangeau, Mezzo soprano Richard Bonynge, Conductor Suisse Romande Orchestra |
Giulietta e Romeo, Movement: E questo il loco |
Nicola Vaccai, Composer
Huguette Tourangeau, Mezzo soprano Nicola Vaccai, Composer Richard Bonynge, Conductor Suisse Romande Orchestra |
Giulietta e Romeo, Movement: Ah! se tu dormi |
Nicola Vaccai, Composer
Huguette Tourangeau, Mezzo soprano Nicola Vaccai, Composer Richard Bonynge, Conductor Suisse Romande Orchestra |
(Les) Dragons de Villars, Movement: Il m'aime! |
Aimé Maillart, Composer
Aimé Maillart, Composer Huguette Tourangeau, Mezzo soprano Richard Bonynge, Conductor Suisse Romande Orchestra |
Author: Patrick O'Connor
A graduate of the Quebec Conservatoire, most of her commercial recordings were made with Richard Bonynge and Joan Sutherland. We first heard her as a vivacious Urbain in the complete Les Huguenots, when she astonished many by capping the Act 1 finale with a brilliant top C. Here she ascends for a moment to E flat in the recitative from the enchanting aria from Maillart’s Les dragons de Villars: this opera remains well and truly forgotten and is surely a candidate for CD. Her sense of humour is also brought to play in the lament of the young widow from Auber’s Le cheval de bronze.
In general, Tourangeau’s diction in French seems perfect but the Italian selections sometimes lead her into a slightly more hazy pronunciation, although the power of the vengeful aria for Leonora from Verdi’s Oberto is very impressive. Best of all, perhaps, are the contrasting arias from Massenet’s Hérodiade and Bizet’s Djamileh. Herod’s wife emerges as a fantastic villainess, while the beauty of tone in the Bizet is hauntingly sensual. The Balfe is a curiosity, composed to be inserted into Marliani’s opera Ildegonda nel Carcere; one would not easily guess it to be the work of the composer of The Bohemian Girl.
These Decca classic recitals reproduce the original sleeve-notes but even the most powerful magnifying glass still leaves the print illegible. There are no texts or translations (nor were there with the original LP). The remastered sound is immediate, the singer’s presence superbly present, and Bonynge and the Suisse Romande Orchestra make the best case even for the Vaccai Romeo scene. I have always been very fond of this disc and it’s good to have it on CD at last.
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