Poulenc Les Mamelles de Tirésias: Le Bal Masqué
View record and artist detailsRecord and Artist Details
Composer or Director: Francis Poulenc
Genre:
Opera
Label: Philips Classics
Magazine Review Date: 13/1998
Media Format: CD or Download
Media Runtime: 72
Mastering:
DDD
Catalogue Number: 456 504-2PH
Tracks:
| Composition | Artist Credit |
|---|---|
| (Les) Mamelles de Tirésias |
Francis Poulenc, Composer
Akemi Sakamoto, Marchande de journaux; Grosse Dame Anthony Dean Griffey, Son, Tenor Barbara Bonney, Thérèse; Fortune-teller, Soprano Francis Poulenc, Composer Gordon Gietz, Journalist, Tenor Graham Clark, Lacouf, Tenor Jean-Paul Fouchécourt, Husband, Tenor Jean-Philippe Lafont, Director, Tenor Mark Oswald, Presto, Baritone Saito Kinen Orchestra Seiji Ozawa, Conductor Tokyo Opera Singers Wolfgang Holzmair, Policeman, Baritone |
| (Le) Bal masqué |
Francis Poulenc, Composer
Charles Paul, Commissaire 2, Bass Emile Rousseau, Policeman, Baritone Francis Poulenc, Composer Jean-Christoph Benoit, Pénultième, Vocalist/voice Jean-Paul Fouchécourt, Marquise de Montonson, Contralto (Female alto) Julien Thirache, Presto, Baritone Max Conti, Javelinot Michel Forel, Thierry, Baritone Nicolas Rivenq, Monsieur Médor, Baritone Robert Jeantet, Director, Baritone Saito Kinen Orchestra Seiji Ozawa, Conductor Wolfgang Holzmair, Baritone |
Author: Patrick O'Connor
Les mamelles de Tiresias is Poulenc’s Cosi fan tutte. On the surface it can seem merely an absurd romp. Poulenc, though, has used Apollinaire’s sur-realiste drama – in 1917 it was the play that gave the word to the language – as a starting-point for a work that is full of emotion – regrets, nostalgia and longing, then finally at the end the rebirth of hope. Poulenc worked on and off on the piece in the early 1940s, but finished it in a great burst of creative energy after the end of the Second World War. During the German occupation of France, Poulenc mostly being away from Paris, like the characters in the play stranded in a mythical Zanzibar, he amused himself with details about the city and its arondissements – the score is full of little musical references that match Apollinaire’s untranslatable puns.
This new recording is the first since the classic Andre Cluytens version from 1953, which included several members of the original cast, including Poulenc’s favourite soprano, Denise Duval; after she created the part of Therese, Poulenc described her as “stunning Paris with her beauty, her acting talent and her voice”. It’s a hard act to follow, but Barbara Bonney, who goes from strength to strength as a singing actress, succeeds in creating a vivid character without imitating Duval. I don’t want to insist too much on the excellence of the Cluytens recording – one of the great classics of the French repertory on disc – as it’s now 45 years old and it was high time we had a new version of this, one of the greatest operas of the second half of the twentieth century.
Seiji Ozawa has always had a special feeling for French opera of this period – he conducted one of the most ravishing productions I’ve ever heard of Ravel’sL’enfant et les sortileges in Paris in 1979. The biggest advantage of this new recording is the clarity of the orchestral sound – in the 1953 version the voices are so prominent that one loses all the beautiful detail in those heart-catching Poulenc juxtapositions, as the composer put it, “in the midst of the worst buffoonery a phrase can effect a change in the lyric tone”. The vocal coach, Pierre Valet, deserves a medal for the way he has succeeded in getting the Tokyo Opera Singers to articulate the French. As Presto and Lacouf, Mark Oswald and Graham Clark get to sing the wonderful duet about their gambling debts, “Monsieur Presto, je n’ai rien gagne”.
Wolfgang Holzmair is luxury casting as the Gendarme, and in the crucial role of Therese’s husband, Jean-Paul Fouchecourt is splendidly clear, whether looking after the babies or discussing Picasso’s art. Those who already know this opera will delight in this new performance, and if you have not yet become acquainted with the taste of the banana leaf and the strawberry together – the symbol Apollinaire offers his lovers at the end – you have a treat in store. One doesn’t really want to hear anything afterwards – Les mamelles is such a jewel on its own – but Le bal masque, as on the Cluytens reissue, makes a good fill-up.'
This new recording is the first since the classic Andre Cluytens version from 1953, which included several members of the original cast, including Poulenc’s favourite soprano, Denise Duval; after she created the part of Therese, Poulenc described her as “stunning Paris with her beauty, her acting talent and her voice”. It’s a hard act to follow, but Barbara Bonney, who goes from strength to strength as a singing actress, succeeds in creating a vivid character without imitating Duval. I don’t want to insist too much on the excellence of the Cluytens recording – one of the great classics of the French repertory on disc – as it’s now 45 years old and it was high time we had a new version of this, one of the greatest operas of the second half of the twentieth century.
Seiji Ozawa has always had a special feeling for French opera of this period – he conducted one of the most ravishing productions I’ve ever heard of Ravel’s
Wolfgang Holzmair is luxury casting as the Gendarme, and in the crucial role of Therese’s husband, Jean-Paul Fouchecourt is splendidly clear, whether looking after the babies or discussing Picasso’s art. Those who already know this opera will delight in this new performance, and if you have not yet become acquainted with the taste of the banana leaf and the strawberry together – the symbol Apollinaire offers his lovers at the end – you have a treat in store. One doesn’t really want to hear anything afterwards – Les mamelles is such a jewel on its own – but Le bal masque, as on the Cluytens reissue, makes a good fill-up.'
Poulenc Les Mamelles de Tirésias: Le Bal Masqué
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