This 1928, quasi-complete, studio-recorded Carmen is of interest for the Don José of Georges Thill, and little else. First of all, all the recitatives and dialogue are gone, as is the first-act finale, and some arias are truncated. The orchestra sounds about half the expected size for this opera–about 40 players, I’d guess. The sound has been cleaned up spectacularly. But this still has little appeal.
Thill is magnificent–a half-lyric, half-heroic tenor whose voice was beautiful and effortlessly produced, he also was a great Werther and Des Grieux. Here he sings with his usual ravishing legato and tone but seems oddly unengaged–even the Flower Song (recorded the year before, actually) seems like a concert piece. His Carmen is a lyric mezzo named Raymonde Visconti who sings prettily but with no feel for the drama: the Habanera and Seguidilla are delivered the same way–a music lesson, perhaps.
The Escamillo is Louis Grénot, who adds personality to a decent baritone. The Micaela of Marthe Nespoulos is sweet and tonally pleasing, but faceless as well. Perhaps because her aria had to be taken so quickly to suit the 78 rpm recording there was no time for characterization. The Frasquita and Mercedes, named above, are excellent, and it’s good to hear everyone singing in such perfectly enunciated French. Elie Cohen, normally a sensitive conductor, seems like he’s doing an efficient run-through. This is not worth it, except to hear Thill’s voice, which you can do elsewhere.
