Thomas Beecham was a master of French Romantic style. His Faust moves like the wind but breathes with a natural ease, full of phrasing that gives full due to the melodies. “Natural” is the key word here, for everything has such an inevitability to it that it becomes hard to imagine–at least while the music is playing–how it could be done differently. Beecham’s earlier 1930 version was in English and sung veddy correctly indeed by his British cast. Here, in 1947-48, he has French singers schooled in the now-defunct style essential to satisfactory performances of French opera.
Unfortunately, they’re not on the level of the conducting. Georges Noré’s brightly focused lyric tenor is acceptable for Faust, though it lacks the heft brought to the role by some of his great predecessors like Georges Thill and Cesar Vezzani, and there’s little involvement or fire in his singing. Geori Boué’s Marguerite sounds thin, even paint-peeling shrill in places, and her limited range detracts from the church scene. Roger Rico is a light-voiced Mephistopheles, the sort that makes little impact, and without his “Avant de quitter” the fine baritone Roger Bourdin has little to do as Valentin, which is particularly unfortunate since Beecham’s phrasing of the aria’s melody in the orchestral Introduction is as perfect as can be.
Which brings us to the unfortunate subject of cuts, which strip this Faust not only of Valentin’s spotlight aria but of the Walpurgisnacht scene, the Spinning Song, and the ensuing scene with Siebel. But cuts are common in historical opera recordings made before our contemporary insistence on every last note in the urtext, and the singers are never less than adequate. Given Beecham’s elegant conducting, fans of this work will be willing to make a Faustian tradeoff and consider this as a supplement to the reference recordings listed above, especially at the Naxos price.
