French Contralto Jeanne Gerville-Réache ~ Carmen (1910 & 1909)

[Douceauroreboreale]

Contralto ou mezzo-contralto ?

En tous les cas, une superbe Carmen . Un timbre tout á fait en relief avec la protagoniste.

[opera8820904]

Brava! Wish she lived much longer.

[francesca7564]

Elle se fait "chatte", elle se fait "tigresse", BRRR !

[abracadabranque]

Très beau matériel:Pour la pêche au gros!Suberbe aigu!

Comment ce fait-il que la France se soit fait une spécialité de petites voix en ayant ceci dans son patrimoine?..Le mystère demeure...

[francesca7564]

@abracadabranque

En tout cas, une Carmen bien incarnée ...

A t on "fragilisé" Carmen avec les années ???

Merci pour ton indication et merci à CurzonRoad pour le post !

[rodlarocque]

Wonderful rich contralto Love her Is there a CD of her early recordings?

[jutabeach]

Thank's from her family!! it's nice to see her on youtube. I am one of her great grand daughter. Kind regards from France. juliette

[CurzonRoad]

Greetings Juliette: A great, great pleasure...

... and such a wonderful honor! Many, many thanks! ALL BEST. Doug --

[Kievest]

A multihued Carmen of brooding com-

plexity, overt sexuality, individuality and

iconic interpretation! JGR's resonant,

mink coat of a voice drives her Carmen

into the heart and soul of the listener with

typical French refinement and sonorous

pleasure! Truly admire her vibrant dic-

tion and animated phrasing! Wonderful

painting, Doug! Outstanding!

[Labienus]

It seems yrs. ago the Met roster had tenors, baritones, basses, now bass-baritones and even countertenors so fashions change (what are b-baritones anyway? basses without a great bottom, and baritones without a top)

the chorus roster lists sop. and altos which is a term of range saying nothing about weight or color so why not call them mezzos too?

In any case I never thought of Carmen as a "contralto" role

[Labienus]

More mezzos/c seem to have died young than other voice types-or does it seem that way? Never heard of her but tragic that it ended so early

I don't know that more sopranos sing it today?hasn't it always been the case that the role so appealing has always drawn both types-score has higher alternative version

Today appearance is the thing

we know the mezzos of the past but lots of sopranos

Destinn Ponselle de los Angeles Callas Price Bumbry who was both and others

[Bivolari]

@Labienus Of course you're right. But, today there does not seem to be many id any contralto Carmens. Aside from Simionato and Barbieri, the last Italian dramatic mezzos, most mezzo's today are of the lighter sort.

[meltzerboy]

Perhaps one might include Cossotto as well among the last of the Italian dramatic mezzos. They're an extinct breed, I think.

[Labienus]

Any speculation as to why that is the case? Or just great voices in any category, not to mention historic seem extinct?

Not enough space here-but part of the problem is terminology mezzos even if they qualify don't want to be called contraltos anymore the last modern one I can think of is Forrester Is Podles referred to as one? the modern use of mezzo seems to include all the types of lower female voices and eg the Met roster only has two categories of female voices and 4 for men!

[meltzerboy]

Even Patti sang Carmen, her worst role. And also Farrar, I believe.

[CurzonRoad]

@meltzerboy

Nate: Yes, Farrar did record Carmen.... and there's a full LP re-issue of her in the role. I've seen at least one BIG Victor advertisement of her as Carmen, used full-page in period magazines. And of course she starred in the Silent Film. For that matter, Farrar must have been one of the most photographed women of her day. Her signed & unsigned portraits turn up left, right & center. THANKS! Doug --

[Labienus]

I'm sure we could find some more everyone wants to sing Carmen very few do it successfully it's always been an acting role too even in the past couldn't do it as a stand and sing

I agree that Cossotto was as dramatic and big voiced as you get I heard her as Eboli several times what a top

But Zajick for yrs. has inherited the mantel just that she's been surrounded by mediocrity

S Blythe is another- limited by her physical size maybe even a contralto at that

[AulicExclusiva]

Geraldine Farrar sang Carmen 65 times at the Metropolitan: one of her most popular interpretations, especially opposite Caruso's José until, in a bit of stage realism, she had the bad idea of slapping him in the face. He had a huge Neapolitan tantrum and thereafter Martinelli and Crimi were her José.

She left many records from the opera, puzzling, like most of hers: dull and lightweight. She used several upward transpositions in this rôle.

[Bivolari]

In an era of higher and lighter and soprano Carmens, I find her decidedly contralto Carmen refreshing. She is best in her lower register where she can bridge the break smoothly. In the theater we would hear her Carmen where other singers are weakest. A reminder that a true contralto needn't be confined to Sea Pictures or Katisha.

[dinastein44]

A fantastic voice indeed! But a little heavy for Carmen, I find. I find Supervia's seductive yet spritely rendition better. Gerville-Reache's French is a bit unorthodox at times, too (Lemur est un oiseau rebelle?) I have to agree with meltzerboy, Dalila is more suitable to her voice. Still, she is a great discovery for me. Thanks Doug!

[genia106]

Douglasio,

I enjoyed the photo too. I have recently seen the Met production of Carmen and it is interesting to see the contrast in Carmen's costume as it was in 1910 and 2010. Oh My God! I just realized it is a 100 years. Merci.

[meltzerboy]

I think the sensuous quality of Gerville-Reache's voice is better attuned to Dalila than Carmen. She is a little too free with some of the note-values here. There are other renditions of these arias I prefer. Still, impressive singing. Thanks, Doug.

[genia106]

My Darling Douglasio,

I love this.

She is a SPECTACULAR Gypsy Carmen....her voice exudes

Sensuality...very Exotic and Dramatic!

Bravo! Merci.

[CurzonRoad]

Hi Tim:

A great pleasure....

.... thank YOU !

Cheers, etc.

Doug --