Part III: Rare and unknown voices - JACQUES JANSEN

Please open the bar to read more and discuss this artist!

Jacques Jansen, Baritone (1913-2002)

Claude Debussy - PELLÉAS ET MÉLISANDE
Mes longs cheveux
with Irene Joachim, Soprano (1913-2001)
(Recorded 1941)

My personal opinion: "Even small things can make us delight!"(Heyse/Wolf).

Mention the name of french baritone singer Jacques Jansen, and immediately some operalover will think: "Ah, the Pelléas of his time!" Actually he was renowned as the foremost exponent of the role in Debussy´s unconventional masterpiece PELLÉAS ET MÉLISANE (first performed 1902). In 1941, Jansen gave his debut with Pelléas in Genève, the same year he sang the part in the first complete studio-recording conducted by Roger Désormiere. For many this is the definitive version to date (In 1927 the great Charles Panzéra recorded some excerpts and in 1934 a Metropolitan Opera performance with Edward Johnson was recorded - one year before he became general manager). Jansen himself repeated his Pelléas 1956 with Victoria de los Angeles (and we have a live-recording with Elisabeth Schwarzkopf as Mélisande), "but by then something of the eagerness and bloom (of the first version) had gone" wrote "Guardian News" in 2002 when Jansen died age 88 shortly before. "My first encounter with Pelléas was the fateful moment of my life. I have never since felt such profound joy. No other score overwhelmed me so completely. Never again did I experience the same feeling of approaching something absolute.", Jansen wrote in 1988 for the CD-reissue.
One singer´s life, one single role. This is certainly not enough to remain as a star in audiences mind for decades. That´s the reason you can find him here in this Part with rare and unknown voices. Of course, Jacques Jansen was an exponent of other roles (try his duet with Renée Doria from BARBIERE DI SIVIGLIA or his Frédéric in LAKMÉ with Mado Robin under Sébastian) and he gained a notable reputation as an interpreter of Mélodies, the french pendant to german Lieder (There is a rare Decca-recording). At age 56, once again Jansen sang his beloved Pelléas in 1969 at the Opéra Comique (and he directed the performance).
Jansen´s voice was that of a typical french "Baryton Martin", a baritone with a light and almost tenor-like quality (named after Jean Blaise Martin who lived 1768-1837). Hearing Jansen it becomes obviously, a french native language spoken singer is best able to inflect the meaning of the french words perfectly. It might be, that Jacques Jansen wasn´t a great singer in a strict sense (Remember: Even small things can make us delight), but with him we had the rare fact, that an artist assimilated a role completely. If you hear Jansen as Pelléas, it´s difficult to imagine another singer (although we have recordings with famous performers just as Martial Singher, Pierre Mollet and even Nicolai Gedda. Jansen´s worthy successor at last was 1955 born Francois Le Roux, who later changed from Pelléas to Golaud. Another great Pelléas today is american tenor William Burden).
Among Jansen´s other roles were Rabaud's Mârouf in the opera of the same name, Eisenstein in Johann Strauss's DIE FLEDERMAUS and Valerien in Hahn's MALVINA. At the Aix Festival in 1956 he sang Cithéron in Rameau's PLATÉE, which he also recorded. Previously, in 1952, he had sung Ali at the Paris Opéra in the revelatory staging of the same composer's LES INDES GALANTES, his debut at the house.
It was a sad coincidence, that his Mélisande in his first recording, Irene Joachim, predeceased Jacques Jansen only a few months. Pelléas et Mélisande remain together - on record and forevermore...

THE COMPLETE OVERVIEW: GO TO ALL SINGERS IN THIS LIST
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fBsScnQWVlU

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Jacques
• Jansen
• Baryton-Martin

[tenorvoicefan]

Ich habe oft das Video gehört und genau zugehört.

Ich finde die Interpretation außerordentlich gut,wirklich schön.

Aber was soll ich machen, ich mag die Stimme einfach nicht. Sie berührt mich nicht wirklich.

Aber das ist ein sehr persönlicher Eindruck und gewiß kein Abspruch der Qualität.

[100Singers]

@tenorvoicefan Vielen Dank auch für diesen aufrichtigen Kommentar, den ich wie stets aus Ihrer Feder sehr zu schätzen weiss. Ihr Mike

[wesleyan97]

@meltzerboy There's definitely a leitmotif of sorts associated with Golaud.

[Chsrles62]

Actually, you don't know what this means to me -- I have a very lyric baritone voice and for years was accused of being a tenor, and it's so great to hear someone sing so beautifully with my voice type. I've finally found my role model.

[sharky123]

One of my favorite singers - and my favorite (and many others') Pelleas ever. Have been listening all morning to Jansen singing Debussy (Troi Ballades, Fetes Galantes, Ariettes Oubliees . . . ) and just stumbled onto this, giving me my Pelleas fix for the day without having to move to the stereo! Stunning. Thanks for posting this!

[meltzerboy]

@Aimiklingsor93 You are right: Camille Maurane was a superb Pelleas and excelled in French melodies, even rivaling Gerard Souzay. Maurane died this year at the age of 98, a mere child compared to Hugues Cuenod, who is 108.

[MissFireMagic]

Fantastic performance. Who could top that Pelléas?

[meltzerboy]

This is considered by many the finest performance of Pelleas et Melisande on disc. The protagonists, Irene Joachim (granddaughter of the violinist, and coached by Mary Garden) and Jacques Jansen (baryton martin) are superb. The opera is a kind of French Wagner without arias and with leitmotifs, and the singer must be comfortable in a mid-range tessitura, one of the reasons why Lily Pons decided not to sing the role of Melisande. Jansen sings with delicacy and native fluency. Thanks for sharing!

[Forellensolo]

Of course, I knew this singer before, especially from his Pelléas under Cluytens. He has a similiar timbre to the Golaud of that recording, Gérard Souzay (who is a favourite of mine). Wonderful voice.

[Teonareine]

Is indeed a remarkable voice. Thanks.