Very often, French radio presented concerts of operatic
excerpts, sometimes with more than one singer. The following selections are
representative of programming at its best.
Concert of November 5, 1947
Orchestre Radio-Lyrique, Jules Gressier
Sometimes these concerts preserve the work of singers
inadequately, or not at all, represented on commercial records. One such singer
is dramatic soprano Jacqueline Lucazeau, recorded
with Gustave Bottiaux & Paul Cabanel at
the Vichy Festival on June 23, 1956 (Orchestre Radio-Lyrique; Pierre Delvaux,
cond.)
Two other singers very active at French Radio are soprano Berthe
Monmart and tenor Albert Lance. Here they
appear at a concert recorded on February 3, 1959 (Orchestre Radio-Lyrique;
Jules Gressier, cond.)
In this excerpt from Der Rosenkavalier, the Marschallin is
Regine Crespin and
Suzanne Sarroca is Octavian. This excerpt was
broadcast in 1962, after both singers had sung the same roles at the Paris
Opera. The Orchestre Radio-Lyrique is conducted by Louis de Froment.
Occasionally, a foreign soloist would perform in a language other
than French as in the case of Teresa
Stich-Randall in Traviata. In this concert of June 5, 1963, she is partnered
by Gabriel Bacquier as Giorgio Germont
(Orchestre Nationale; Georges Prêtre, cond.)
The rule, however, was opera in French, be it by Mozart, Verdi or Wagner.
And this is how Régine Crespin sings
her Fiordiligi, recorded in 1956 (Orchestre Nationale; D.-E. Inghelbrecht;
cond.)
All in all, the vaults of the Institut National de L'Audiovisuel -
INA must contain thousands of hours of good French singing from the time when
there still existed a French school of singing.
Faust: Scène de l'église