Albert Vaguet - Barcarolle from Haydée (RARE!!!) скачать в хорошем качестве

Albert Vaguet - Barcarolle from Haydée (RARE!!!)

Albert Vaguet (1865-1943) was a French tenor, born in Elbeuf in the Normandy region. He discovered his voice at an early age and began singing in churches and with his hometown’s municipal choir before reaching his teens. After his mother’s death in 1875, the ten-year-old boy began working on the docks of the Seine to help his father support the Vaguet family. Following a decade of hard work, Vaguet was taken to Paris by his father for an audition at the Paris Conservatory. Although the young man was totally illiterate, the faculty accepted him as a student, offering a scholarship to offset the cost of tuition. Vaguet spent an intense period of study with Joseph Theodor Barbot (the first Faust) and later Louis-Henri Obin. Unfortunately, the young tenor’s studies were interrupted when he was conscripted into the French military. His time in the army (where, incidentally, he learned to read and write) was not a total loss for the young singer. He made his first public appearance with the regimental band, garnering much attention and praise for his singing. A local civic leader, impressed with the young tenor, made an appeal to the regiment’s commander on Vaguet’s behalf. As a result of this intervention, Vaguet’s military service was greatly reduced and he was able to return to the Conservatory within a year. Although he was receiving a scholarship to pay for his studies, Vaguet was having great difficulty making ends meet. He began singing in various café concerts (including the famed Eldorado) for extra cash and developed quite a reputation as a balladeer among Parisian cafegoers. Vaguet managed to support himself long enough to complete his vocal finals at the Conservatory. He received second place in each of the categories…song, opera and operetta…and impressed the jury of faculty and judges. Among the members of this jury was the assistant director of the Opéra de Paris, who introduced the young tenor to the Opéra’s artistic staff. Pierre Gailhard, the director of the Opéra…and a fine singer himself…offered Vaguet a contract to appear with the company. He made his debut there on October 28, 1890 as Faust, a role he would sing some three hundred times with the company during the next dozen years. The Opéra became Vaguet’s artistic home during the 1890s and he built a diverse repertory of over thirty roles such as Wilhelm Meister in Mignon, the Duke in Rigoletto, Raimbaut in Robert le Diable, Nicias in Thaïs, Léopold in La Juive, Laërtes in Hamlet, Fernand in La Favorite, Don Ottavio in Don Giovanni, Mime and Loge in Das Rheingold, David in Die Meistersinger, Walter in Tannhäuser and the title roles in Lohengrin and Joseph en Égypte. Vaguet participated in numerous Paris premieres including Verdi’s Otello (as Cassio), and Berlioz’s Le Damnation de Faust as well as the world premieres of Saint-Saëns’ Frédégonde, Fournier’s Stratonice, Rousseau’s La Cloche du Rhin and Hüe’s Le Roi de Paris. Vaguet’s final performance at the Opéra seems to have been as Don Ottavio in Don Giovanni on October 8, 1902, although some references state that it was as Lohengrin on February 2, 1903. Regardless, Albert Vaguet’s operatic stage career came to a somewhat abrupt halt when he was not quite 38 years old. Different theories have been put forth to explain why the tenor abandoned his stage career at such an early age, from disputes with the management of the Opéra to deteriorating vocal resources. The most prevalent theory claimed that Vaguet suffered a serious injury that necessitated the amputation of his left leg. The truth of the matter only came to light recently. Esteemed record collector Lawrence Holdridge discovered a 1913 interview with Vaguet which was published in Musical America. The tenor admitted that a tonsillectomy caused nerve damage to the vocal cords. Although the voice remained intact, Vaguet found that he was only able to sing for a few minutes before the pain became too intense to continue. Although this ended his performing career, the tenor remained active in the recording studio, where he was able to rest between selections. Vaguet eventually settled in Pau where he established a singing school. He died there in 1943. Vaguet left behind a vast catalogue of cylinders and discs…nearly 350 of them…recorded for Pathé between 1903 and 1928. Today, these recordings are scarce as hen’s teeth and most of the extant copies are in poor condition. This is unfortunate, since what one hears on the available recordings is a voice of great beauty, used with impeccable artistry, control and taste…a style of singing that is now, sadly, dead. However, Vaguet’s few surviving recordings give the modern listener an intriguing glimpse into the practices of French lyric tenors of more than a century ago. In this recording, Vaguet sings "Ah, que la nuit est belle" from Auber's opera Haydée. This was recorded for Pathé around 1907.