REVIEW:
A broadcast performance before an unobtrusive audience, this production had already enjoyed a respectable life on LPs before being reissued on CDs in 1989 as the Silver Revolution penetrated the vaults (Le Chant du Monde LDC 278879/80, Fanfare 13:1). Taken on its own, it’s a grand account—ringing voices, spirited choral work, unflagging élan—making a persuasive case for a work which remains inexplicably fringe repertoire despite abundant melody (including Breton folk song), dramatic acuity fraught with startling rhythmic novelty, and a vividly compelling story looming from the demesne of the legendary and fabulous (the same which inspired Debussy’s La cathédrale engloutie). In any case, one welcomes Le roi d’Ys—once again—back to the country of the readily available. A sleeve note tells, “Issued under license from Intermusic SA.” so Gala had access to the masters (it’s legit, not the usual pirate production) and to my less than golden ears, sound seems identical from the Chant du Monde CDs to Gala’s—immediate, well balanced, and richly detailed.

Back in those heady Silver Revolution days, as we scrambled frantically to re-collect the most treasurable items of our collections in the new medium during their distressingly brief moments of availability, Chant du Monde’s issue was followed at a spanking pace by a CD reissue of the classic 1957 Cluytens Le roi d’Ys with Janine Micheau, Rita Gorr, and Henri Legay (EMI Pathé CMS 7 69858 2, Fanfare13:2)—elemental and one of the great recorded performances of the century winging through boxy/flat mono—and a 1990 Armin Jordan-led production (Erato 245 015-2, Fanfare 13:6), which had little else to recommend it but its walloping digital. At Gala’s bargain-basement price, it’s recommended that you grab this entirely passable performance while remaining poised to spring for the Cluytens should it reappear. In place of a libretto, Gala gives us a complete track listing, a brief synopsis, and a passing appreciation of Jules Bastin. On the other hand, the second CD is fleshed out with a dozen bonus tracks of arias and duets from Le roi d’Ys, ranging from a piano-accompanied Jean Lafitte in the “Aubade” from 1901 to Yvonne Brothier and César Vezzani, with Piero Coppola leading an unidentified orchestra, in “A l’autel j’allais rayonnant” from 1932. Grand stuff!

Adrian Corleonis, FANFARE