JULES MASSENET

Massenet’s Manon was the second complete opera to have been recorded by French Columbia, the first having been Bizet’s Carmen. Both recordings were released in Europe as well as America and remained in the catalogue until the close of the 78rpm era. By the year 1932, three additional recordings of Carmen had become available to the record buying public but this version of Massenet’s most popular opera remained unchallenged for more than twenty-five years.

The sound of this recording is extremely good for its time possessing an excellent balance between the singers and the orchestra. Its major flaw, however, is the fact that it was recorded in an acoustically dead studio with the singers placed a bit too close to the microphone. I have taken the liberty of adding a small amount of artificial reverberation which will, hopefully, give the performance a more pleasant sound without detracting from its immediacy. I have transferred the recording from two sets of French and two sets of American pressings, all in mint condition. I compared all copies of each side and chose the one which yielded the quietest surface without compromising the recorded sound. In fact, some of the American pressings, though quieter, occasionally lacked sonic vividness. In such cases, I opted to use the slightly noisier French pressings. I also used several stylus sizes to achieve optimum reproduction.

It took several months to complete this recording, and consequently, it possesses certain inconsistencies that I should mention. First, glancing at the cast list, one can’t help but notice that several minor rôles were shared by two or even three different singers depending upon the particular side. This is probably due to the fact that Columbia used whoever might have been available on any particular day. So long as the important singers were present, the others were left to chance. The second inconsistency concerns the recorded sound. Considering the fact that the performance heard here was recorded over a number of sessions, the actual sound is remarkably consistent from one side to another. It should be noted, however, that two sides in Act I were defectively recorded. The first of these is side two (matrix WLX730) which begins with the words "Allons Messieurs." The sound here is extremely distorted and strident, resisting my best efforts at improvement. The same sonic flaw afflicts side five (matrix WLX729) beginning "Hôtelier de malheur." Finally, I should mention that there is an inconsistency in speed, not only from one side to another but also within particular individual sides. In remastering this recording, I have attempted to correct the pitch whenever necessary.