The Complete César Vezzani
Vol. 1
Odeon Recordings 1912-1914
French HMV Recordings 1923-1924
César Vezzani (1888-1951) was one of those rare tenors who had nearly everything: a large and gorgeous voice, a ringing top, a high degree of intelligence, ability to sing with great sensitivity, and excellent musicianship. Vezzani was born in Corsica and his appearances were made only in French-speaking countries. Of his debut at the Opéra-Comique in Gretry's Richard, Coeur de Lion on 17 December 1911, the newspapers said a star was born... and the reporters were right. Vezzani thrilled audiences until 1948 at which point he suffered a stroke during a rehearsal at the Toulon Opera that left him completely paralyzed. This, the first volume of the Vezzani series, contains his complete Odeon acoustic recordings as well as his first sessions in 1923 for French HMV.
Track Listing
| | | |
| CD 1 (77:58) | |||
Odeon, Paris, 1912-1914 | |||
| 1. | PAGLIACCI: Recitar... Vesti la giubba (Leoncavallo) | 3:13 | |
| (XP 5786-1) 111337 | |||
| 2. | PAGLIACCI: Recitar... Vesti la giubba (Leoncavallo) | 3:17 | |
| (XP 5786-2) 111337 | |||
| 3. | OTELLO: Ora e per sempre addio (Verdi) | 2:28 | |
| (XP 5787-1) unpublished | |||
| 4. | L'AFRICAINE: Pays merveilleux... O Paradis! (Meyerbeer) | 2:43 | |
| (XP 5788-1) 111339 | |||
| 5. | SIGURD: Esprits gardiens de ces lieux vénérés (Reyer) | 3:03 | |
| (XP 5789-1) 111340 | |||
| 6. | GUILLAUME TELL: Asile héréditaire (Rossini) | 2:37 | |
| (XP 5790-2) 111288 | |||
| 7. | LA REINE DE SABA: Faiblesse de la race humaine...Inspirez-moi (Gounod) | 3:10 | |
| (XP 5791-1) 111284 | |||
| 8. | OTELLO: Ora e per sempre addio (Verdi) | 2:36 | |
| (XP 5787-2) 111338 | |||
| 9. | LE PARDON DE PLOËRMEL: Les blés sont bons à faucher (Meyerbeer) | 2:56 | |
| (XP 5971-1) 111482 | |||
TOSCA: ACT ONE EXCERPTS (Puccini) | |||
| 10. | E sempre lava! | 3:37 | |
| with Paul Payan, bass / (XP 6096-1) 111588 | |||
| 11. | Recondita armonia | 2:47 | |
| with Paul Payan, bass / (XP 5973-1) 111557 | |||
| 12. | Sono stremo di forze... Mario! Mario! Mario! | 3:09 | |
| with Eliane Peltier, soprano / with Paul Payan, bass / (XP 6094-1) 111586 | |||
| 13. | Al tuo fianco sentire | 4:02 | |
| with Eliane Peltier, soprano / (XP 6095-1) 111587 | |||
| 14. | È buona la mia Tosca | 2:40 | |
| with Paul Payan, bass / (XP 5974-1) 111558 | |||
| 15. | WERTHER: J'aurais sur ma poitrine (Massenet) | 2:44 | |
| (XP 6405-1) 111899 | |||
| 16. | LA NAVARRAISE: O ma bien-aimée (Massenet) | 2:50 | |
| (XP 6406-1) 111900 | |||
| 17. | MANON: Instant charmant... En fermant les yeux (Massenet) | 3:02 | |
| (XP 6407-1) 111901 | |||
| 18. | MANON: Je suis seul... Ah, fuyez, douce image (Massenet) | 2:46 | |
| (XP 6409-1) 111890 | |||
| 19. | CARMEN: La fleur que tu m'avais jetée (Bizet) | 2:55 | |
| (XP 6408-1) 111889 | |||
| 20. | AIDA: Celeste Aida (Verdi) | 3:31 | |
| (XP 6410-1) 111891 | |||
| 21, | HOSANNA: [Chant de Pâques] (Granier) | 3:06 | |
| (XP 6411-1) 111892 | |||
| 22. | TOSCA: E lucevan le stelle (Puccini) | 2:29 | |
| (XP 6412-2) 111893 | |||
| 23. | ROMÉO ET JULIETTE: Ah, lève-toi soleil (Gounod) | 2:58 | |
| (XP 6413-1) 111894 Transposed down a semi-tone to B-flat | |||
| 24. | LOHENGRIN: In fernem Land (Wagner) | 3:10 | |
| (XP 6414-1) unpublished | |||
| 25. | MIREILLE: Anges du Paradis (Gounod) | 2:51 | |
| (XP 6414-2) unpublished | |||
| 26. | Le Crucifix (J-B Faure) | 3:08 | |
| with Alfred Maguenat, baritone / (XP 6416-1) 111892 | |||
| CD 2 (78:20) | |||
| 1, | LE ROI D'YS: Puisqu'on ne peut pas fléchir... Vainement, ma bien-aimée (Lalo) | 3:18 | |
| (XP 6417-1) 111896 | |||
| 2. | OTELLO: Niun mi tema (Verdi) | 3:40 | |
| (XP 6419-2) 111892 | |||
| 3. | Serenade (Schubert) | 3:17 | |
| (XP 6419-2) 111892 | |||
| 4. | WERTHER: Oui, ce qu'elle m'ordonne... Lorsque l'enfant (Massenet) | 3:23 | |
| (XP 6420-1) 111881 | |||
| 5. | WERTHER: Pourquoi me réveiller? (Massenet) | 2:15 | |
| (XP 6421-1) 111882 | |||
| 6. | RICHARD CŒUR DE LION: Si l'univers entier (Grétry) | 3:35 | |
| (XP 6422-1) 111883 / Transposed down a semi-tone to D | |||
| 7. | LA BOHÈME: Che gelida manina (Puccini) | 3:30 | |
| (XP 6423-1) 111884 | |||
| 8. | JOCELYN: Cachés dans cet asile [Berceuse] (Godard) | 2:41 | |
| (XP 6424-2) 111885 / Sung in E-flat | |||
| 9. | PAGLIACCI: O Colombina (Leoncavallo) | 2:58 | |
| (XP 6425-1) 111886 | |||
| 10. | MAÎTRE PATHELIN: Je pense à vous (Bazin) | 2:59 | |
| (XP 6426-1) 111887 | |||
| 11. | LA JUIVE: L'ai-je bien entendu?... Ah! J'implore en tremblant (Halévy) | 6:32 | |
| with Paul Payan, bass / (XP 6427-1 and XP 6428-1) 111879 and 111880 | |||
HMV, Paris | |||
| 12. | LA REINE DE SABA: Faiblesse de la race humaine...Inspirez-moi, race divine (Gounod) | 5:44 | |
| 27 February 1923; (BS659-4 and BS660-4) P574 | |||
| 13. | LE PARDON DE PLOËRMEL: Les blés sont bons à faucher (Meyerbeer) | 2:51 | |
| 28 March 1923; (BS661-4) P577 | |||
| 14. | JERUSALEM: Je veux entendre (Verdi) | 3:31 | |
| 28 March 1923; (BS901-4) P577 | |||
| 15. | L'AFRICAINE: Pays merveilleux... O Paradis! (Meyerbeer) | 3:12 | |
| 8 June 1923; (BS991-2) P582 | |||
| 16. | LOHENGRIN: In fernem Land (Wagner) | 4:31 | |
| 27 June 1924; (CP276-1) W655 | |||
| 17. | LOHENGRIN: Mein lieber Schwan! (Wagner) | 4:22 | |
| 27 June 1924; (CP277-2) W655 | |||
| 18. | GUILLAUME TELL: Asile héréditaire (Rossini) | 3:35 | |
| 27 June 1924; (CT278-2) W695 | |||
| 19. | LA JUIVE: Rachel, quand du Seigneur (Halévy) | 4:40 | |
| 8 July 1924; (CT827-1) W695 | |||
| 20. | SIGURD: Prince du Rhin (Reyer) | 2:44 | |
| 8 July 1924; (BT828-2) P583 | |||
| 21. | SIGURD: Oui, Sigurd est vainqueur (Reyer) | 2:36 | |
| 8 July 1924; (BT829-1) P583 | |||
| 22. | MANON LESCAUT: Donna non vidi mai (Puccini) | 2:19 | |
| 8 July 1924; (BT830-2) P588 | |||
All tracks are sung in French with orchestra.
Photographs: Rudi van den Bulck
Producers: Scott Kessler & Ward Marston
Audio Conservation: Ward Marston
Booklet Design: Takeshi Takahashi
Marston would like to thank Rudi van den Bulk, J. Neil Forster, Lewis Hall, Denys Harry, Lawrence F. Holdridge, Peter Lack, and Norbeck, Peters & Ford for their help in the production of this CD release.