| Label: ANALEKTA
Catalog: AN298746
Format: CD Wholenote Discoveries - June 2011
This collection of songs and arias provides a splendid tribute to the Canadian bass Joseph Rouleau. It also serves as an introduction to a great singer whose voice is less familiar than it ought to be. Rouleau spent most of his career performing at Covent Garden or touring around the world, though he did return frequently to Canada. In Toronto he remains best-known for his role as Bishop Taché in the landmark 1967 Canadian Opera Company premiere of Harry Somers’ Louis Riel. The sheer beauty of Rouleau’s voice on these three discs is enthralling. But what’s most striking in the excerpts from operas, like Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor with Joan Sutherland, and Boito’s Mefistofele, is how he dramatically shapes and colours his voice to create believable characters. In the songs, especially the complete cycles like Brahms Four Serious Songs, Mussorgsky’s Chants et danses de la morts, and Ravel’s Don Quichotte à Dulcinée, he achieves an exciting sense of emotional urgency, even in the most lyrical moments. Two songs by Rodolphe Mathieu, the sultry L’automne and the adventurous L’hiver, are the only Canadian works here. But unfortunately, the booklet provides no information on them, or on any of the selections, all of which were chosen by Rouleau. Nor are the texts supplied. But there are archival photos, a short biography of Rouleau, and comments from the singer himself who, at eighty-two, remains active today as national president of Jeunesses Musicales. Pamela Margles  Price: $35.98 |
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