Louis Lestelly:
Total time: [79:22] | ||
Gramophone Company, Ltd., Paris |
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1. | GUILLAUME TELL: Sois immobile (Rossini) | 3:27 |
1919; (797aj) 032334 | ||
2. | LA FAVORITE: Léonor, viens (Donizetti) | 3:32 |
1919; (796aj) 032333 | ||
3. | LA TRAVIATA: Di Provenza il mar (Verdi) | 4:24 |
17 April 1914; (029498v) 032319 | ||
4. | LE TROUVÈRE: Son regard, son doux sourire [Il balen del suo sorriso] (Verdi) | 3:20 |
17 April 1914; (18777u) 4-32370 | ||
5. | UN BALLO IN MASCHERA: Eri tu che macchiavi quell’anima (Verdi) | 4:15 |
18 April 1916; (395af) 032327 | ||
6. | AIDA: Suo padre … Quest’assisa ch’io vesto vi dica (Verdi) | 2:55 |
14 January, 1914; (18628½u) 4-32369 | ||
7. | OTELLO: Vanne; la tua meta già vedo … Credo in un Dio crudel (Verdi) | 4:28 |
17 April 1916; (386af) 032324 | ||
8. | DER FLIEGENDE HOLLÄNDER: Die Frist ist um (Wagner) | 4:34 |
20 May 1914; (02975v) 032341 | ||
9. | TANNHÄUSER: Wie Todesahnung, Dämmrung deckt die Lande … O du mein holder Abendstern (Wagner) | 4:29 |
20 May 1914; (02976v) 032342 | ||
10. | PARSIFAL: Mein Sohn Amfortas, bist du am Amt? (Les lamentations d’Amfortas, Act 1) (Wagner) | 9:06 |
16 May 1914; (02965v/66v) 032313/14 | ||
11. | LES PÊCHEURS DE PERLES: L’orage s’est calmé (Bizet) | 4:22 |
3 April 1916; (381af) 032322 | ||
12. | LES PÊCHEURS DE PERLES: Au fond du temple saint (Bizet) | 4:17 |
with Maurice Capitaine, tenor 16 May 1914; (02964v) 034203 |
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13. | HAMLET: La fatigue alourdit mes pas … Comme une pâle fleur (Thomas) | 4:13 |
17 April 1916;( 385af) 032323 | ||
14. | LE ROI DE LAHORE: Aux troupes du Sultan … Promesse de mon avenir (Massenet) | 4:08 |
18 April 1916; (394af) 032326 | ||
15. | HÉRODIADE: Vision fugitive (Massenet) | 3:59 |
14 January, 1914; (02889½v) 032306 | ||
16. | HÉRODIADE: Salomé! Demande au prisonnier (Massenet) | 3:46 |
18 April 1916; (396af) 032328 | ||
17. | THAÏS: Voilà donc la terrible cité (Massenet) | 4:20 |
3 April 1916; (378af) 032320 | ||
18. | HENRY VIII: Qui donc commande (Saint-Saëns) | 3:45 |
17 April 1916; (384af) 032329 | ||
Track 10: This Act 1 Parsifal excerpt comprises lines of Titurel and Amfortas, both sung by Lestelly. It begins with Titurel’s words “Mein Sohn Amfortas, bist du am Amt?”, followed by Amfortas’s reply “Wehe! Wehe mir der Qual!” The recording ends just before the raising up of the grail by Amfortas. |
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All selections sung in French with orchestral accompaniment |
Marston would like to thank Gregor Benko, Luc Bourrousse, and Lewis Morris Hall.
Producer: Ward Marston
Audio Conservaton: Ward Marston
Booklet Design: Takeshi Takahashi
LESTELLY, LOUIS [ba] (Bordeaux, 1871–Paris, 1919)
Born Louis-Charles-Adolphe Lelais, Lestelly studied with baritone Adolphe Claverie in his native city. His first years took him to a number of theaters in the French and Belgian provinces, such as Nîmes, Verviers, and Liège where he stayed for two seasons from 1903 to 1905. There, his son René (1904-1993) was born, who would become a successful singer and comedian. Lestelly senior returned to his native Bordeaux from 1905 to 1907, and then sang at Nice in 1906 and 1907. Marseille heard him in 1907 and 1908, after which time, he settled for three seasons at Brussels’s La Monnaie. During this period, he found time for a few engagements at Covent Garden in 1910, where he appeared as Valentin, Nevers, and Sharpless. He then sang for two seasons in Lyon and finally made his Paris Opera debut on 14 July 1913 as Hamlet. During the war years, he continued to sing in Paris, as well as in his native Bordeaux. There, the grand theater was closed for renovation, and so Lestelly sang at a number of minor theaters and outdoor venues including Escamillo in an actual bullring. His Paris career continued until his unexpected death in 1919. In fact, he was billed to sing Valentin on the day before his death, the cause of which is not disclosed in his obituary.
-Luc Bourrousse