Lebendige Vergangenheit - Ramon Vinay

Chronique

Preiser's Lebendige Vergangenheit: Ramon Vinay appears to be the first CD ever devoted exclusively to recordings of Chilean bass turned tenor Ramón Vinay. Vinay is something of a latter-day saint when it comes to singers of opera's "Golden Age." Although his earliest known performance was given in Mexico in 1931, he is most readily associated with the immediate post-World War II period, and many opera fans will be familiar with his genuinely legendary performance in Toscanini's complete 1947 recording of Verdi's Otello. Otello does figure very prominently here, as a 1951 excerpt performance, made for a 10" Columbia LP that doesn't appear to have been reissued before and is included in its entirety. In these excerpts, Vinay is joined by baritone Frank Guarrera, the great mezzo-soprano Eleanor Steber and conductor Fausto Cleva, all mainstays of the Met. The remainder consists of four commercial RCA Victor releases from the very tail end of the 78 era, and the first of these, "Parle-moi de ma mere" from Bizet's Carmen with redoubtable soprano Florence Quartararo, is the noisiest sounding track in the collection. The rest of it sounds fine, even a brief clip of Die Walküre taken from a Bayreuth Festival appearance Vinay made in 1953. Although it runs a full 75 minutes, Lebendige Vergangenheit: Ramon Vinay feels short, and one is immediately compelled to go back to the beginning; such is a testament to Vinay's artistry and emotional power.
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