Word: simoneau
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Dates: during 1950-1959
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...Orpheus, normally sung by a contralto. (Gluck himself wrote the role for a male contralto, later rearranged it for tenor in Paris, where castrati singers were frowned upon.) Of the two versions, Epic's (in French) is more authentic historically, but less effective, chiefly because Canadian Tenor Leopold Simoneau's silver-hued voice seems less moving in the role of the suffering Orpheus than the lyric baritone of Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, imaginatively cast by Decca in its German-language version. The supporting casts in both albums are excellent: Sopranos Suzanne Danco and Pierette Alarie (Epic), Maria Stader...
...round out its imposing operatic catalogue. London has also released The Marriage of Figaro (4 LPs), with Hilde Gueden, Danco and Siepi, and the Vienna Philharmonic conducted by Erich Kleiber, and The Magic Flute (3 LPs), with Gueden, Wilma Lipp, Simoneau and Berry, conducted by Karl Bohm. Both are first-rate performances and, as a bonus, the albums contain the complete musical scores...