by Adriel Bettelheim

The heldentenor Leo Slezak was a big man with a huge voice who over the years became better known for his stage antics and outsized personality than for his artistic gifts.  It was he who uttered the famous line “What time does the next swan leave?” after a stage miscue left him stranded without a means of transportation during a performance of Lohengrin at the Metropolitan Opera.  He also cracked one of soprano Frances Alda’s ribs after toting her over his head, then throwing her down on a bed during a particularly physical confrontation at the end of Verdi’s Otello.

As part of its Living Voices series, Hanssler has compiled a package of 16 remastered recordings from 1905 to 1928 that give a more complete portrait of the Moravian-born tenor. Listeners who associate Slezak exclusively with the German repertory might be surprised by the warm, lyric-quality of his high tenor voice that comes through in nine selections by Verdi and Meyerbeer.  His high notes have a sweet but nasal and vaguely bleating quality resembling Ben Heppner’s. But the effortlessly large, trumpet-like power of Slezak’s voice is also evident in “Ora e per sempre addio” from Otello – one of only two selections on the disc sung in Italian – which, at least in terms of volume, exceeds Mario del Monaco’s recorded versions.

The best item is a 15-minute segment of the famous “Rome narrative” from Tannhauser, recorded in 1928, in which the then-55-year-old Slezak demonstrates exemplary legato and breath control recounting the title character’s futile attempt to obtain pardon from the Pope. Four 1907 excerpts from Lohengrin, recorded soon after Slezak studied with the legendary Jean de Reszke, are exquisitely phrased, showing just why Gustav Mahler aggressively sought out the young tenor for his Vienna Court Opera.

Though he sings the arias in German, Slezak also shows an uncanny understanding of the French style in the Meyerbeer excerpts, from Les Huguenots, Le Prophete and L’Africaine.  One is left with the impression this was a visceral and versatile performer who knew his limits and avoided the heaviest repertory.  Perhaps a few lied selections would round out the picture.  The sound reproduction, even in the oldest cuts, is excellent.

 

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