Joseph Legros
Joseph Legros, often also spelt Le Gros, (7 September or 8 September 1739 – 20 December 1793) was a French singer and composer of the 18th century. He is best remembered for his association with the composer Christoph Willibald Gluck and is usually regarded as the most prominent haute-contre of his generation,[1] though his acting is reputed to have been mediocre.[2]
Biography
Legros was born at
Legros began his operatic career singing the principal roles in revivals of the operas by
Gluck exploited the upper range throughout the opera, so that the role lies consistently about a third higher than the conventional tenor register. He transposed the duet in Act III from G to F solely to display Le Gros' ringing top Cs; and top Ds occur in Act II to express 'L'excès de mes malheurs' [the excess of my pains]
— Patricia Howard, From Orfeo to Orphée, in Howard 1981, p. 74
During the long rehearsal bad-tempered Gluck is reported to have sometimes been very abrupt with the singer who seemed unfit to conform to his instructions. While coaching him in the opening chorus, Gluck addressed him like this:
My good sir, it is intolerable: you always scream when you should sing, and when it is a question of screaming, you don't. Think at this moment neither of the music nor of the chorus, but scream with just as much anguish as if someone were sawing through your bone. And, if you can, realise this pain inwardly, spiritually, and as if it came from the heart.
— Johann Christian von Mannlich, Ein deutscher Maler und Hofmann. Lebenserinnerungen, Berlin, Mittler, 1910, p. 274[5]
Nevertheless, Legros submitted himself to Gluck's rude coaching without protest and proved able to profit by it: at the premiere he turned out a quite new performer, to the Parisian musical circles' great surprise. "In considering what the role of Orpheus has done for M. Le Gros," commented
When in 1783 Legros was finally granted permission to retire with a pension of 2,000 livres,[8] he was a member of the committee of artistes which had been charged with the management of the Opéra since the former director Antoine Dauvergne's resignation in 1782.[9] Denis-Pierre-Jean Papillon de la Ferté, the long-serving sole Intendant of the Menus-Plaisirs du Roi, who was ultimately in charge of the theatre, referred to Legros in commendatory terms: he was "the first singer of the Opéra" and his departure "would be a real loss for the administration". He even suggested Legros alone was qualified to fill the vacant directorship of the theatre.[8] Papillon de la Ferté's suggestion, however, met with opposition from the rest of the committee and remained a dead letter.[9]
From 1777 Legros directed the
Notes
- ^ a b Sawkins n.d.
- ^ a b c Rushton n.d.
- ^ Howard 1981, p. 74.
- ^ In fact, Gluck rejected most of the conventions in force at the Académie and came into conflict with the whole establishment (management, singers, dancers, orchestra).
- ^ The passage is quoted in English by Howard 1981, p. 72. However, it was precisely Legros's tendency to shout out his part that usually aroused Gluck's disdain. According to another anecdote reported by Berlioz, while the tenor was rehearsing Orphée's first aria in Act II at the gates of Hades, Gluck was moved to call out, "Monsieur! Monsieur! Be good enough to moderate your clamour. By the very devil, they don't cry out like that, even in hell!" (À travers chants, Paris, Lévy, 1862, p. 124; quoted in English by Eve Barsham, Berlioz and Gluck, in Howard 1981, p. 91).
- ^ Howard 1981, pp. 71–72.
- ^ Review in "Mercure de France", 15 September 1774, quoted in English by Howard 1981, pp. 72–73. Legros also showed his mastery of Italian coloratura four years later when he was confronted with another grand aria di bravura, "En butte aux fureurs de l'orage", from Roland, on the occasion of Niccolò Piccinni's debut at the Opéra.
- ^ a b c Pitou 1985, pp. 337–339.
- ^ ISBN 978-2-8047-0082-9.
References
- Howard, Patricia, ed. (1981). C. W. von Gluck: Orfeo. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-29664-1.
- Grove Music Online.
- Sawkins, Lionel (n.d.). "Haute-contre". In L. Macy (ed.). Grove Music Online.
- Pitou, Spire (1985). The Paris Opéra. An Encyclopedia of Operas, Ballets, Composers, and Performers – Rococo and Romantic, 1715–1815. Westport/London: Greenwood Press. ISBN 0-313-24394-8.
Further reading
- Jeremy Hayes: "Orfeo ed Euridice", Grove Music Online, ed. L. Macy (Accessed 14 February 2007), grovemusic.com Archived 16 May 2008 at the Wayback Machine, subscription access.