José Carreras - Halévy - La Juive

"Rachel, quand du Seigneur... Dieu m'éclaire", Jacques Fromental Halévy, La Juive (Création 23/02/1835 Paris).
Eléazar: José Carreras
Rachel: Julia Varady
La Princesse Eudoxie: June Anderson
Le Cardinal de Brogni: Ferrucio Furlanetto.
Philarmonia Orchestra / Antonio de Almeida. Ambrosian Opera Chorus - 1988-89.
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Éléazar
Rachel, quand du Seigneur
La grâce tutélaire
A mes tremblantes mains confia ton berceau,
J'avais à ton bonheur
Voué ma vie entière.
Et c'est moi qui te livre au bourreau!
J'avais à ton bonheur
Voué ma vie entière,
Et c'est moi qui te livre au bourreau,
Et c'est moi qui te livre au bourreau!
Mais j'entends une voix qui me crie:
Sauvez-moi de la mort qui m'attend!
Je suis jeune et je tiens à la vie,
Ô mon père épargnez votre enfant,
Je suis jeune et je tiens à la vie,
Ô mon père, ô mon père, épargnez votre enfant!
Ah! Rachel, quand du Seigneur
La grâce tutélaire
A mes tremblantes mains confia ton berceau,
J'avais à ton bonheur
Voué ma vie entière.
Et c'est moi qui te livre au bourreau,
Et c'est moi qui te livre au bourreau!
Et c'est moi qui te livre au bourreau,
Rachel, je te livre au bourreau!
Rachel, c'est moi, moi,
moi qui te livre au bourreau!
Et d'un mot, et d'un mot arrêtant la sentence,
D'un mot arrêtant la sentence
Je puis te soustraire au trépas!
Ah! j'abjure à jamais ma vengeance,
J'abjure à jamais ma vengeance,
Rachel, non tu ne mourras pas!
Choeur
Au bûcher, au bûcher les Juifs!
les Juifs qu'ils périssent!
La mort est due à leurs forfaits,
La mort, la mort, la mort pour leurs forfaits!
Éléazar
Quels cris de mort retentissent?
Choeur
Au bûcher les Juifs,
les Juifs qu'ils périssent!
La mort, la mort pour leurs forfaits!
Oui! oui! oui!
Éléazar
Ils demandent ma mort.
Vous voulez notre sang Chrétiens
et moi j'allais vous rendre
ma fille Rachel non, non, jamais!
Dieu m'éclaire,
Fille chère,
Près d'un père
Viens mourir
Et pardonne
Quand il donne
La couronne
Du martyr!
Vaine crainte,
Plus de plainte,
Plus de plainte
En mon coeur
Saint délire
Qui m'inspire,
Ton empire
Est vainqueur!
Dieu m'éclaire,
Fille chère,
Près d'un père
Viens mourir
Et pardonne
S'il te donne
La couronne
Du martyr!

[@italianoperafan]

Thanks for your message. This recording was made end 1988-beginning 1989 so right after Mr. Carreras illness. The voice is still there and perhaps even more moving!

[@derrierelalune]

José Carréras number 1 to make me cry for this interpretation with perfect tempo, after shicoff a little slow and the others....

[@maitearthur8183]

une somptueuse interprétation, la plus belle pour moi.

[@MsF1Annie]

@tena2
I envy you chatting with Josep. He is and will remain my all time favourite tenor. I love him for his beauty, artistry, courage and humanity.
Bravo Josep.

[@Nello7]

Wow. Bravo Jose! I have Tucker in full recording in this opera and he does an amazing job. I have listened to Caruso,Gigli,Del Monaco,and Domingo sing the aria. I watched Shicoff's live impassioned performance at the Met-this is the best that I have heard.There is a reason why Tenors are afraid of this role-this piece is a killer on the voice, but Sr. Carreras hits it out of the park.

[@gheeah]

what a marvellous voice, unique and absolutely thrilling...

[@JOSQUINMA]

Incredible!!

[@emacasta]

Excelent rendition!

[@jbrown91287]

This doesn't hold a candle to Shicoffs Eleazar. That is a TRUE artist.

[@1527XZ]

Of the " three" tenors he touches my soul. But in La Juive B. Gigli is the best.
Netanel

[@djura3]

Bravo, Carreras. This is perfect example how his voice would have sounded if he had not suffered illness. Of cource, he would've been even better.

[@margybickerton1016]

I believe this was after his illness -

[@elisabetta611]

Caruso, Tucker and Shicoff are my favorites as Eleazar...and now Carreras made it right up there too!!!

[@djura3]

Of course, Carreras is the greatest, no dispute. But we all know what an opera singer have to sing to be called by that name. It should be obvious even to those who love him, and I am among them, that he lost his voice after the illness. Everybody knows that. In spite of that, I say he is the best. I am opera fan because of him.

[@romanbogusaw8391]

Wielki tenor!

[@marcussalieri]

on a eu de la chance de voir la juive a l opera a paris.cest un chef d oeuvre.on en a marre de se farcir des pleurnicheries de puccini chaque annee

[@VladislavGomulka]

@novice1959 DIVINE.

[@bluechazzan]

What is the proper tempo for this? Having a few of the slower ones stuck in my head (primarily Shicoff's version) makes listening to this feel a little rushed.

[@Nello7]

Caruso only recorded the aria as we all know. I am not commenting on the career of Carreras here, nor the overall singer-but specifically this performance, for which IMO is the best that I have heard. Had Caruso recorded the full scene I would feel otherwise. I love Tucker in this role too, no doubt.

[@joaquimlechat4124]

Ecoutez Tony Poncet et on en reparle.

[@heizukowsky]

His illness had nothing to do with his vocal decline.
He sang remarkably worse from 1980- 7 years before he fell sick. At least in comparison to the recordings from 72-78

[@gaytenor]

Nello7: I respect your opinion but better than Tucker or Caruso! Really! Have you noticed here in a recording studio he has all the power of an ant and sounds way too young.Tucker had the voice for the role and sang it in the house . Around this time Carreras got some of the worst reviews in history for Carmen at the Met. As in run out of town bad. As a lyric tenor Carreras was fabulous but, like DiStefano, who had a top at least, he had to sing roles not meant for him.

[@tdeane34]

Uhhhh, I think there is a dispute about that. He is far from the greatest and he lost his voice years before getting sick.