French feature of the week : Georges Thill
French Feature of the week: Georges Thill
One of the most famous French tenors of all times, Georges Thill was born in 1897 in Paris. He sang from a very young age and fought during the first World War, after which he started studying seriously to become an opera singer.
He was well known for his portrayals of French roles but also Italian Bel Canto, and enjoyed a long and international career, without an American debut in 1931 at the Metropolitan Opera in Romeo et Juliette by Gounod.
I love his diction, although sometimes I would prefer more lips on some of the more engaged vowels. The voice is typical of the aesthetics of the time but I prefer it to most, as it has more body/dark color. Notice how he switches from the uvular "r" to the flipped "r".
The style is impeccable and any of his recordings of French music should be a reference as a perfect map and rendition of the composers' wishes.
Here is a recording of Des Grieux's aria from Massenet's Manon. How lucky are we that technology allows us to have a record of this amazing artist!