In looking at a recent Legato release, that of La Juive, I want to start by stating that this is probably is my favorite opera by a French composer (Fra Diavolo comes close, although I prefer the Italian version).    Then, if I were to make a list of my favorite tenors of the last 30 years, Carreras and Merritt would be right at the top, together with the young Pavarotti, Bruce Ford and Neil Shicoff.    La Juive is also an opera I virtually grew up with - countless 78s, and my first 'complete' recording in 1961.    So, I regard this set as something special.

Somebody suggested on the Internet that perhaps it is modern ears that have failed to maintain the attention span that a 3-plus hour grand opera requires.   But, I must ask: " So, how come there is no problem with Wagner?".   And, it seems to me that Wagner's late operas are far more deserving of cuts than La Juive.

The unfortunate fact is that, probably because of negative comments made about French grand opera by the so-called intelligentsia, La Juive and its type have fallen into disfavor, are only trotted out occasionally, usually at the request of a star tenor, and with huge, disfiguring cuts made by directors who have no faith in the opera.  Very often, the excuse for reviving it is its historical importance, rather than its innate beauty.   Something similar happened when the Met revived Le Prophete for Marilyn Horne - a bare bones production, while they spent millions on Lohengrin.

When I first bought the Legato set, I bought it for my beloved Carreras, and got exactly what I expected--marvelous singing.   Merritt was a completely unknown quantity to me, so I expected another second-rater for the role of Leopold, and boy - did my ears pop when I heard the Act I serenade, and the trio finale in the second act.   Merritt's high notes (several C's and even a high E are tremendously impressive, and, of course, Carreras is both effective, and dignified.   While it is true that he ducks most of the higher reaches of the vocal writing, so have most other Eleazars who have sung the role at the Met this century.   I do not want to say that Carreras has the right voice for the role, he really doesn't, but he does far better in it than just about any tenor active in the 1980s.   Yes, there have been tenors singing the role with more of the needed equipment in Europe before the second World War.   Among them: Vezzani, Slezak, Escalais, O'Sullivan, etc. etc.

The Legato Juive came out years before the Phillips, and since the Phillips had more music, and was on CD, I pretty much stopped playing the Legato when I got the Phillips, in spite of the younger Carreras and the presence of Merritt.   Merritt is much better than Gonzalez, although the latter is acceptable.   But the Phillips has three CDs with a total of 3 hours playing time--almost 30 minutes more than the earlier version.

As to the music, I guess my favorite moments are Leopold's serenade in Act I (cut to one third in the Legato, 2/3 in the Phillips), the exciting finales to Acts I and II, ( That trio with both Carreras and Merritt in it is incredible), the two big arias for the Cardinal - and, most of all, two highlights in Act IV:

The duet between the Cardinal and Eleazar, where Eleazar tells Brogni that he knows who Brogni's long lost daughter is and of course Eleazar's 'Rachel quand du Seigneur', where he has to decide between identifying Rachel as a Christian (she is the cardinal's daughter, which Eleazar has known all along), or letting her die as a Jew.   The magnificent duet had been only rarely recorded on 78s - by Slezak and Hesch, and by Cesar Vezzani and Paul Payen.   'Rachel quand du Seigneur', on the other hand, has been recorded countless times - and both was and should be one of the staples of the recorded tenor repertory.

Which set to get?   For Juive nuts, grand opera nuts, Carreras nuts - both; but for all others, spring for the Legato, especially if you can still locate a copy.   If you have never heard a French grand opera of the period--this is a good way to get acquainted with an undeservedly neglected art form.

***If you want to get to know Tom better just visit his site at http://www.geocities.com/Vienna/8917/index.html.