„A man with brain.“ said Mary Garden about Ansseau, who was her frequent partner in Chicago between 1923 and 1928. A full, lyric-dramatic tenor voice with plenty of drive and fire. Not sturdy, but well placed on the breath and with good elasticity and vocal discipline to sing „classic“ roles like Vasco da Gama. In many aspects the successor of Paul Franz even though a little less dramatic and with less vocal authority.
This is just the right type of voice for Vasco da Gama and as always with French singers singing French repertory: style and diction is „half the battle“. „OOO paradis“ is attacked beautifully soft with just a hint of shakiness, „tu m’AAAppartiens“ has a beautiful ring. Going through the passaggio he can sound a little squeezed at times, but he keeps the vocal line admirably smooth and firm. Maybe not the MOST inspired recording but from a vocal point of view certainly among the most commanding ones.
