A sidelight to Don's point regarding negative "reviews."  I recently
purchased the French EMI Classics release of excerpts from Berlioz's
"Les Troyens," featuring Regina Crespin (singing both Cassandra and
Didon) and Guy Chauvet (of whom I had never heard).  I thought Crespin
OK (but no competition to Janet Baker), but found Chauvet wonderful,
having the clarion tone of Vickers when called for, but able to "sing"
instead of "barking and shouting" when appropriate.

I did a Google Group search on Chauvet and found the following:

   "I heard Chauvet at the Met.  The voice had a different color on every
   note of the scale.  It was most disconcerting!!  Not a well lined up
   instrument."

   "Guy Chauvet was the tenor in the first Met opera production I ever
   saw--PROPHETE along with Marilyn Horne and Rita Shane.  Chauvet was
   so awful, both in sound and in his acting which made "wooden" seem
   like a complement, that I might never have darkened the doors of the
   house of Levine again...."

   "Guy Chauvet had a great voice and ringing top notes, but was a
   primitive and unmusical singer, and worlds away from Thill and Franz,
   and even from Luccioni."

   "Guy Chauvet was quite another kettle of fish.  A very good singer
   whose voice was just a little underpowered.  He sang both Samson and
   Don Jose at the Met.  Surprisingly, he also assayed Sigurd for ORTF
   in 1973 and Enee in LES TROYENS at Vienna in 1976.  The voice was a
   bit too small for these two roles, but he sang quite well, and didn't
   try to push his naturally smallish natural resources."

   "I remember another French tenor, Guy Chauvet, who I did get to hear
   in person, - in Samson and Dalila.  He was considered a spinto to
   dramatic tenor, but seemed more lyric to spinto, just about adequate,
   - but lighter-toned than usual for the role."

   I heard Horne as Fides at the Met about 1979, with a slightly shrill
   but still effective Rita Shane and the wooden, bleating Guy Chauvet."

If I had read these before my purchase I doubt I would have made the purchase,
and I would have been the poorer for that.

-Gene Halaburt
Salt Lake City