These recordings (from Edison cylinders) are as scratchy as they get, and in French. But even without understanding French, you can hear the musical recitation of Racine's lines (for instance) on "Phedre" - and this from a legendary actress:

Edison recordings of Sarah Bernhardt

We all owe the wizard of Menlo Park a debt for capturing voices from the tail end of a century without recording technology.

To some degree, by the way, I believe classic French acting (Comedie Francaise style) still pays more attention to the "music" of the line than the more naturalistic styles.