Vocal Nostalgia 1987

[Brünnhilde forever]

'So much music and so little time' has been muttered frequently. My muttering goes: "So many videos and so little time!" With all the new DVDs available I almost forgot the thousand-plus Laser Video Discs on the shelves of my music room. That's where I discovered the Wagner Gala I told you about.

Today I saw the LVD Händel-Schubert-Schumann, Jessye Norman, Geoffrey Parsons. It didn't actually a ring a bell, but I decided to give it a spin anyhow. Reading the back of the cover it all came back: It's the Philips recording of the June 1987 Schubertiade in Hohenems, Austria.

It is generally agreed that Jessye Norman's Liebestod, with Herbert von Karajan is the best concert version on record. And there is the best Der Erlkönig on record from this Festival. Norman sang 21 Händel, Schuman, Schubert, Brahms, Richard Strauss Lieder, plus two Spirituals, that evening and of course every song is Norman at her best, a voice I can not describe, one has to experience it.

For me the outstanding Lied is Der Erlkönig, loved it as a child and haven't stopped loving it since. Heard many very good renditions, yet this lady, in this performance, is at the pinnacle. She does not just sing it, she performs the Lied, changing her voice and facial expression into those four personalities: The deep, stern voice of the father, the high frightened voice of the son, the seductive voice of the Erlkönig, and the neutral voice of the narrator, all there, produced by the same super talented soprano.

The encore of He's got the whole world brought on the standing ovation, rhythmic applause and foot-stomping, and flowers and more flowers, a true Festival! I checked and there are recordings of the Festival at Hohenems, but not this one, just as there are recordings of Der Erlkönig, but not from this 1987 recital.

I am wondering what else I will find in my cache of LVDs!

[Brünnhilde forever]

Hohenems 1987

[knight66]

That sounds great Lis. I have a CD with Norman singing the Erlkönig; it is magnificent. I agree about the Liebstod with Karajan. The best Siglinde I heard was Norman in a concert performance of Act 1. At her best she was unbeatable.

Mike

[Brünnhilde forever]

Mike, I have the VHS of the 1990 Die Walküre with Jessye Norman, Gary Lakes is Siegmund. I am glad you saw her in a concert performance so you know what a terrific Sieglinde she is!

[Cato]

I have a tape recorded from a PBS station of a Met performance with Jessye Norman singing Bartok's Bluebeard's Castle, followed after intermission by her very humid performance of Schoenberg's Erwartung.  It must be from the late '80's or early '90's.  Marvelous, particularly the latter.

Why PBS has not released a DVD of this I have no idea.  The same goes for a PBS broadcast of a Met performance in the same time period of Richard Strauss' Elektra with Hildegard Behrens and Deborah Voigt.

[Wendell_E]

I have a tape recorded from a PBS station of a Met performance with Jessye Norman singing Bartok's Bluebeard's Castle, followed after intermission by her very humid performance of Schoenberg's Erwartung.  It must be from the late '80's or early '90's.  Marvelous, particularly the latter.

Why PBS has not released a DVD of this I have no idea. 

It's also a shame that the Met never revived that double bill.  Looking at the archives, it's been 20 years since that production was first (and last) done.

Most of the Met productions around that time were released on Deutsche Grammophon.  Maybe they weren't interested in an English-language Bluebeard's Castle?