Legendary Historical Singers

[Harry Powell]

Heinrich Schlusnus (1888-1952) was born in Braubach-am-Rhein. While he earned his living as a post officer in Frankfurt he studied singing. He was enlisted to fight in WWI but was injured, returned his home and made his professional debut as the Herald in "Lohengrin". He sang in Berlin and Nürnberg and acquired further training from Louis Bachner. He started singing Lieder in1918, quickly becoming Germany's foremost performer. His international career took him to London, Chicago and Vienna. During the next two decades he headed the so-called "Verdi Renaissance" in Germany. This was his favourite repertoire, which he always sang in German. In 1934 he apppeared at the Bayreuth Festival as Amfortas (Helge Rosvaenge performed Parsifal). After WWII he left the stage ("Rigoletto" in 1948) but continued singing "Lieder" until 1951.  He recorded abundantly, starring in a number of complete operas.

Schlusnus' voice corresponded with the Kavalier baritone from the Romantic Period prior to Verismo. It was a medium-weight voice which had a certain weakness in the low range but invested with full ringing upper tones. The timbre was remarkably clear but not pale: it was out of the ordinary in terms of harmonics. His singing delivery was flawless and knew no bounds to change the volume and shading of his voice. In both Lied and opera he reincarnated the Romantic performer: elegant and noble but not affected. His diction was incomparably clear and made almost forget that he was singing in German. According to John B. Steane, if there was a heir to Battistini, Schlusnus was the man. Once the great Italian baritones from the 20's had declined, he could be considered the greatest Verdi baritone.

Let's listen to some selections from "Rigoletto", "Un ballo in maschera", "Simon Boccanegra", "La Traviata" and "I vespri siciliani".

http://www.divshare.com/flash/playlist?myId=11509036-9dd

Schlusnus' last recording was a heart-rending performance of Mahler's "Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen".

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o-SC8rbWYeI&playnext=1&list=PL0C4677B385AB2F0A

Hope you like it.

[The new erato]

Thank you very much, Que! I see you rank among the most interested users in the topic.

I'm interested as well and buy a few discs now and then (eg the EMI Icon series containing singers, as well as vol 1 of EMIs Great singers of the century)...but don't have enough expertise in this particular field to really contribute.

[Harry Powell]

You shouldn't be intimidated by the topic! They're just singers. The recordings are old and some people might find them difficult to listen, but that's all. The amount of learning about singing you can obtain from these antique records is invaluable.

[bigshot]

I wonder if anyone else has gone to the lengths I have for acoustic recordings. About ten years ago, I realized that CD reissues of 50s material often didn't sound much like the original LP release. I wondered if the same was true of 78s, so I did my research and got a turntable and a set of needles for 78s. I started experiencing with digital sound restoration and equalization curves and got some good results.

My brother has had a suitcase Victrola since he was a boy. I brought a few acoustic recordings over to his house and played them. I was blown away by the presence, volume and low noise level when played back acoustically. It sounded nothing like any CD I had ever heard. I bought a Victrola with a standard acoustic era soundbox and set to work trying to do a digital transfer that sounded the way it did coming out of the horn. I got very close, but it took a massive amount of very exacting work. Later I got a phonograph with an orthophonic sound box and tried to do the same with early electricals. That was considerably easier.

There is some peculiar acoustic property of acoustic playback that operates on a different level than modern sound reproduction. It's as if there are qualities beyond frequency response, distortion and dynamic range. I have a million theories on what these properties might be.

There's nothing like hearing Caruso played back on a well maintained acoustic phonograph. It makes the hair on the back of your neck stand up.

[Szykneij]

There's nothing like hearing Caruso played back on a well maintained acoustic phonograph. It makes the hair on the back of your neck stand up.

Fascinating subject! Since he sang into a horn to create the master that was physically used to produce your record with no electronic alteration in between, it's probably as close to hearing Caruso's actual voice as you can get.

[Harry Powell]

Bigshot: You made an interesting contribution. I have to be contented with digital transfers, though. I think that with a pair of in-ear Sennheiser headphones one can enjoy these recordings. It's surprising how vivid Carusos's voice can become when properly played. With conventional loudspeakers too much is missed. 

What's your opinion on Obert-Thorn and Marston's restorations for Naxos?

[Harry Powell]

But did anyone listen to Schlusnus?

[zamyrabyrd]

But did anyone listen to Schlusnus?

I had some trouble with the mp3 clips but found recordings of his on youtube. It's nice to hear a lyric baritone in roles that usually are associated with more dramatic types. Here's the "Di Provenza" of Traviata done in German: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GrFVW45yuyA

Dramatically well differentiated version of Erlkönig:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eCuCiyii71U&feature=related
ZB

[Harry Powell]

Hi zamyrabyrd

I checked the flash player and it works.
The topic on dramatic baritones' an interesting and misunderstood one. The dramatic Verdi baritone is not the stentorian singer-actor that many singers from the 50's developed relying on Verismo commonplaces. If you listen carefully to Stracciari, Danise and Amato, you feel that Schlusnus is closer to them than Bastianini, Guelfi or Gobbi.

[mjwal]

Harry, I love Schlusnus and know these wonderful Verdi recordings, as I do the late Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen (not Des Knaben Wunderhorn) you link to. Another song cycle he recorded (1939) was the very first of all song cycles, Beethoven's An die ferne Geliebte. It is still my favourite. - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I2CtEnVx-c0
What fantastic legato combined with perfect enunciation - which as you say makes one (temporarily) accept the German as right for the music.

[Harry Powell]

I have to listen to the Beethoven!
Thanks for the correction. Schlusnus also recorded two songs from "Das Knaben Wunderhorn", but it was many years earlier.

[bigshot]

Fascinating subject! Since he sang into a horn to create the master that was physically used to produce your record with no electronic alteration in between, it's probably as close to hearing Caruso's actual voice as you can get.

There's actually an interesting effect when played back using a horn. Caruso stood a few feet back from the recording horn when he sang. On playback in an acoustic Victrola, there is an aural image of Caruso's voice projected a few feet in front of the phonograph. It gives an eerie impression of an invisible person standing in the room in front of the phonograph. Also, there is no volume control on an acoustic phonograph. When in proper repair, the soundbox will reproduce the sound at the exact volume it was recorded. Whispers sound exactly like whispers and full voice sounds exactly like full voice. When this sound is combined with the natural acoustics ofthe listening room, it sounds exactly like the singer being in the room with you. This effect only really works with male voices. There is a sweet spot in the response of acoustic recording that favors tenors.

[Harry Powell]

There is a sweet spot in the response of acoustic recording that favors tenors.

I would say it favors baritones. And tenors who had a baritone color as Caruso had.

[bigshot]

What's your opinion on Obert-Thorn and Marston's restorations for Naxos?

They both do very good transfers. MOT is very good at balancing noise reduction properly. It isn't the same as acoustic playback though. Acoustic sounds much more forceful and has almost no surface noise. Electrical reproduction picks up high and low frequencies that an acoustic soundbox mutes over. It's good to have the fuller bass of electrical playback, but acoustic is better at acting as a low pass filter to eliminate surface noise. There is just a steady whoosh. No crackle or clicks. I'll see if I can find the transfer I did trying to match the acoustic sound signature. It took a lot of work in noise reduction and some very strange equalization to do it. No one else seems to do it that way.

[bigshot]

I would say it favors baritones. And tenors who had a baritone color as Caruso had.

Actually, when you hear it played on a gramophone, the tenors have the edge. Billy Murray, the popular singer, was the ideal voice for acoustic playback. The low end of the baritone voice can only be heard in electrical playback. The ideal is the acoustic clarity and energy up high and the electrical fullness below.

[Harry Powell]

Actually, when you hear it played on a gramophone, the tenors have the edge. Billy Murray, the popular singer, was the ideal voice for acoustic playback. The low end of the baritone voice can only be heard in electrical playback. The ideal is the acoustic clarity and energy up high and the electrical fullness below.

That sounds interesting. Have you tried Lauri-Volpi's early recordings on acoustic playback? This is a singer whose records seems to lose a lot of harmonics in the upper range.

[bigshot]

Here are a few of my transfers. First the acoustic sound signature tests (with added bass). These sound best through good speakers at a moderate volume.

http://www.vintageip.com/porcupinerag.mp3
http://www.vintageip.com/zipzipzip.mp3

The hardest job I ever did was Schnabel. The recording has a ton of dynamics and a high level of bacon crackle. Hard to restore without killing the soft passages. I tried to keep the percussiveness of the very quiet notes and the overall shapes of the tones and ring offs.

http://www.vintageip.com/eroicavariations.mp3
http://www.vintageip.com/diabellivariations.mp3

Some Wagner with Melchior and Lehmann. The experiment here was to try tp preserve the presence of the voices and the enunciation of the consonants. A lot of noise reduction techniques smear over the ends of sounds.

http://www.vintageip.com/melchior.mp3
http://www.vintageip.com/lehmann.mp3

.

[Florestan]

Riccardo Stracciari (1875-1955), baritone

"Largo al factotum" from Il Barbiere di Siviglia: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J1H9WyWLX-w (rather peculiar but nevertheless exceptional)

"Vien Leonora" from La Favorita: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=17OLU3JvuJk&feature=related (superb)

"Povero rigoletto...Cortigiani, vil razza dannata" from Rigoletto: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xr5eiQtlMg0 (hair-raising)

"Mira di acerbe lagrime" from Il Trovattore (with Rosa Ponselle): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wWex6CpTW2k (a match made in heaven)

Finally, O sole mio: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3BPvo1G3u6c (some peculiarities here as well, but can one fault the result?)

I just love the way he stretched into tenor range in certain moments and even whole sequences. Definitely, one of the greatest baritones ever. I sometimes tend to credit those who lament such artistry as lost for ever.

[Harry Powell]

I just love the way he stretched into tenor range in certain moments and even whole sequences. Definitely, one of the greatest baritones ever. I sometimes tend to credit those who lament such artistry as lost for ever.

You've raised an interesting point here, although it's not exactly so. We are all too used to the excessive use of chest resonance of modern singers from lower strings. Then, when we listen to a baritone use the mask as it must be used by all strings, we tend to think "Stracciari invaded the tenor range... Galeffi had a clear voice... Pinza was a baritonal bass...". And as a matter of fact it's rather on the contrary: singers like Bastianini, Christoff and the like were wrong! Delivery, I mean, emission must be always clear and light to sing the upper range. A timbre will be clear or dark by nature. Many singers thought they must darken their voices to become more dramatic: in fact it's the power and squillo in the high notes what makes a singer dramatic. And this is only achieved by means of the high "impostazione" (I don't know if there's an English word for that) that Stracciari mastered.

[Harry Powell]

I have remembered the word: placement.