I recall seeing Stratas at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden many moons ago, when I was still a student. She was singing Susanna in Le Nozze di Figaro, and I can't now for the life of me remember any of the other singers. I do, however, remember her very well. She was all you would want a Susanna to be and Deh vieni in the last act was absolutely mesmerising.
Other than that I've only seen her in videos or heard her on disc. She make a fabulous, and totally believable Salome in the Götz Friedrich film, and she is superb in Corigliano's The Ghosts of Versailles. Her Nedda, in Zeffirelli's film, is a long way from the heartless little minx she is often portrayed, with loads of subtext in the Ballatella , as she plays with the children. One just knows that her relationship with Canio is a childless one, and maybe that this is at the root of their problems.
Incidentally, ZB, that Traviata with Wunderlich is (or used to be) available on CD on the Orfeo label. I have it and it's very good, though she doesn't quite eclipse Callas. Always intelligent and musical, her voice and technique isn't quite as complete. The voice lets her down a bit in the Zeffirelli film as well, but I can't think of any other Violetta on film who moves me more.
The excerpt from the Requiem surprised me. I didn't think it would have been in her voice, but her dramatic commitment carries her through. She can't, though, manage the ppp top B in the Requiem section, and, wisely probably, sings it at a good mf. Tebaldi and Price are my yardsticks here, though Schwarzkopf, who many don't consider right in the music, carries it off magnificently, and is at least as dramatically involved and committed.
I also have her two discs of Kurt Weil, which I absolutely love.
Stratas is definietely one of my favourite artists, but one I've usually enjoyed seeing more than just listening to. Some of the excerpts you've posted here have forced me to reconsider.
