Favorite vocal recitals on CD or DVD

[Atriod]

I'd be curious to hear your thoughts on this.  Earlier, I had goofed--thinking that TsarasLondon had posted it (pleas see my comments).  Thanks! 

PD

From the numerous Second Viennese School lieder recordings I have (this is my first time hearing Alma Mahler or Hugo Wolf's songs) all of them are good, I get the impression if you're recording this music you're passionate about it.

What makes this one special for me is Barbara Hannigan's gorgeous, expressive singing and a keen understanding of the dissonances. Berio's Sequenza III is one where I find her a particular standout from the rest. And the interplay with Reinbert de Leeuw is also phenomenal and his accompaniment is not generic. He has a reference level recording of Webern's chamber music with vocals so I get the impression he is quite in tune with this music.

[Pohjolas Daughter]

From the numerous Second Viennese School lieder recordings I have (this is my first time hearing Alma Mahler or Hufo Wolf's songs) all of them are good, I get the impression if you're recording this music you're passionate about it.

What makes this one special for me is Barbara Hannigan's gorgeous, expressive singing and a keen understanding of the dissonances. Berio's Sequenza III is one where I find her a particular standout from the rest. And the interplay with Reinbert de Leeuw is also phenomenal and his accompaniment is not generic. He has a reference level recording of Webern's chamber music with vocals so I get the impression he is quite in tune with this music.

Thank you for your comments!  I remember being quite intrigued by Hannigan's singing and also recall watching a youtube (clip?) of her doing a combo of singing and conducting some contemporary works.

PD

[Tsaraslondon]

This EMI series usually comprised three discs but when EMI approached Schwarzkopf herself about what to choose from her vast recorded repertory, she cut it down to two and selected most of the recordings.

The first disc is of early recordings, made between 1946 and 1954, including some surprises, such as a 1951 recording of Micaëla's Je dis que rien m'épouvante from Carmen, which is rather lovely. The 1949 recording of O mio babbino caro with Karajan is taken a mite too slowly for my taste and reveals a light flicker vibrato I'd never noticed in her singing before. Otherwise, we are on firmer ground, with arias and songs by Bach, Handel, Mozart, Schubert and Wolf and duets (with Seefried) by Strauss and Humperdinck.

The second disc is of more well-known recordings, all of which appear in the Schwarzkopf Recitals box, issued to mark the centenary of her birth in 2015. The one exception is the mono version of the trio from the Karajan Der Rosenkavalier, which Schwarzkopf always felt better represented Legge's production. Personally, I don't think it sounds as good as the most recent re-master, which was overseen by Christopher Parker, one of the original engineers of the stereo version.
 

[Tsaraslondon]

Working my way through this wonderful box set, which takes in all Schwarzkopf's EMI recitals, both operatic and song, starting with the earliest, a classic recital of Schubert Lieder with the estimable Ediwin Fischer on the piano. It was recorded in Abbey Road in 1952.



Schwarzkopf's voice is at its freshest and loveliest, the lighter songs delivered with a delightful smile in the voice, the darker ones with an arresting sense of their dramatic potential. For instance, in Gretchen am Spinnrade the words sein Kuss are sung almost in horror, as Gretchen recalls the moment which sealed her destiny. Though always alert to the mood and meaning of the songs, however, there is also much that is admirable as pure singing, the legato superb, the line firmly held. Fischer is an estimable partner rather than just an accompanist. I particularly love the way he makes the piano accomaniment in Auf dem Wasser zu singen conjure up the image of moonlight bouncing off the water. A delight from beginning to end.

[Tsaraslondon]

The second disc from the big Schwarzkopf recitals box that was issued in 2015 to celebrate the centenary of her birth. Recorded in 1952 in Kingsway Hall.

Here accompanied by the Philharmonia Orchestra under John Pritchard (no Sir back then), Schwarzkopf sings a collection of arias from roles she sang on stage as well as some she didn't. Not many sopranos would attempt in the same recital arias for the Countess, Susanna and Cherubino or for Zerlina and Donna Anna, but, rare in Mozart, she brings a different voice character to each, all boyish eagerness as Cherubino, sensuous charm as Susanna, girlish seduction as Zerlina, who in turn sounds quite different from her Susanna, and patrician elegance as the Countess. She doesn't sound like a natural for Donna Anna, and of course we are reminded that her stage role was that of Donna Elvira, a role which she made very much her own, but Non mi dir is nonetheless delivered with a resigned sadness and the closing coloratura section rings out with real conviction. Illia's Zeffiretti lusinghieri is altogether lovely. Mozart aria recitals can tend towards the bland, but this is anything but.

[Tsaraslondon]

Disc 3 in the Schwarzkopf box was recorded in Watford Town Hall in 1953. The original LP had the Closing Scene from Capriccio on one side and Vier letzte Lieder on the second. I know some prefer this earlier recording of the songs, but, though she is undoubtedly in fresher voice, I prefer the sound of her more mature voice in the Szell recording. Her interpretation has deepend as well.

The Countess's scene is also glorious, but again I prefer what she does with it in the complete recording under Sawallisch.

[Tsaraslondon]

Disc 5 returns us to Lieder with piano, a mixed recital with Gerald Moore at the piano, recorded in 1954 at Abbey Road. It opens with Bist du bei mir (once attributed to Bach), and continues with mostly popular fare by Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Schumann, Brahms, Wolf and Strauss, with Schwarzkopf unerringly catching the mood of each song, whether it be the joyfully youthful exuberance of Schubert's Ungeduld, or the wistful bliss of Schumann's Der Nussbaum.

[Tsaraslondon]

This Mozart recital with the great Walter Gieseking at the piano has deservedly achieved the classic status of the Schwarzkopf/Fischer Schubert recital. Recorded in 1955, it was recorded in stereo, and I put this down to the fact that Christopher Parker, who oversaw the stereo version of Der Rosenkavalier was the balance engineer. It was first issued in mono, and the stereo version emerged several years later.


It certainly deserves its classic status, as Schwarzkopf and Gieseking between them bring these simple songs to life as no other. I hear absolutely no artifice in the way Schwarzkopf characterises the songs, or in the way Gieseking mirrors his playing to her tone, making much more of the sometimes plain accompaniments than you would think was possible. They also manage to vary the approach to individual verses in strophic songs in a way which sounds completely natural. This is a wonderful disc.
 

[Tsaraslondon]

CD7 from the Schwarzkopf Recital Box

Admitytedly the Monteverdi and Carissimi duets are hardly authentic, but I can't imagine anyone other than the most ascetic HIP advocate complaining when the singing is so beautiful, the voices charmingly intertwining and blending in delicious pleasure.

Schwarzkopf and Seefried had sung together on many occasions, and had already made duet recordings of the Presentation of the Silver Rose from Der Rosenkavalier (Schwarzkopf as Sophie, Seefried as Octavian) and excerpts from Hänsel und Gretel. Schwarzkopf was a huge admirer of Seefried, at one time stating that Seefried had naturally what others, including herself, had to work hard to achieve. Seefried's slightly darker, more mezzoish timbre blended perfectly with Schwarzkopf's brighter tone. The result is a winning combination, not only in the Dvorak duets that you would expect would suit them, but in the baroque items too, with Gerald Moore providing alert, lively support on the piano.

[Tsaraslondon]

Disc 8 from the Schwarzkopf Recitals Box

Walton didn't have much luck with casting for his opera Troilus and Cressida. He had originally wanted Callas for the role of Cressida, but Callas had no interest in contemporary opera and so he offered the role to Schwarzkopf, who was slated to sing in the UK premiere, but she too decided against it, and the role finally went to the Hungarian Magda Laszlo, who spoke no English at all. Scwharzkopf did however record these excerpts with Richard Lewis, the Troilus of the original production, a few months after its premiere.


It is a great pity that she decided not to sing the role, for she fills its soaringly lyrical vocal line with glorious refulgent tone. Her English is clear, if slightly accented, and the recording is a fine memento of what might have been.
 

[Tsaraslondon]

Discs 9 & 10 from the Schwarzkopf Recitals Box

Disc 9, recorded in 1956, is a collection of popular songs of the type that might normally crop up as encores in a recital programme, starting with Quilter's arrangement of Drink to me only with thine eyes, and continuing with pops by Hahn, Dvorak, Tchaikovsky and Grieg, all much more well known back then than they are now, no doubt. Singing in English, French and German, Schwarzkopf brings as much care to them as she does to the Lieder of Wolf. A lovely disc.

Disc 10 turns out to be the one more commonly known as The Elisabeth Schwarzkopf Christmas Album. This time she is accompanied by the Ambrosian Singers and the Philharmonia Orchestra under Sir Charles Mackerras in often gorgeously over the top arrangements of traditional Chiristmas carols and songs, though the disc starts gently with the original arrangement of Gruber's popular Stille Nacht, on which Schwarzkopf is double tracked to duet with herself. Some might find it all a bit too sugary, but I love it and it has been a permanent part of my Christmas playlist for many years now.

[Tsaraslondon]

Disc 11 in the Schwarzkopf Recitals Box

If there is a more joyous recital of operetta arias out there, I have yet to hear it. This is pure unalloyed joy from beginning to end. Schwarzkopf may have been born in what is now part of Poland and brought up in Germany, but there is something absolutely echt Viennese about her singing of operetta, and her recordings of operettas by Strauss and Lehár remain touchstones against which all others are judged. Schwarzkopf makes no concessions to the material and sings with her customary attention to detail, but there is absolutely no suspician of artifice or over-inflection and the disc is guaranteed to lift the spirits of all but the most curmudgeonly.

[Florestan]

Disc 11 in the Schwarzkopf Recitals Box

If there is a more joyous recital of operetta arias out there, I have yet to hear it. This is pure unalloyed joy from beginning to end. Schwarzkopf may have been born in what is now part of Poland and brought up in Germany, but there is something absolutely echt Viennese about her singing of operetta, and her recordings of operettas by Strauss and Lehár remain touchstones against which all others are judged. Schwarzkopf makes no concessions to the material and sings with her customary attention to detail, but there is absolutely no suspician of artifice or over-inflection and the disc is guaranteed to lift the spirits of all but the most curmudgeonly.

And of course she had a most attuned partner in the Romanian-born Otto Ackermann. 

That being said, Hilde Gueden's recitals are not far below in terms of joy and high spirits.

[Pohjolas Daughter]

Disc 8 from the Schwarzkopf Recitals Box

Walton didn't have much luck with casting for his opera Troilus and Cressida. He had originally wanted Callas for the role of Cressida, but Callas had no interest in contemporary opera and so he offered the role to Schwarzkopf, who was slated to sing in the UK premiere, but she too decided against it, and the role finally went to the Hungarian Magda Laszlo, who spoke no English at all. Scwharzkopf did however record these excerpts with Richard Lewis, the Troilus of the original production, a few months after its premiere.


It is a great pity that she decided not to sing the role, for she fills its soaringly lyrical vocal line with glorious refulgent tone. Her English is clear, if slightly accented, and the recording is a fine memento of what might have been.
 

Such a wonderful description!  Well done, you!

PD

[Tsaraslondon]

Discs 12, 13 and 14 of the Schwarzkopf Recitals box were all Wolf, and as I had listened to them only recently in EMI's two disc GROC incarnation, which also includes full texts and translations, I moved on to

Disc 15 - Romantic Heroines

Schwarzkopf sang Elsa at La Scala in 1953, but it didn't appear much in her repertoire after that. However, these two excerpts from Lohengrin are quite superb, the duet with Christa Ludwig's Ortrud (well known from the complete Kempe recording) absolutely thrilling. Elsa is sung on that recording by the wonderful Elisabeth Grümmer, and there can be no higher praise than stating Schwarzkopf is her equal in every way. She makes a superb Elisabeth too, greeting the Hall of Song in joyful radiance, sincerely sorrowful in the prayer, the tone pure and ideally floated. The arias from Der Freischütz are also qukte wonderful and have a beauty and poise rarely achieved by others. This is a glorious disc, one of Schwarzkopf's very best..

[Tsaraslondon]

Disc 16 - Favourite Scenes and Arias

Though Schwarzkopf sang Mimi early in her career, she didn't sing any of the other roles featured on this disc. We don't really associate her with Italian opera, though she made two excellent recordings of the Verdi Requiem and was an infectiously high spirited Alice in Falstaff. She might have made an excellent Desdemona too, if this scene is anything to go by, floating the tone ideally in the Ave Maria and alive to Desdemona's anxiety and foreboding in the Willow Song. Her Lauretta is all youthful charm and her Mimi lovely in every way. The Smetana and Tchaikovsky are both sung in German. She is radiant in Marenka's solo and, if Tatyana's Letter Scene misses something of the girl's impetuosity, the slow section has a satisfyingly inward quality.

[Tsaraslondon]

Disc 18 from the Schwarzkopf Recital Box is probably her best selling disc of all time and here reproduces the exact programme of the original LP, without the extra Strauss songs that first appeared on a later LP, coupled to Mozart concert arias.

This is one of the most famous records Schwarzkopf ever made and has remained a best seller ever since its first release. I've had it in one form or another since my teens, and, though I've listened to countless other versions of the Four Last Songs, and come to love quite a few of them, it is still the one I hear in my mind's ear whenever I think of Strauss's great apotheosis to the soprano voice. Schwarzkopf and Szell remind us that these are, after all, Lieder and not merely vocalises. They probe more deeply into the valedictory nature of the songs than any other I know, and the recording has a rich autumnal glow, eminently suited to their approach. In the last song, when Schwarzkopf sings So tief im Abendrot the effect is of a cathartic release, as if the whole cycle had been leading up to that moment. I don't hear that in any other performance, and for this reason, Schwarzkopf/Szell still, for me, eclipse all competition. The other five songs are hardly less fine. The lovely Die heiligen drei Königen aus Morgenland, with its gorgeous orchestral postlude, makes a fitting conclusion to the disc. A desert island disc if ever there were one.

[Tsaraslondon]

Disc 18 from the Schwarzkopf Recital Box

No doubt the success of their Berlin recording of the Four Last Songs prompted Szell to take Schwarzkopf and Szell back into the studio, this time in London with the London Symphony Orchestra. The first side of the LP was devoted to Mozart concert arias and the second to Strauss Lieder, the two cornerstones of Schwarzkopf's work with orchestra. For Ch'io mi scordi di te she is joined by Alfred Brendel for the piano obbligato, the two artists intertwining their voices deliciously in duet, and she brings her familiar virtues of aristocratic phrasing and dramatic involvement to each aria. Schwarzkopf had her misgivings about the Mozart items, feeling that, though they are musically fine, the voice had darkened too much for Mozart. Maybe she has a point, but I'll put up with the less youthful voice for the dramatic insights she brings to them. The Strauss songs are all gorgeous and wonderfully characterised, the turbulence of Ruhe, meine Seele contrasting immediately with the gently lulling tone of Meinem Kinde, and so on. For Morgen, she is joined by Edith Peinemann on the violin.

[KevinP]

Glad to see I'm not the only one who has and loves that Schwarzkopf box.

[Tsaraslondon]

Glad to see I'm not the only one who has and loves that Schwarzkopf box.

I've actually been going through all my vocal recitals recently with the intention of jettisoning any that didn't really hold my interest. You would think that listening to nothing but one singer for extended periods would end up being boring, but in the case of singers like Schwarzkopf, Janet Baker, Hunt Lieberson and Callas, it has only increased my admiration for them. All these singers are much more than just voices and always have something to say about the music.