Several
of these songs, by all three composers, I learnt through a couple
of LPs with Irmgard Seefried in the mid and late 1960s. Her
readings are still etched into my memory thanks to her deep
involvement and expressive phrasing. A less positive feature
in these late recordings was the deterioration of the voice
compared to what she did a decade earlier. Especially on the
later LP she was sorely strained as soon as singing above the
stave was required. I did not at that time acquire any of Schwarzkopf’s
Lieder records – my financial situation didn’t allow me to buy
too many duplicates. Later I caught up and even though I never
actually owned any of the three LPs transferred to this double
CD I heard them from time to time. Gradually it dawned on me
that Schwarzkopf and Seefried were probably the two foremost
Lieder sopranos of the post-war era, only occasionally being
challenged by, say, Elly Ameling. Coming back now to these three
sets of recordings, originally released by European Columbia,
I have to revise my earlier verdict slightly; Elisabeth Schwarzkopf
is the more perfect singer who never sacrifices beauty of tone
whereas Irmgard Seefried at her best may peer even deeper but
at the expense of beauty. Both ladies regularly appeared and
recorded with distinguished accompanists – in Seefried’s case
Erik Werba, in Schwarzkopf’s Gerald Moore and later Geoffrey
Parsons – but I believe that the three Schwarzkopf LPs under
scrutiny outdo practically everything else she did in this respect.
Collaborating
in the Mozart and Schubert songs with two pianists not normally
associated with accompaniment work undoubtedly brought a freshness
and openness to the readings and a partnership on equal terms.
It is perhaps most palpable in the Schubert songs, where one
has the duo feeling, the two musicians responding sensitively
to each other as a violinist and pianist would do in a Brahms
sonata. Ganymed (CD1 tr. 15) is possibly the most obvious
example but listen also to Die junge Nonne (CD2 tr. 2)
or for that matter any other song here.
Gieseking
is a superb partner, listening and finding the nuances,
but Mozart’s songs are still more of the “singer-with-accompaniment”
kind. Ridente la calma (CD1 tr.1) is a splendid example
of refined piano playing and of his finding the nuance juste
for every phrase. Interestingly these old mono recordings catch
the piano tone more realistically than many a later stereo recording.
This might be the result of the drier sound that doesn’t muddle
the sound-picture.
To
avoid any mistakes I am not going to say that Gerald
Moore is in any way inferior to his two colleagues. On these
three records Ms Schwarzkopf chose to be inspired by three of
the finest pianists in the world and while Gieseking and Fischer
could probably add fresh insights in the Mozart and Schubert
songs, nobody knew Hugo Wolf’s very special tonal language better
than Gerald Moore. At the same time Schwarzkopf might have one
or two competitors in Mozart and Schubert but none in Wolf.
And these two great artists in collaboration make us, at least
temporarily, realize that Hugo Wolf should be mentioned in the
same breath as Schubert as the greatest German language song
composer. Pick any song in this programme: the three Mignon
Lieder (CD2 tr. 7-9) so different and still so unified;
the fourth Mignon Kennst du das Land, possibly the greatest
of them all, the fastidious Ganymed and Anakreons
Grab (CD2 tr. 11-13) and the last song Epiphanias
CD2 tr. 20), all of them with that duo feeling, the piano part
independent and still inseparable from the vocal part.
I
have concentrated on the pianists and written very little about
the singing. Suffice to say that all three records catch Schwarzkopf
at the height of her powers. The voice is creamy, beautiful,
expressive and dramatic and she makes every syllable tell without
over-emphasis. Someone who is starting a collection of Lieder
recordings could do much worse than beginning here. This person
must get hold of the texts somewhere or, better still, the sheet
music which is possible to track down in several collections
at reasonable prices. The transfers are good, though I have
not been in a position to compare with other issues. What might
be slightly disturbing is a low-frequency noise that disappears
between the songs. I heard it principally when listening through
headphones and it might be inherent in the original tapes but
possibly it is surface noise from LP pressings that hasn’t been
filtered. It is noticeable but doesn’t spoil the listening pleasure.
Documentation
is limited to a tracklist, the names of the pianists and the
years of recording.
Göran
Forsling
Elisabeth Schwarzkopf
(soprano) 
