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Less than two years ago I reviewed
a disc on the same label with Sophie Koch singing Schumann’s Myrten.
I wrote then that she ‘has a large, vibrant voice with a lot of
inherent warmth. It wouldn’t surprise me if within the next few
years she gradually moves over to heavier parts than the mainly
lyrical ones on her current repertoire …’ There is little to add
to that description, other than that she has obviously developed
even more thrust, robustness even. Once or twice this tempts her
to lunge for power and, without going over the top, she widens
the vibrato yet further; the effect can be slightly acidulous.
It is for the most part a healthy acidity – not the kind that
makes you call the waiter and ask for a different bottle. In Strauss
a strong vibrant voice can be an asset and so it is in this case,
since, as I also wrote in the Schumann review: ‘…she can scale
down the voice to very intimate dimensions without any loss in
quality’.
What struck me over
and over again during the recital was the well judged phrasing
and the intelligence of her readings. The first two songs felt
a bit anonymous even so but in Heimliche Aufforderung
she blossoms out into some glorious full-throated singing while
at the same time bringing out all the textual nuances. This
is splendid Strauss singing by all standards. Ruhe, meine
Seele is restrained but with retained intensity and she
delivers a deeply felt Befreit. In Nichts her
legato singing is admirable and two of my personal favourites,
Allerseelen and Morgen! are so sensitively and
beautifully sung. Her vibrancy may be a problem to some listeners
and the concluding Cäcilie is a little too much of a
good thing. On the other hand her reading of Zueignung
is grandly impressive.
It was with great
anticipation I saw the name Philippe Entremont as accompanist.
Now in his mid-70s, he regularly recorded for Concert Hall record
club in the early 1960s when I was starting to build a record
collection. I remember a good Moonlight Sonata, Gershwin’s
Rhapsody in Blue and two Mozart concertos with his father
as conductor. In later years he has himself appeared as conductor
on record. Whether he has regularly been an accompanist I don’t
know. I can only recall a CBS LP with songs by Satie and Ravel
with Régine Crespin: He was a sensitive accompanist then and
here he is almost sensationally good. Pleasant acoustics, a
splendid piano and Entremont’s delicate touch combine to make
this one of the best Strauss recitals I have ever heard. He
is obviously a good listener and the sonorities he produces
are stunning; and there is no lack of power and intensity when
required. One can pick any song to admire his playing, none
more so than Schlechtes Wetter with its illustrative
piano part finding Strauss in Hugo Wolf – and Viennese waltz
– mood.
Two grumbles: the
playing time is uncommonly meagre at just over 40 minutes. Also
there are no translations of the song texts. Not all listeners
are fluent in German. Still: with accompaniments of such mastery
this is a disc to treasure.
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