Devotees of opera in English will recall a series of discs of highlights
from popular operas recorded by artists from the Sadlers Wells Opera
in the 1960s. German-speaking devotees of opera in the vernacular
were similarly served by a series of excerpts recorded by Electrola
over a longer period and featuring artists better known outside their
native land than those on the English discs. The present box offers
highlights from four Italian and three French operas from the Electrola
series. Its appeal to German-speaking collectors is obvious but it
has considerable interest for others too. This derives mainly from
hearing admirable and well-known singers in unfamiliar roles. For
example, although he appears on only two of the discs Gottlob Frick
immediately makes the listener sit up with his vivid characterisation.
Whether as Bartolo or Basilio in the Rossini or as Donizetti’s
Raimondo he shows what can be done using the text rather than simply
displaying his magnificent voice. Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau as Valentine
in Faust (or Margarethe as it was called in German productions)
provides another demonstration of how imaginative projection of the
text can bring the music to life even when sung in translation.
Not all of the singers achieve these results. I find Hermann Prey’s
Figaro overdone even in Italian but in German he sounds even more
of a bully. It is good to hear the distinctive voices of Richard Holm,
Josef Traxel and Rudolf Schock but none are at their best here. All
sing pleasantly but lacking the essential flexibility needed for this
music. Indeed the only tenor to make a positive impression is Nicolai
Gedda. He is more than satisfactory in Puccini and Gounod and outstanding
as Adam’s Postillion. Indeed that disc is one of the best in
the box with all the cast making the most of the opportunities. Perhaps
it does sound more like Lortzing in German but nonetheless the results
are very winning. The same cannot be said of the Don Pasquale
disc which sounds heavy and lacks vocal grace.
The sopranos are generally satisfactory even if the three discs with
Erika Köth tend to the efficient - in itself no mean feat - rather
than the dramatically involving. Anneliese Rothenberger has a somewhat
mature-sounding voice for Butterfly but she clearly understands the
role and gives a moving performance overall. Rita Streich and Edda
Moser provide much pleasure in their varied roles.
Recordings are generally satisfactory with the more recent sets showing
obvious superiority. The choice of extracts is sometimes odd, with
nothing from Lucia di Lammermoor after the mad scene and an
eccentric choice from Il barbiere di Siviglia. By way of extras
we are given two Offenbach Overtures and two alternative extracts
from Les contes d’Hoffmann, and a dim and unexciting
performance of the Ballet Music from Faust. There was ample
space on the other discs to include other German language performances
of those operas which would have greatly added to the set’s
appeal. It would have helped also to have longer gaps between the
extracts. There is no booklet and no notes on the music or performance
let alone any text or translations. Incidentally the title of the
set is the start of the translated Barcarolle from Les contes d’Hoffmann.
Clearly, as I said at the start, the set’s appeal will be largely
to German-speaking collectors. Nonetheless there is much here for
the curious music-lover with an interest in the singers represented
as well as providing ample food for thought on the vexed question
of opera in the vernacular.
John Sheppard
See also review by Jonathan Woolf
Full details
CD 1
Gioachino ROSSINI (1792-1868)
Der Barbier von Sevilla (Il barbiere di Siviglia) [46:16]
Count Almaviva - Richard Holm (tenor); Bartolo & Basilio - Gottlob
Frick (bass); Rosina - Erika Köth (soprano); Figaro - Hermann
Prey (baritone); Berlin Symphony Orchestra/Wilhelm Schüchter
recorded in Berlin in 1957
CD 2
Gaetano DONIZETTI (1797-1848)
Don Pasquale [50:28]
Don Pasquale - Wilhelm Streinz (bass); Dr Malatesta - Marcel Cordes
(baritone); Ernesto - Josef Traxel (tenor); Norina - Erika Köth
(soprano); Notary - Helmut Winkenstern (baritone); Berlin State Opera
Chorus; Berlin Symphony Orchestra/Werner Schmidt-Boelcke;
recorded in Berlin in 1957
CD 3
Gaetano DONIZETTI (1797-1848) Lucia di Lammermoor [47:34]
Lord Henry Ashton - Josef Metternich (baritone); Lucia - Erika Köth
(soprano); Edgardo - Rudolf Schock (tenor); Lord Arthur Bucklaw -
Manfred Schmidt (tenor); Raimondo - Gottlob Frick (bass); Alisa -
Herta Töpper (contralto); Berlin State Opera Chorus; Berlin Symphony
Orchestra/Wilhelm Schüchter
recorded in Berlin in 1957
CD 4
Giacomo PUCCINI (1858-1924) Madama Butterfly [51:33]
Cio-Cio San - Anneliese Rothenberger (soprano); Pinkerton - Nicolai
Gedda (tenor); Sharpless - Hermann Prey (baritone); Goro - Hans Günter
(tenor); Suzuki - Sieglinde Wagner (mezzo); RIAS-Kammerchor; Orchestra
of the Deutschen Oper Berlin/Giuseppe Patanè
recorded in Berlin in 1966
CD 5
Adolphe ADAM (1803-1856) Der Postillion von Lonjumeau
(Le postillion de Lonjumeau) [43:04]
Chapelou - Nicolai Gedda (tenor); Madeleine - Ruth-Margaret Pütz
(soprano); Bijou - Franz Crass (bass); Marquis von Corcy - Franz Klarwein
(tenor); Chorus and Orchestra of the Bavarian State Opera/Fritz Lehan
recorded in Munich in 1965
CD 6
Jacques OFFENBACH (1819-1880) Hoffmanns Erzählungen
(Les contes d’Hoffmann) [60:11] [also includes other instrumental
and vocal items by Offenbach]
Hoffmann - Rudolf Schock (tenor); Olympia/Giulietta/Antonia - Rita
Streich (soprano); Dapertutto/Dr Miracle - Josef Metternich (baritone);
Niklausse - Sieglinde Wagner (mezzo); Berlin State Opera Chorus; Berlin
Symphony Orchestra/Wilhelm Schüchter
recorded in Berlin in 1954
CD 7
Charles GOUNOD (1818-1893) Margarethe (Faust) [69:32]
Faust - Nicolai Gedda (tenor); Mephistophes - Kurt Moll (bass); Valentine
- Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau (baritone); Margarethe - Edda Moser (soprano);
Siebel - Ursula Groenwold (mezzo); RIAS Kammerchor; Berlin Radio-Symphony
Orchestra/Giuseppe Patanè
recorded in Berlin in 1973
