There is an earlier
collection of opera arias with Richard
Tauber on Naxos (8.110729). This covers
the period 1919 – 1926 - the acoustic
era. The present volume hooks on where
the first left off; the electrical era
starting somewhere in mid-1926. What
one immediately notices when listening
to the two discs is the consistency
of Tauber’s singing. From the outset
all the characteristics of his voice
were there: the smoothness of the delivery,
the fine shadings, pianissimo singing
and a stylishness that he kept, in spite
of his singing a lot of operetta and
popular songs for a large part of his
career. One notices some overdoing of
portamenti - that sliding from
one note to the next which can at times
sentimentalize the music. But his special
legato singing is to be found also in
his earliest recordings. What is inherent
in his voice is a certain stiffness,
regardless of its warmth. He seldom
colours his voice - he doesn’t have
the heroic ring to his top notes that
others have had in abundance. Sometimes,
instead of producing a seamless diminuendo,
he resorts to falsetto singing, though
admittedly very beautiful and skilful.
He was of course a predominantly lyrical
tenor and the Wagner excerpts found
on this and the companion disc are typical
studio products. He could never have
sung them in the theatre, however finely
executed they are here.
During his early years
he was a leading Mozart interpreter,
singing his first Tamino in Die Zauberflöte
as early as 1913 when he was not yet
22. Towards the end of his career he
returned to Mozart and on this disc
we get five arias, four of them recorded
in 1938 and 1939, the fifth, a remake
of the Tamino aria, recorded in 1946
when the singer was 55 and probably
already affected by the lung cancer
from which he died a year later. All
of them are marvellous examples of stylish
Mozart singing, the sentimentality held
in check, and this at a time when Mozart
singing in general wasn’t very stylish,
measured against today’s standards.
The only tenor from roughly the same
period who was his equal and possibly
also surpassed him, was John McCormack.
Each of these tracks could serve as
a model to any present day tenor aspiring
to Mozart. It is also fascinating to
hear the 1946 remake and compare. Eight
years is a long time, especially for
a tenor already approaching 50 as Tauber
was when first recording it. You can
hear small differences: the actual
sound of the voice has dried, but just
a smidgeon. There is a little more vibrato,
but just a little, and one notices an
extra degree of effort, but not much.
And it is all still very stylish.
Most of the items,
whether German arias or not, are sung
in German, as was customary in those
days. The two Don Giovanni arias are,
luckily, in Italian and both the Godard
and Bizet are in French. The Flower
Song from Carmen, also recorded in 1946,
is another example of stylish, lyrical
singing, showing that you don’t need
to be a dramatic tenor to sing Don José.
Tauber also ends the aria pianissimo
as written, with a crescendo in the
middle of the final phrase and then
fading down to pianissimo again.
I could point out lots
of attractive features, but I would
instead urge readers to get the disc
and find out for themselves. Start from
the beginning with the Mozart arias,
then listen to the two arias from Les
contes d’Hoffmann, sung with a lot
of involvement. This was obviously a
part that Tauber could identify with.
But everything is attractive. It is
indeed interesting to hear him as Calaf
in Turandot, a part that he even
sang on stage in the German premiere
of the opera. His interpretation of
Nessun dorma is a far cry from the over-the-top
versions some present day tenors try
to charm their audiences with.
Richard Tauber was,
warts and all, one of the truly important
singers of the first half of the 20th
century. At least one Tauber disc should
be in every serious collection of vocal
music. This one is probably a safer
recommendation than the acoustical volume.
It is easier for modern ears to adjust
to the sonics of the electrical recordings.
The transfers are excellent ... as expected
when Ward Marston is in charge.
Strongly recommended!
Göran Forsling
See also
review by Evan Dickerson
see
review of Volume 1
see
review of Popular songs
Richard Tauber (tenor) with orchestra except
Sadko with piano accompaniment by Mischa
Spoliansky and violin by Dajos Bela 
