Born in Stara Zagora in Bulgaria in 1941 Anna Tomowa-Sintow made
her operatic debut in her home town in 1965 as Tatiana in Eugene
Onegin. As the daughter of a member of the opera chorus she
early became familiar with Verdi’s operas. Arabella was
one of her first major roles when she came to Leipzig, where she
was a member of the company from 1967 to 1972, when she moved
to Berlin. There Herbert von Karajan heard her and engaged her
for the Salzburg Easter Festival in 1973. This was her springboard
to stardom.
The present disc,
recorded in 1974, mirrors some important roles in her early
repertoire, some of which she later recorded complete. Her recording
of Ariadne auf Naxos for Deutsche Grammophon with
James Levine was awarded a Grammy in 1988. On an Orfeo recital,
issued in 1984 she also recorded Es gibt ein Reich from
Ariadne as well as the final scene from Daphne,
and among her many recordings with Karajan there is a competitive
reading of Vier letzte Lieder. In other words: she had
an affinity for Richard Strauss and on the present disc she
is at her very best in the Strauss excerpts. The legendary Strauss-interpreter
Elisabeth Schwarzkopf is quoted on her homepage saying: ‘Anna Tomowa-Sintow is to
me the greatest talent that I have encountered over the past
years …’. Among her best assumptions on record is the title
role in Korngold’s Strauss-influenced Das Wunder der Heliane,
which was reissued not so long ago (see
review).
She
was 33 when this recital disc was made, and fresh of voice.
She retained her ability to float an ethereal pianissimo throughout
her distinguished career. Comparing recordings made almost twenty
years apart it isn’t easy to decide what is early and what is
late. She achieved an impressive consistency. Her Tatiana from
Eugene Onegin is eager, vulnerable and nervous, something
that is enhanced by the slightly fluttery vibrato, which makes
her sound at times uncannily like another noted Tatiana, Elisabeth
Söderström - high praise. Another vulnerable character, whose
dread emanates from a premonition of death, is Desdemona in
Otello. Her long scene from the last act is sung with
restraint and inwardness, more to herself than to Emilia, who
isn’t present on the recording anyway. But she shows her dramatic
ability with a powerful outbreak on the phrase Taci … Chi
batte quella porta. She hasn’t quite the creamy tones of
Renata Tebaldi, a longstanding favourite in this role. She is
very much inside the character and gives a truly musical reading.
The more outward aria from La forza del destino, another aria
where Tebaldi is the touchstone, is sung with great intensity
and some angelic pianissimo notes but the vibrato is at times
a bit disturbing. This was less noticeable in the Otello
scene, which made me believe that the flutter in the Tchaikovsky
scene wasn’t intentional but recorded at a session where she
wasn’t quite on top form.
The
Strauss arias, on the other hand, are all delivered with such
steady and beautiful tone, such superb heavenly pianissimo singing
and such luminous top notes that I can recall few recordings
worthy to stand by her side. The disc is worth acquiring for
the reading of Es gibt ein Reich alone.
She
is excellently supported by the Gewandhausorchester, whose famous
strings are unsurpassed in Strauss. The overall sonority of
the orchestra can be admired throughout the recital, not least
in the bouncy waltz sequence that rounds off Arabella’s monologue.
Kurt Masur’s conducting is vital and responsive, which is a
further incentive to acquire the disc. The sound is everything
one might expect from a 35-year-old analogue recording. It was
originally issued, I believe, on the East German label Eterna.
Constantly
illuminating readings and the singing of the three Strauss arias
can be compared with the best.
Göran
Forsling
