Giuseppe GIORDANO
(c.1753-1798)
1. Caro mio ben [2:54]
Robert SCHUMANN
(1810-1856)
2. Widmung [2:17]
3. Mondnacht [4:18]
Johannes BRAHMS
(1833-1897)
4. Am Sonntag Morgen [1:33]
5. Wiegenlied [2:13]
Richard STRAUSS
(1864-1949)
6. Zueignung [2:00]
7. Freundliche Vision [2:51]
8. Allerseelen [3:40]
9. Caecilie [1:56]
Blagoje BERSA
(1873-1934)
10. She Duš Dan (All Souls' Day)
[4:36]
Josip PAVCIC (1870-1949)
11. Pastirica (The Shepherdess)
[3:15]
Bozidar KUNC (1903-1064)
12. Ceznja (Longing) [3:19]
13. Strepnja (Quivering) [2:50]
14. The World is Empty [1:44]
Richard HAGEMAN
(1882-1966)
15. Do Not Go My Love [3:29]
Songs of Yugoslavia (Croatia),
arranged by Dr. Lujo Goranin
16. Na Bembasi (By Bembasi Waters)
[3:09]
17. Gor cez jezero (By the Lake)
[3:13]
18. Ko lani sem (When last year
I passed by) [3:10]
19. Ukor (Maiden's reproach)
[3:04]
20. Daleko m'e moj Split (Split,
my hometown, so far away) [3:12]
21. Domovini i ljubavi (To my
homeland an to my love) [2:59]
If you’ve been following
the Nimbus Milanov releases you’ll know
that their earlier foray into her recorded
legacy was a Milanov sings Verdi disc
(see review).
There, in all her opulent and passionate
splendour, she proved herself a legendary
heroine, a Verdian of unimpeachable,
sometimes torrential expressive qualities.
But it was the more thoughtful and delicately
deployed moments in her singing that
also linger in the mind – her absolute
control of pianissimi, the sheer refinement
of much of what she did. And that leads
one to this latest Milanov disc of aria
antiche, lieder, and national folk songs.
The recital starts
with that old standby Caro mio ben.
Note that the portamenti – always a
feature of her art - are relatively
discreet, the voice not over-scaled,
the chest voice lightly deployed. It’s
an imaginative, intelligent performance
and contrasts quite firmly with that
of many of her contemporaries in this
repertoire. Schumann’s Widmung
has the requisite urgency of utterance;
her German is as ever excellent. Mondnacht
is also well judged and she doesn’t
do too much with it. The brace of Brahms
songs is similarly accomplished, the
lulling Wiegenlied especially.
But it’s the Strauss songs that show
her affinities best I think. Her vibrant
sense of identification can be gauged
best from Caecilie where the
technical control is at its most impressive,
though Zueignung is powerful
in its own right.
The Yugoslav songs
offer another avenue into appreciating
Milanov. Some were composed by her brother,
her accompanist for the bulk of these
tracks, Bozidar Kunc. All are pleasurable.
Bersa’s She Duš Dan has an unforced
gravity and a near operatic intensity.
And Kunc’s Čežnja
is full of urgent, almost florid romanticism,
well suited to Milanov’s voice and sense
of declamatory power. She brings affectionate
refinement, scaled dynamics to The
World is Empty. The Songs of
Yugoslavia, songs arranged by Dr.
Lujo Goranin, are accompanied by an
anonymous pianist and violinist; the
set was recorded in 1943 whereas everything
else derives from sessions in 1955.
Milanov’s portamento style is heard
to good effect in these six songs. The
Magyar influence is strong, tinged with
Old Vienna in Gor čez
jezero – beautifully controlled
diminuendi from Milanov here – though
elsewhere things are stylistically generic.
In the main, though, romantic allure
wins the day especially when performed
so alluringly as here. There’s nothing
in these songs as touching, or important,
as the Czechoslovak songs Jarmila Novotna
sang at around this time but that doesn’t
lessen the impact of Milanov’s singing
of them.
There’s residual hiss
on the Yugoslav songs, as one would
expect. Transfers are fine, the notes
too and up to the expected standard.
Jonathan Woolf
see
also review by Goran Forsling
Zinka Milanov (soprano) 
