“Singers
of the Century” doesn’t seem a wholly appropriate title for
this compilation. The recordings cover less than a decade and
some of the singers here made their debuts in the early 1930s.
Then again Nicolai Gedda’s career as a recording artist stretches
into the 21st century. There are so many important
names that should have been included to justify the title. But
this is nitpicking and those who are represented here definitely
qualify for inclusion in some future volume encompassing the
whole of the last century.
Browsing
through the track-list made my mouth water. Many of the singers
– and actual recordings – were in my early collection and revisiting
them seemed a tempting proposition. It was. By and large the
compiler has done a splendid job. I would have chosen many of
the same titles and there are one or two surprises. There may
also be names that could/should have been included but that
is the nature of projects of this kind. So if you like what
you see in the tracklist, dear reader, don’t hesitate. The artistic
quality is high throughout though I have some doubts about the
quality of some of the transfers. Naturally Regis haven’t had
access to the master tapes or matrices. In some cases the available
pressings seem to have been in less than pristine shape. There
are traces of distortion and every now and then one has to adjust
the volume setting. This is something one can live with and
even though a comparison with EMI’s own transfers from the master
shows the difference I derived a lot of pleasure from this budget-priced
set. It should also be remembered that many of the tracks here
are only available – if at all – as part of complete sets.
Going
through the discs track by track I would have thought that Victoria
de los Angeles should have been represented by something from
her Spanish or French repertoire. She was however a noted interpreter
of lyrical Wagner roles and this Elisabeth’s Greeting is a healthy
alternative to versions from more full-voiced singers. Dietrich
Fischer-Dieskau’s Song to the Evening Star, live from Bayreuth
in 1954 is valuable. He later recorded the role complete twice,
for HMV and DG, but here he is not yet 30 and is tremendously
assured and mellifluous. The same goes for Nicolai Gedda – they
were born the same year – also recorded when still in his 20s.
He gained in power within the next few years but this is a version
to savour. Between these two gentlemen we hear the Dance Duet
from Hänsel und Gretel, probably never better performed,
unless it be the 78 rpm with Schwarzkopf and Seefried.
Walter
Berry – even younger than F-D and Gedda – is a fresh and lively
Papageno in his first recording out of three of this role. He
sang it also with Klemperer and Sawallisch but this 1955 version
is the one to prefer. Anton Dermota was regarded as one of the
finest Mozart tenors during the 1950s. He is certainly stylish
and elegant but compared to Leopold Simoneau, on that same recording
as Berry’s Papageno, he tends to pale. The possessor of one
of the blackest basses of his day, and also a splendid actor,
Gottlob Frick was a great Wagnerian, but he also excelled in
comic roles – Osmin and Kecal – as well as the noble Sarastro.
His voice is more pliant here than when he recorded the role
complete for Klemperer a decade later.
Irmgard
Seefried was Pamina in Salzburg under Furtwängler at about the
time she recorded the role with Karajan and hers is one of the
loveliest and most touching of Paminas. My first Nozze di
Figaro – or rather a highlights LP – was Erich Kleiber’s
Decca recording. Here we have both Suzanne Danco’s lively Cherubin
and – especially – Cesare Siepi’s unsurpassed rendition of the
title role. The other two ladies on that recording also took
part in the contemporaneous Don Giovanni under Josef
Krips and they are well represented here. Hilde Güden is an
affecting Zerlina and Lisa Della Casa a Donna Elvira to challenge
even Elisabeth Schwarzkopf. Another leading Mozart singer in
Vienna and elsewhere was Sena Jurinac, and her Come scoglio
from Così fan tutte, recorded with Glyndebourne forces
under Fritz Busch in 1950, is rock steady; her slightly occluded
tone making her easily recognizable.
Cesare
Valletti studied with Tito Schipa and was probably his greatest
successor. Even his timbre is very similar to Schipa’s and his
phrasing is just as exquisite. This aria from Don Pasquale
is culled from the 1952 Cetra recording, still regarded as one
of the best ever of this opera. Tito Gobbi is a superb Belcore
in L’Elisir d’amore. This is singing with a ‘face’, even
though the tone can be pinched under pressure. Giuseppe Di Stefano
is also in his element singing Una furtive lagrima from
the same opera. It is a pity he didn’t stick to this repertoire
which suited him so well.
Giulietta
Simionato had the technical assurance to sing the florid Rossini
heroines but her voice was rather heavy and matron like and
better suited to Azucena. It is good even so to have her in
this aria from L’Italiana in Algeri, recorded in 1954
and with Giulini in the pit. Nicola Rossi-Lemeni was also the
owner of a heavy voice but it was, at this stage of his career,
sonorous and expressive. His reading of Basilio’s Slander aria
is not unlike Chaliapin’s famous acoustic recording.
Two
British singers round off the first disc. Alfred Deller was
the personification of the counter-tenor voice. In this Purcell
aria he sings with his customary elegance and mellow tone. Jennifer
Vyvyan is his direct opposite with crystalline clarity and astonishing
agility. Even as early as 1954 Anthony Lewis had much of the
rhythmic ease that has since become the norm for baroque performances.
The
Pearl Fishers’ duet, which opens CD 2 has been memorably recorded
a number of times: Gigli-De Luca, Björling-Merrill, Gedda-Blanc
on a complete EMI set from the 1960s. Leopold Simoneau is on
a par with his famous competitors: light and lyrical on the
one hand, brilliant top notes on the other. René Bianco is a
worthy baritone partner. Regine Crespin is wonderfully fresh-voiced
on this recording of Mathilde’s aria from Guillaume Tell,
sung in the original French. She was certainly the best lyric-dramatic
French soprano of her generation. In the early-to-mid-1960s
she made a Wagner recital for EMI with Prêtre conducting. There
she sang the Wesendonck songs as well as excerpts from Lohengrin,
Walküre and Parsifal. This is a record I would like
to see restored to circulation.
Janine
Micheau was, on the other hand, the epitome of a light lyric
French soprano – chronologically somewhere between Mado Robin
and Mady Mesplé. In the waltz song from Roméo et Juliette,
recorded in 1953, she is heard at her best, whereas a handful
of years later, when recording Micaëla with Beecham, she had
lost some of the freshness.
Robert
Merrill, though no Frenchman but brought up in Brooklyn, is
suitably light-voiced in Valentin’s aria from Faust.
Few latter-day baritones have had such impeccable legato. It
is also a pleasure to hear Alain Vanzo at the start of his career,
with unforced lyric singing and his high C with a diminuendo
is masterly.
One
of the first Carmen recordings on LP was Fritz Reiner’s
on RCA Victor in 1950 with Risë Stevens in the title role. I
more or less learnt the Habanera through this recording and
it comes up here fresh as paint – just as I remembered it.
Stalin’s
favourite singer, Ivan Koslovsky, was never allowed to perform
outside the Soviet Union and few recordings slipped through
the Iron Curtain. He too had a marvellous legato and honeyed
pianissimos but at this stage – he was past 50 – his tone had
a tendency to harden at forte. This is great singing anyway
and he preserved his voice into his 70s. I have a recording
from Soviet Radio 1943 where he sings Almaviva’s Ecco ridente
in Russian and indulges in some hilarious runs from the top
of his tenor voice down to sepulchral basso profondo notes.
His bass colleague at the Bolshoi, Mark Reizen, also had a long
career. Born in 1895 he made his debut in 1921. On his 90th
birthday, 64 years later, he sang Gremin in Eugene Onegin
at the Bolshoi. Beat that! The Song of the Viking Guest
from Sadko is here performed by a relative youth. He
was just 57 by then and sounds twenty years younger than that.
The third Russian singer on this disc, baritone Pavel Lisitsian,
had a truly beautiful voice and was expressive in the bargain.
He was allowed to sing in the West, mainly in concert but he
sang in War and Peace at La Scala and once appeared at
the Met as Amonasro on 3 March 1960. Yeletsky’s aria from The
Queen of Spades is a fine example of his restrained intensity
and the characteristic fast vibrato.
Better
known to Western audiences was Bulgarian bass Boris Christoff.
Varlaam’s song from Boris Godunov is a tour de force
for this great singing actor.
When
Maria Callas rose to fame in the early 1950s, she was rapidly
contracted to EMI. They saw the potential in her singing, not
only in complete operas but on recital records as well, records
that would appeal to a wider audience reluctant to buy complete
operas. Her first two recitals were recorded simultaneously
in September 1954 in Watford Town Hall. One was a Puccini programme,
the other a collection of coloratura and lyric arias. From the
latter comes the La Wally aria: inward and intense -
possibly the peak performance on that record.
Amor
ti vieta was recorded in Stockholm in 1948 by a 37-year-old
Jussi Björling who by then had behind him an operatic career
of almost twenty years. He re-recorded the aria in stereo for
Decca a decade later with arguably even tighter intensity but
the present offering is certainly as close to perfection as
is possible. Björling often sang opposite Zinka Milanov at the
Met and also on complete recordings. Santuzza’s Voi lo sapete
is from one of their joint efforts and Milanov’s involvement
and power of singing is in fine evidence here. What is also
noticeable is that her timbre suggests a much older singer than
the role is supposed to be. To some listeners this more of a
drawback than to others.
Dutch
soprano Gré Brouwenstijn sings a beautiful Vissi d’arte,
but am I the only one to think that she is fractionally flat
at times? With Renata Tebaldi that was never a problem and she
was often at her very best in Puccini. Here she sings Liù’s
second aria, just before the suicide, with feeling and beauty.
We also hear the brazen tones of Mario Del Monaco at the end
of the aria. Then he comes into his own with the ear-shattering
first entrance of Otello – a role that he sang more than 400
times. This 1951 version is not from a complete set but a separate
recording. Richard Tucker has a long career at the Met and even
had his funeral service on the Met stage. He recorded Radames
twice, with Toscanini in the forties and with Serafin in the
fifties opposite Maria Callas. The present version from 1950
is mellower than either of the complete versions and clearly
tells us that the aria is a love song.
The
shortest excerpt on this disc, Falstaff’s Quand’ero paggio,
presents us with one of the finest exponents of this role –
and a great number of others – Giuseppe Taddei. There was a
saying in Italy at the time that “we gave Tito Gobbi to the
world but kept Giuseppe Taddei to ourselves”. He excelled in
Mozart, Rossini and Verdi and his Scarpia in Tosca is
one of the best on record.
Taddei
may not have had the biggest and most sonorous of baritone voices
- that laurel must go to Ettore Bastianini – but his ebony-coloured
voice was magnificent. Not the subtlest of interpreters, he
was still a thrilling and authoritative singer. Urna fatale
shows him before the gradual decline of his voice, caused by
throat cancer.
Without
erasing memories of Lotte Lehmann in “the most beautiful aria
in all opera”, the one from Die tote Stadt, Joan Hammond’s
reading of it is still a worthy tribute to this impressive singer.
Her pianissimo singing is enchanting.
As
can be concluded from this review there are gems a-plenty on
these two discs. The technical limitations are not serious enough
to diminish listening pleasure – unless one is a diehard hi-fi
freak; in that case one should at all costs steer clear of recordings
of this vintage.
Göran
Forsling
Detailed
Tracklisting:
CD 1
Richard WAGNER (1813–1883)
Tannhäuser:
1. Dich, teure Halle [4:44]
Victoria de los Angeles
2. O du, mein holder Abendstern [2:07]
Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau
Engelbert HUMPERDINCK (1854–1921)
Hänsel und Gretel:
3. Brüderchen, komm tantz’ mit mir [3:53]
Elisabeth Schwarzkopf & Elisabeth Grümmer
Friedrich von FLOTOW (1812–1883)
Martha:
4. Ach so fromm [3:24]
Nicolaï Gedda
Wolfgang Amadeus MOZART (1756–1791)
Die Zauberflöte:
5. Der Vogelfänger bin ich ja [2:33]
Walter Berry
6. Dies Bildnis ist bezaubernd schön [4:26]
Anton Dermota
7. O Isis und Osiris [3:24]
Gottlob Frick
8. Ach, ich fühl’s [4:16]
Irmgard Seefried
Le nozze di Figaro:
9. Non so più [2:45]
Suzanne Danco
10. Non più andrai [3:46]
Cesare Siepi
Don Giovanni:
11. Vedrai carino [3:43]
Hilde Güden
12. In quali eccessi … Mi tradi [6:07]
Lisa Della Casa
Così fan tutte:
13. Come scoglio [4:14]
Sena Jurinac
Gaetano DONIZETTI (1797–1848)
Don Pasquale:
14. Come’e gentil [2:06]
Cesare Valletti
L’Elisir d’amore:
15. Come Paride [3:29]
Tito Gobbi
16. Una furtiva lagrima [4:59]
Giuseppe Di Stefano
Gioachino ROSSINI (1792–1868)
L’Italiana in Algeri:
17. Cruda sorte [4:21]
Giulietta Simionato
Il barbiere di Siviglia:
18. La calunnia [4:49]
Nicola Rossi-Lemeni
Henry PURCELL (1659–1695)
King Richard II:
19. Retired From Any Mortal’s Sight [4:45]
Alfred Deller
Georg Frideric HANDEL (1685–1759)
Semele:
20. Myself I Shall Adore [3:31]
Jennifer Vyvyan
CD 2
Georges BIZET (1838–1875)
The Pearl Fishers:
1. Au fond du temple saint [5:25]
Leopold Simoneau & Rene Bianco
Gioachino ROSSINI
Guillaume Tell:
2. Sombre foret [8:16]
Regine Crespin
Charles GOUNOD (1818–1893)
Roméo et Juliette:
3. Waltz Song: Je veux vivre [4:45]
Janine Micheau
Faust:
4. Abant de quitter ces lieux [4:11]
Robert Merrill
5. Quel trouble inconny … Salut, demeure [5:54]
Alain Vanzo
Georges BIZET
Carmen:
6. Habanera: L’amour est un oiseau rebelled [4:09]
Risë Stevens
Nicolay RIMSKY-KORSAKOV (1844–1908)
Sadko:
7. Song of India [4:47]
Ivan Koslovsky
8. Song of the Viking Guest [3:22]
Mark Reizen
Pyotr TCHAIKOVSKY (1840–1893)
The Queen of Spades:
9. Yeletsky’s Aria: I Love You [4:02]
Pavel Lisitsian
Modest MUSSORGSKY (1839–1881)
Boris Godunov:
10. Varlaam’s Song: In the Town of Kazan [2:12]
Boris Christoff
Alfredo CATALANI (1854–1893)
La Wally:
11. Ebben ne andro lontana [4:53]
Maria Callas
Umberto GIORDANO (1867–1948)
Fedora:
12. Amor ti vieta [2:06]
Pietro MASCAGNI (1863–1945)
Cavalleria rusticana:
13. Voi lo sapete [4:03]
Zinka Milanov
Giacomo PUCCINI (1858–1924)
Tosca:
14. Vissi d’arte [3:23]
Gré Brouwenstijn
Turandot:
15. Tu che di gel sei cinta [3:04]
Renata Tebaldi & Mario Del Monaco
Giuseppe VERDI (1813–1901)
Otello:
16. Esultate [1:16]
Mario Del Monaco
Aida:
17. Celeste Aida [4:32]
Richard Tucker
Falstaff:
18. Quand’ero paggio [0:39]
Giuseppe Taddei
La forza del destino:
19. Urna fatale del mio destino [2:53]
Ettore Bastianini
Erich Wolfgang KORNGOLD (1897–1957)
Die tote Stadt:
20. Glück, das mir verblieb [4:30]
Joan Hammond
