When Knut Skram was
twenty he went to America to be a
cowboy on his uncle’s ranch for a
year, After being thrown from his
horse he gave up his cowboy dreams
and went to the Montana State University
School of Architecture. In 1963 he
had his Bachelor of Architecture Degree
– his diploma thesis was, suitably
enough, entitled "An Opera House".
He came from a musical
family – his father, who was a priest,
played the violin and his mother the
piano. He had been singing since he
was a little boy, at home and eventually
in a choir, where he also was soloist.
While in America music really took
a hold on him and he studied voice
in parallel with architecture. The
first opera he ever saw was Menotti’s
Amahl and the Night Visitors,
and then took part in the performance
himself!
He worked for six
months with a firm of architects in
the US before he went back to Norway.
There he gave himself two years to
se if he could earn his living as
a singer. He could. He made his debut
with the Norwegian National Opera
in 1964, where he remained for 36
years, singing more than 50 major
parts. But he soon got invitations
from abroad and became a much sought-after
guest all over the world except Australia,
However he did sing opposite Joan
Sutherland in I Puritani at
a concert performance in Stockholm,
which I still have fresh in the memory.
On this disc we hear
him in live recordings spanning almost
25 years and it is a good testimony
to his consistency over the years.
On the most recent recording, Wolfram’s
Song to the Evening Star from Tannhäuser,
he has developed a wider vibrato
on sustained notes. There is a little
more strain and the tone is slightly
drier. But even during his earliest
years his tone wasn’t particularly
sappy. What first and foremost made
him stand out was his superb articulation,
his identification with his role characters,
his sense of style and his willingness
to scale down the volume. At pianissimo
he produced soft beautiful tones and
a perfect legato. In the long scene
from the second act of La traviata
he gives ample proof of all these
characteristics, inspired no doubt
also by the sensitive and involved
Violetta of the late lamented Inga
Nielsen. There are few more moving
readings in my vast collection and
Skram’s development from stern brutality
to sympathy is well portrayed. The
end of the scene is extremely beautifully
sung by both artists. Unfortunately
there is applause in the middle, and
at the end some heavy distortion.
This scene was also included in the
Chandos 2-CD set with Inga Nielsen,
issued last autumn (see
review).
The earliest recording,
Renato’s hateful Eri tu from
Un ballo in maschera, is from
the finale of an international competition
in Helsinki. We can hear his wrath
against the former friend in the recitative
while in the aria proper his long
legato phrases are splendid. The aria
from La forza del destino finds
him in even finer form with a commanding
presence on a par with the best of
his contemporaries. His Rigoletto
is also deeply felt.
Early in his career
he had great success as a Mozart singer.
The two arias included here were recorded
much later and hardly representative
of when he was at his prime. The Champagne
in Don Giovanni’s aria is a bit stale
and Papageno is more middle-aged than
he needs to be, but there is some
virtuoso whistling at the end that
saves the day.
On the second half
of the disc we encounter the recitalist.
Skram is accompanied by the excellent
Robert Levin, whose sensitive phrasing
and touch can be admired all through
Dichterliebe, especially in
the postlude to Die alten, bösen
Lieder. As for Skram’s reading
of the songs I am in two minds. These
are obviously deeply considered interpretations.
There are in every song many fine
details and a lot of beautiful and
sensitive soft singing. But very often
he drags and there is too often a
lack of momentum. Of the recordings
I have in my collection this is the
slowest. Tom Krause on a Finlandia
disc is even slower in some songs
but he has more energy. I imagine
that closer acquaintance with this
reading may give new insights and
many songs are almost hypnotic – and
as always Skram’s care over words
is prominent.
Whatever one’s reaction
to this and that on the disc it is
a worthy tribute to this eminent singer,
who actually is still singing – albeit
not too frequently. When he was at
his busiest he found that he had been
abroad for 207 days in one year, and
then he decided to cut down – which
wasn’t too difficult since his wife
had hidden his passport!
Göran Forsling
Knut Skram (baritone) 
