CD 1
Wolfgang Amadeus
MOZART (1756 – 1791)
Don Giovanni:
1. Batti, batti, o bel Masetto
[3:43]
2. Vedrai carino [3:46]
Die Zauberflöte:
3. Ach, ich fühl’s [4:53]
Le nozze di Figaro:
4. Venite, inginocchiatevi [3:18]
5. Giunse alfin il momento … Deh
vieni, non tardar [4:25]
Idomeneo:
6. Se il padre perdei [5:01]
Il re pastore:
7. L’amerò, sarò costante
[5:15]
8. Exsultate, jubilate, motel K 165
[14:25]
Giuseppe VERDI
(1813 – 1901)
La traviata:
9. Ah! Fors’è lui … Sempre
libera [6:48]
Rigoletto:
10. Caro nome [6:17]
11. Tutte le feste … Si vendetta
[10:31]
Falstaff:
12. Sul fil d’un soffio etesio
[3:33]
Giacomo PUCCINI
(1858 – 1924)
La bohème:
13. Quando me’n vo’ …finale,
act 2 [6:53]
CD 2
Giacomo PUCCINI
Turandot:
1. Signore, ascolta [2:17]
2. Tu che di gel sei cinta [2:46]
Richard STRAUSS
(1864 – 1949)
Der Rosenkavalier:
3. Act 3 final trio and duet [11:36]
Lieder:
4. Einerlei, Op. 69 No. 3 [2:31]
5. Säusle, liebe Myrte,
Op. 68 No. 3 [3:53]
6. Der Stern, Op. 69 No. 1 [1:40]
7. Schlechtes Wetter, Op. 69
No. 5 [2:05]
8. Ich wollt’ ein Sträusslein
binden, Op. 68 No. 2 [2:40]
9. Als mir dein Lied erklang, Op.
68 No. 4 [3:03]
10. Freundliche Vision, Op. 48
No. 1 [2:40]
11. Schlagende Herzen, Op. 29
No. 2 [2:07]
12. Heimkehr, Op. 15 No. 5 [1:57]
13. Befreit, Op. 39 No. 4 [3:57]
14. Die Nacht, Op. 10 No. 3 [2:18]
15. Wie sollten wir geheim sie halten,
Op. 19 No. 4 [1:40]
16. Meinem Kinde, Op. 37 No.
3 [2:13]
Noel COWARD (1899
– 1973)
Bitter Sweet:
17. Ill see you again [3:00]
18. Zigeuner [3:06]
Private Lives:
19. Someday I’ll find you [2:45]
Conversation Piece:
20. I’ll follow my secret heart [2:20]
Ivor NOVELLO (1893
– 1951)
Glamorous Night:
21. Glamorous night [3:16]
Careless Rapture:
22. Music in May [3:17]
The Dancing Years:
23. The waltz of my heart [3:07]
24. I can give you the starlight [2:26]
King’s Rhapsody:
25. Someday my heart will awake [2:31]
26. The violin began to play [3:47]
Hilde Güden (soprano)
Aldo Protti (baritone)(CD 1, tr. 11);
Giacinto Prandelli (tenor), Giovanni
Inghilleri (baritone), Fernando Corena
(bass), Raffaele Arie (bass), Melchiorre
Luise (bass), Renata Tebaldi (soprano)(CD
1, tr. 13); Maria Reining (soprano),
Sena Jurinac (soprano), Alfred Poell
(baritone)(CD 2 tr. 3); The Vienna Philharmonic
Orchestra/Josef Krips (CD 1, tr. 1,
2), Karl Böhm (CD 1, tr. 3), Erich
Kleiber (CD 1, tr. 4, 5; CD 2 tr. 3),
Clemens Krauss (CD 1, tr. 6), Alberto
Erede (CD 1, tr. 7, 8); Orchestra of
the Accademia di Santa Cecilia, Rome/Alberto
Erede (CD 1, tr. 9-13, CD 2, tr. 1,
2); Friedrich Gulda (piano) (CD 2, tr.
4-16); Stanley Black and his Chorus
and Orchestra (CD 2, tr. 17-26)
rec. September 1952 (CD 1, tr. 1-3,
6), June 1955 (CD 1, tr. 4, 5), May
1952 (CD 1, tr. 7, 8), July 1954 (CD
1, tr. 9-12; CD 2, tr. 1, 2), July 1951
(CD 1, tr. 13), June 1954 (CD 2, tr.
3), September 1956 (CD 2, tr. 4-16),
November 1957 (CD 2, tr. 17-26). ADD
Hilde Gǖden was
born Hulda Geiringer in Vienna on 15
September 1917 and began her musical
studies at the age of 16 at the Vienna
Music Conservatory. Her theatrical debut
followed when she was 21 at the Vienna
Folk Opera under the name of Hilde Gerin,
later changing this to Hilde Güden.
Her opera debut came in 1939 when she
was 22 years old as Cherubino in Mozart’s
Le Nozze di Figaro.
We do not hear her
as Cherubino in this fascinating compilation
set compiled by Nimbus from LPs, but
in eight Mozart arias. There are two
from Don Giovanni, "Ach,
ich fǖhl’s" from Die Zauberflöte,
two from Le Nozze di Figaro and
one each from Idomeneo and Il
Re Pastore, ending this group with
the Exultate, Jubilate, K165.
For people used to listening to more
recent sopranos in these roles and arias,
Güden’s singing is a revelation!
Her beautiful, pure and silvery soprano
harks back to a different era of vocal
style and interpretation from that we
have heard from contemporary performers.
I loved hearing her sing all these arias,
and particularly her moving version
of "Ach, ich fühl’s"
where Karl Böhm paces the Vienna
Philharmonic Orchestra slowly – typically
for him - allowing the singer and orchestra
almost to "breathe" the music.
Güden’s interpretations can also
give one insight into those of later
sopranos. Today’s aspiring young Mozart
singers should listen to these recordings
and learn from the tone and approach
of this artist.
Güden’s career
progressed from working with major conductors
at The Vienna State Opera. These included
Josef Krips, Karl Böhm, Erich Kleiber,
Clemens Krauss and Alberto Erede (with
whom she sings on these CDs. Later she
sang at La Scala, Milan, Zurich, Roma
Opera, the Bavarian State Opera, Glyndebourne,
La Fenice, Venice, The Metropolitan
Opera, New York, The Royal Opera House,
Covent Garden and the Salzburg Festival.
Those were the starry years in which
she shared the operatic boards with
the most celebrated singers and artists
of the era.
The next group of arias
are Italian: three from Verdi – two
from Rigoletto and one from Falstaff,
followed by three from Puccini – one
from La Bohème and two
from Turandot.
After that comes the
Strauss group. It is in the Mozart and
Strauss that Güden excels. No wonder
Strauss apparently called her "my
Sophie Güden" – she was a
Strauss interpreter par excellence!
The Act 3 final trio and duet from Der
Rosenkavalier which she sings with
Maria Reining, Sena Jurinac and Alfred
Poell are just breathtakingly beautiful.
Is this the best version on record?
Who knows? Whether it is or not, it
must be very close to the best. This
superb performance is followed by thirteen
Strauss songs with Friedrich Gulda accompanying.
This two CD set ends
with a group of Noel Coward/Ivor Novello
songs which perfectly suit Güden’s
voice and interpretation. Those of us
used to more contemporary opera singers
performing a variety of "cross-over"
repertoire may, as I did, initially
view this group with a slightly cynical
suspicion, expecting an over-trained
voice and exaggerated "elocution
lesson" pronunciation. This is
not at all what one gets from Güden.
She sounds so comfortable and natural
in this repertoire and her English pronunciation,
described in the accompanying booklet
as having "a slight continental
accent", flows so well within her
interpretation of the lyrics and music.
The booklet, too, by the way, is well
researched and more than adequate for
the CDs, although the texts/libretti
for the arias/songs are not given. I
am sure people can find the words elsewhere,
should they need to do so.
Nimbus has done an
excellent job in choosing a representative
selection of Güden’s recordings,
with her strengths lying in the gorgeous
Mozart and Strauss repertoire. The sound
is clear and immediate. The original
recordings were made in the 1950s, when
editing technology was nothing like
as advanced or as precise as it is today,
so as a trade-off for the pleasure of
hearing this wonderful singer, there
are a few notes here and there which
would not have got through to the final
version of such recordings made nowadays.
In my view, these are truly offset by
fascinating interpretations and by the
beautiful, clear, pure voice of Hilde
Güden.
Angela Boyd
see also review
by Goran Forsling
NIMBUS PRIMA VOCE NI 7952-3 [78:48
+ 78:58] 
