Voices Of German Opera
Voices Of German Opera / Various
Release Date: 07/31/2012
Label:
Warner Classics
Catalog #: 40497
Spars Code: DDD
Composer:
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart,
Ludwig van Beethoven,
Carl Maria von Weber,
Heinrich Marschner,
...
Performer:
Natalie Dessay,
Edda Moser,
Kurt Moll,
Walter Berry,
...
Conductor:
Louis Langrée,
Wolfgang Sawallisch,
Berislav Klobucar,
Rudolf Moralt,
...
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment,
Bavarian State Opera Orchestra,
Berlin Symphony Orchestra,
...
Number of Discs: 5
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Notes and Editorial Reviews
These five CDs present a sampling of the many outstanding voices captured on record by EMI over the past 80 years in the field of German opera, including material from the early catalogues of the Gramophone Company, British Columbia, Parlophone and Odeon. Not all of the singers are German, but the tradition of performing German opera has been clearly defined over the years under the guidance of the composers themselves, and the performance style has been handed down to the present day by the great singers heard in this collection
CD 1 Opera was invented in around 1600 in Italy, and the Italian influence spread to Germany, but eventually a genuine German tradition evolved and this collection of voices of the German opera
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tradition begins with the German operas of Mozart from the latter part of the 18th century. The first opera represented is Die Entführung aus dem Serail, which brought Mozart success in Vienna in 1782, and we ear contributions from three distinguished tenors: the French-Canadian Léopold Simoneau, the legendary Spaniard Plácido Domingo and the German Gerhard Unger. The three sopranos who sing arias from this opera are the American-Italian Anna Moffo, the German-born Anneliese Rothenberger and Lucia Popp from Slovakia; the inimitable German bass Gottlob Frick completes the group. The French soprano Natalie Dessay brings us up to the present with an aria from the unfinished Zaïde, which is followed by a selection of popular arias from Die Zauberflöte featuring among others the characterful Viennese baritone Erich Kunz, the German tenor Fritz Wunderlich, whose accidental death at the height of his career was a huge loss to the world of opera, and the distinguished German soprano Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, one of the great divas of the post-war period. The remaining tracks cover Beethoven’s only opera Fidelio and feature outstanding performances by the American soprano Helen Donath, the Germans Paul Schoeffler (baritone) and Christa Ludwig (mezzo-soprano) and the Canadian heldentenor Jon Vickers.
CD 2 presents a group of 19th century German composers beginning with Weber (1786–1826), who was responsible for establishing a truly German operatic tradition, and include Marschner, Lortzing, Flotow and Humperdinck. The singers heard here were among the most popular in the German repertoire in the 1950s and 60s like the soprano Elisabeth Grümmer, the tenors Rudolf Schock, Fritz Wunderlich and Peter Schreier and the baritones Hermann Prey and Fritz Ollendorff. The soprano Margarete Teschemacher and the tenor Richard Tauber represent an earlier generation of outstanding singers active before the second world war, and the American soprano Barbara Bonney brings us to more recent times. Then come arias by Richard Wagner (1813–1883), whose operas today form the cornerstone of the international operatic repertoire. The singers are led by the Swedish soprano Birgit Nilsson, whose strong, bright dramatic soprano voice was ideally suited to the vocal demands of Wagner’s heroines, as witnessed by her fearless performance as Senta in Der fliegende Höllander.
CD 3 continues with more Wagner, and we hear a contrasting selection of singers who have been at the forefront of Wagnerian singing in the second half of the 20th century, many of them having performed at the annual Wagner Festival in Bayreuth, the home of the Wagnerian tradition to this day. In fact, the recording of Otto Edelmann on track 9 is from a live recording of Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg conducted by Herbert von Karajan, made in 1951 at the opening of the Bayreuth Festival after the war. Karajan later made a famous studio recording of Meistersinger in Dresden in 1970 and on track 10 we hear the tenor René Kollo singing part of the role of Walther von Stolzing. Today’s Wagnerian singers are represented by the New Zealand tenor Simon O’Neill on track 15 in an extract from Parsifal recorded in 2009.
CD 4 stays with Wagner and covers mainly the four operas of Der Ring des Nibelungen. On this disc we hear some of the greatest Wagnerian singers of earlier times including the legendary sopranos Frida Leider, Florence Austral and Lotte Lehmann, the last partnered by the equally legendary tenor Lauritz Melchior in the conclusion of Act I of Die Walküre. No bass-baritone has ever been more memorable than Hans Hotter as Wotan, and his recording of Wotan’s Farewell from Die Walküre demonstrates why. The disc ends with Brünnhilde’s Immolation from Götterdämmerung sung by the acclaimed Norwegian soprano Kirsten Flagstad with the Philharmonia Orchestra conducted by Wilhelm Furtwängler in a recording from 1948 that sets the seal on Wagnerian performance at its best.
CD 5 is devoted entirely to the music of Richard Strauss (1864–1949), who is the last great composer of German opera since Wagner to establish himself in the international operatic repertoire. Strauss began as an opera composer with his two spectacularly brutal, if controversial, one-act operas Salome (1905) and Elektra (1909). The romantic Der Rosenkavalier (1911) followed in complete contrast and remains Strauss’s most popular opera to this day. Elisabeth Schwarzkopf’s memorable Marschallin in Der Rosenkavalier is represented here by the Marschallin’s Monologue on track 1, and a brief extract from the Bulgarian soprano Ljuba Welitsch’s thrilling Salome is heard on track 7. Another famous Strauss interpreter was the soprano Elisabeth Schumann, who is heard as Sophie in ‘The Presentation of the Silver Rose’ in a uniquely beautiful performance recorded in 1933. Other singers heard here include the sopranos Maria Cebotari, Leonie Rysanek, Sylvia Geszty and Cheryl Studer; the mezzo-soprano Kerstin Meyer; the baritone Hermann Prey; and the basses Otto Edelmann and José Van Dam. The collection ends with the closing scene from Strauss’s final opera Capriccio, performed in fine Straussian style by the Swedish soprano Nina Stemme.
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Works on This Recording
1.
Zaide, K 344 (334b): Ruhe sanft, mein holdes Leben by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Performer:
Natalie Dessay (Soprano)
Conductor:
Louis Langrée
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment
Period: Classical
Written: 1779-1780; Salzburg, Austria
3.
Die Zauberflöte, K 620: O Isis und Osiris by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Performer:
Kurt Moll (Bass)
Conductor:
Wolfgang Sawallisch
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Bavarian State Opera Orchestra
Period: Classical
Written: 1791; Vienna, Austria
4.
Die Zauberflöte, K 620: Ein Mädchen oder Weibchen by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Performer:
Walter Berry (Bass Baritone)
Conductor:
Wolfgang Sawallisch
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Bavarian State Opera Orchestra
Period: Classical
Written: 1791; Vienna, Austria
7.
Die Zauberflöte, K 620: Der Hölle Rache by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Performer:
Edita Gruberova (Soprano)
Conductor:
Bernard Haitink
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra
Period: Classical
Written: 1791; Vienna, Austria
15.
Fidelio, Op. 72: Ha! Welch ein Augenblick by Ludwig van Beethoven
Performer:
Paul Schoeffler (Bass Baritone)
Conductor:
Karl Böhm
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Vienna State Opera Orchestra
Period: Classical
Written: 1805/1814; Vienna, Austria
18.
Oberon, J 306: Ozean! du Ungeheuer by Carl Maria von Weber
Performer:
Margarete Teschemacher (Soprano)
Conductor:
Bruno Seidler-Winkler
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Berlin State Opera Orchestra members
Period: Romantic
Written: 1825-1826; Dresden, Germany
22.
Hans Heiling: An jenem Tag by Heinrich Marschner
Performer:
Hermann Prey (Baritone)
Conductor:
Wilhelm Schüchter
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Berlin Symphony Orchestra
Period: Romantic
Written: 1831-1832
24.
Undine: Vater, Mutter, Schwestern, Brüder by Albert Lortzing
Performer:
Peter Schreier (Tenor)
Conductor:
Robert Heger
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra
Period: Romantic
Written: 1845; Germany
25.
Der Wildschütz: Fünftausend Taler by Albert Lortzing
Performer:
Fritz Ollendorff (Bass)
Conductor:
Robert Heger
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Bavarian State Opera Orchestra
Period: Romantic
Written: 1842; Germany
26.
Martha: Ach, so fromm by Friedrich von Flotow
Performer:
Fritz Wunderlich (Tenor)
Conductor:
Berislav Klobucar
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Berlin Symphony Orchestra
Period: Romantic
Written: 1847; Germany
30.
Die Königin von Saba, Op. 27: Magische Töne by Karl Goldmark
Performer:
Richard Tauber (Tenor)
Conductor:
Heinrich Bender
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Bavarian State Opera Orchestra
Period: Romantic
Written: by 1875; Vienna, Austria
31.
Tristan und Isolde: Tot denn alles by Richard Wagner
Performer:
Josef Greindl (Bass)
Conductor:
Wilhelm Furtwängler
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Philharmonia Orchestra
Period: Romantic
Written: 1857-1859; Germany
33.
Tannhäuser: Gar viel und schön by Richard Wagner
Performer:
Ludwig Weber (Bass)
Conductor:
Issay Dobrowen
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Philharmonia Orchestra
Period: Romantic
Written: 1845/1861; Germany
35.
Tannhäuser: Dich, teure Halle by Richard Wagner
Performer:
Jessye Norman (Soprano)
Conductor:
Klaus Tennstedt
Orchestra/Ensemble:
London Philharmonic Orchestra
Period: Romantic
Written: 1845/1861; Germany
36.
Parsifal: Nur eine Waffe taugt by Richard Wagner
Performer:
Simon O'Neill (Tenor)
Conductor:
Pietari Inkinen
Orchestra/Ensemble:
New Zealand Symphony Orchestra
Period: Romantic
Written: 1877-1882; Germany
39.
Lohengrin: In fernem Land by Richard Wagner
Performer:
Jess Thomas (Tenor)
Conductor:
Rudolf Kempe
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra
Period: Romantic
Written: 1846-1847; Germany
40.
Lohengrin: Euch Lüften, die mein Klagen by Richard Wagner
Performer:
Régine Crespin (Soprano)
Conductor:
Georges Prêtre
Orchestra/Ensemble:
French National Radio Orchestra
Period: Romantic
Written: 1847; Germany
43.
Götterdämmerung: Zu neuen Taten by Richard Wagner
Performer:
Walter Widdop (Tenor),
Florence Austral (Soprano)
Conductor:
Albert Coates
Orchestra/Ensemble:
London Symphony Orchestra
Period: Romantic
Written: 1874; Germany
44.
Die Walküre: Winterstürme wichen dem Wonnemond by Richard Wagner
Performer:
Lotte Lehmann (Soprano),
Lauritz Melchior (Tenor)
Conductor:
Bruno Walter
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra
Period: Romantic
Written: 1856; Germany
45.
Die Walküre: Siegmund heiss' ich by Richard Wagner
Performer:
Lotte Lehmann (Soprano),
Lauritz Melchior (Tenor)
Conductor:
Bruno Walter
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra
Period: Romantic
Written: 1856; Germany
47.
Die Walküre: Ho-jo-to-ho! by Richard Wagner
Performer:
Martha Mödl (Mezzo Soprano)
Conductor:
Wilhelm Furtwängler
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra
Period: Romantic
Written: 1856; Germany
48.
Die Walküre: Du bist der Lenz by Richard Wagner
Performer:
Lotte Lehmann (Soprano),
Lauritz Melchior (Tenor)
Conductor:
Bruno Walter
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra
Period: Romantic
Written: 1856; Germany
52.
Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg: Am stillen Herd by Richard Wagner
Performer:
Michael Schade (Tenor),
Siegfried Lorenz (Baritone),
Ben Heppner (Tenor)
Conductor:
Wolfgang Sawallisch
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Bavarian State Opera Orchestra
Period: Romantic
Written: 1867; Germany
54.
Das Rheingold: Abendlich strahlt der Sonne Auge by Richard Wagner
Performer:
Marjana Lipovsek (Mezzo Soprano),
James Morris (Bass)
Conductor:
Bernard Haitink
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra
Period: Romantic
Written: 1854; Germany
55.
Tannhäuser: O, du mein holder Abendstern by Richard Wagner
Performer:
Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau (Baritone)
Conductor:
Franz Konwitschny
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Berlin State Opera Orchestra
Period: Romantic
Written: 1845/1861; Germany
57.
Tristan und Isolde: Soll ich lauschen? by Richard Wagner
Performer:
Jon Vickers (Tenor),
Helga Dernesch (Soprano)
Conductor:
Herbert von Karajan
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra
Period: Romantic
Written: 1857-1859; Germany
58.
Die Walküre: O süsseste Wonne! by Richard Wagner
Performer:
Lauritz Melchior (Tenor),
Lotte Lehmann (Soprano)
Conductor:
Bruno Walter
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra
Period: Romantic
Written: 1856; Germany
59.
Götterdämmerung: Schläfst du, Hagen, mein Sohn? by Richard Wagner
Performer:
John Tomlinson (Bass),
Theo Adam (Bass)
Conductor:
Bernard Haitink
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra
Period: Romantic
Written: 1869-1874; Germany
61.
Götterdämmerung: Immolation by Richard Wagner
Performer:
Kirsten Flagstad (Soprano)
Conductor:
Wilhelm Furtwängler
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Philharmonia Orchestra
Period: Romantic
Written: 1874; Germany
62.
Elektra, Op. 58: Ich kann nicht sitzen by Richard Strauss
Performer:
Eva Martón (Soprano)
Conductor:
Wolfgang Sawallisch
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra
Period: Romantic
Written: 1906-1908; Germany
66.
Capriccio, Op. 85: Morgenmittag um elf! by Richard Strauss
Performer:
Jeremy White (Bass)
Conductor:
Antonio Pappano
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Royal Opera House Orchestra
Period: Romantic
Written: 1940-1941; Germany
68.
Ariadne auf Naxos, Op. 60: Es gibt ein Reich by Richard Strauss
Performer:
Maria Cebotari (Soprano)
Conductor:
Herbert von Karajan
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra
Period: Romantic
Written: 1911/1916; Germany
Customer Reviews
Average Customer Review: 
( 5 Customer Reviews )
IF YOU LOVE GERMAN OPERA.... July 26, 2013
By Stanley R. H. (Wyoming, OH) See All My Reviews
"As a lover of German opera this set fills the bill for me. There are lots of great arias, which of course, include pieces by Mozart and Wagner. However, the coverage is not limited to these two composers."
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The Best German Opera Anthology of All Time November 28, 2012
By George Pilcher (Westerville, OH) See All My Reviews
"I've been an active opera lover and record/CD collector for over 50 years, and I cannot count the number of anthologies that I have, including many that are specifically devoted to German, French, Italian, etc., repertory. This is without question the finest single "German Opera" anthology that I have ever encountered, and I would say the same thing about EMI's "Voices of Italian Opera" antholoogy that was released at the same time. Extraordinary thought went into not only the selection of the works and performers (some of whom are the "usual suspects," but a delightful number of whom are not), but also into the sequencing of the various selections in this set. If you haven't already acquired this box, you owe yourself to do so--and, at EMI's bargain-basement price--you really can't afford not to. No one investing in this set will be disappointed."
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Too bad they didn't enter the digital track info August 29, 2012
By Louis Michael Galie Louis Michael Galie (LEANDER, TX) See All My Reviews
"Great recording of an excellent selection of singers. Unfortunately, the people at EMI did not make the track information available in digital form, so using these discs digitally is a real pain."
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