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Post by MartinT on May 6, 2019 10:04:14 GMT
Listening again - no, her first note is integrated with the orchestra and then she comes forward. I don't hear blare any more than I hear squall!
I'm struck again by how Masur's accompaniment is so perfect.
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Post by jandl100 on May 7, 2019 9:12:09 GMT
I'm a big fan of conductor Michael Halasz (excellent Mahler 9 & 7!) so I thought I'd give his Naxos 4LS recording with Ricarda Merbeth (who?) a listen.
Very nice, good pacing.
Merbeth has a nice warm full tone, good diction and definitely a healthy pair of lungs, she soars with no apparent strain at all. Voice full of emotion.
A relaxed but not a slow interpretation. Very beautiful.
Definitely worth a re-visit.
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Post by jandl100 on May 8, 2019 8:45:24 GMT
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Post by jandl100 on May 8, 2019 9:13:59 GMT
Very nice, slow but not too slow - Fleming with Eschenbach, wonderful voice ...
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Post by jandl100 on May 8, 2019 9:26:59 GMT
This brought tears to my eyes like no other.
Fast, very fast actually, but that doesn't seem to matter.
Fairly awful sq, too. But that doesn't matter either.
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Post by MartinT on May 8, 2019 10:46:49 GMT
I have the Schwarzkopf on vinyl and it often rates as a favourite. Very pure voice.
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Post by MartinT on May 8, 2019 10:53:55 GMT
Fleming's Im Abendrot is sumptuous. Eschenbach's accompaniment is up there with Masur's.
It's clear that I like this song taken at a slow pace. I find the faster-paced ones just don't do the music's beauty justice.
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Post by julesd68 on May 8, 2019 13:33:43 GMT
I have the Schwarzkopf on vinyl and it often rates as a favourite. Very pure voice. When I did my last survey of this work Martin, this was the recording that surprised me the most - it has a very lofty reputation but didn't quite do it for me ... |
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Post by MartinT on May 8, 2019 15:42:29 GMT
Agreed, nor me. I am very impressed with Fleming, though.
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Post by jandl100 on May 8, 2019 21:31:50 GMT
I recall a review of the Schwarzkopf/Szell which said "more artifice than art".
I can't disagree with that! - it sounds affected rather than affective to me.
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Post by julesd68 on May 10, 2019 17:10:43 GMT
OK chaps, just done a big survey of ‘Fruhling’. Nina Stemme - too ‘operatic’ for my liking, couldn’t stay with it for long. Sounds like she sings a lot of Wagner, and guess what, she does ...  Soile Isokoski - am wondering why this has been quite so highly rated by the press?? Voice doesn’t move me, no great subtlety in the phrasing. Felicity Lott - superb voice but the tempo is just that bit too quick for my preference - a real shame! Some quite wonderful moments however so it's a keeper! Fleming / Thielemann - excellent, great depth to the voice. Not sold on all of her phrasing though but pretty damn good. A keeper. Fleming / Eschenbach - doesn’t hit the heights of the newer recording which has more depth and character to the phrasing. The backing is a bit ‘meh’. Sylvia Sass - Very idiosyncratic! She certainly has a voice but the tempo actually drags here and she sounds incredibly laid back ... I checked the durations and yes it is nearly a minute slower than some others! Sharon Sweet - not for me, way OTT - reminds me of the opera singer in Tintin, Bianca Castafiore. Might have to listen further as Jerry says she settles down after this … Let's hope so!! Ricarda Merbeth - not for me either, at this slower tempo her vibrato is too exaggerated. Lucia Popp - Wonderful phrasing, delicacy and empathy. Her higher registers are just sublime! Goosebumps. Lighter toned of course. The orchestra sound lush in the best possible way too … Err yes, a keeper.
Jessye Norman - I still adore this. Don’t I? Yes, the orchestra is sublime and the intro is the most dramatic of all but I now have Jerry’s voice at the back of my mind nagging me about the tone at times ...  Need to re-visit.  I am going to do it all again next week and see if I change my mind on anything. |
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Post by jandl100 on May 10, 2019 18:49:29 GMT
I find that a lot of the singers take the first song to settle into things. Popp is the exception, stunning from the start.
Norman is at her blariest, Merbeth is bland, Lott is a little glib and superficial. They all seem to settle down into superior form after that.
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Post by MartinT on May 10, 2019 19:03:20 GMT
The thing is, they didn't necessarily sing them in that order.
For me, Beim Schlafengehen and Im Abendrot are what I judge them by.
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Post by jandl100 on May 10, 2019 19:07:17 GMT
For me, Beim Schlafengehen and Im Abendrot are what I judge them by. Yes, me too. |
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Post by julesd68 on May 31, 2019 10:21:00 GMT
New recording from Lise Davidsen
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Post by julesd68 on Mar 7, 2023 17:27:05 GMT
A late entry for our 4LS survey - the 'dream team' of HVK and Gundula Janowitz. This is a historic recording you need to hear!
There's a recent interview with her about working with HVK which is short but revealing ...
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Post by julesd68 on Mar 7, 2023 18:38:15 GMT
That recording has the potential to be somewhere in my Top 3, time will tell ...
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Post by MartinT on Mar 7, 2023 20:04:30 GMT
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Post by MartinT on Mar 7, 2023 20:27:18 GMT
I checked my CDs and realised that I have this recording! Her voice is quite distantly mic'd but I adapted fairly quickly. Karajan's pace is brisk, reminding me of Popp with Tennstedt. Her voice is not sumptuous and I cannot think of a word to describe it - incisive? The BPO under Karajan are very controlled and accompany Janowitz very well.
I judge the Four Last Songs mostly on Beim Schlafengehen and Im Abendrot because they are sublime, otherworldly works which bear no comparison with any other songs ever written. On these two, Janowitz turns it up a notch and finally I hear the heart tugging that I am looking for. She is a little operatic rather than plain in style and I like that. Im Abendrot is taken too fast, I feel, but she just about holds the tension in this song about ageing and death. A good performance, but it won't topple my favourite.
The more I listen to different Four Last Songs, the more credit I give to Kurt Masur for his masterful pacing and with the Gewandhausorchester never sounding better. It's as much down to him, as it is to Jessye Norman's truly sumptuous voice, that gives me shivers every single time I listen to my very favourite Four Last Songs.
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Post by MartinT on Mar 7, 2023 20:30:33 GMT
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