Even before listening, the first thing to strike one about this two-disc collection of lieder is its enormous range. One would expect Schubert, Schumann, Strauss, and Brahms; one might expect Wolf and Mozart; but would one ever expect Mussorgsky and Bartók? And after listening to both discs, the first thing to escape one about the singer is that -- aside from her sparkling delivery, clarion tone, unshakable intonation, and elegant phrasing -- she was a complete artist. The singer in question is Irmgard Seefried: one of the ...
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Even before listening, the first thing to strike one about this two-disc collection of lieder is its enormous range. One would expect Schubert, Schumann, Strauss, and Brahms; one might expect Wolf and Mozart; but would one ever expect Mussorgsky and Bartók? And after listening to both discs, the first thing to escape one about the singer is that -- aside from her sparkling delivery, clarion tone, unshakable intonation, and elegant phrasing -- she was a complete artist. The singer in question is Irmgard Seefried: one of the great German sopranos of her time, whose three recordings of Beethoven's Ninth with Wilhelm Furtwängler are by common ascent among the finest ever made. Her lieder recordings are less well-known and this set thus restores many superlative performances to the catalog. Although her performances here are all terrific, they are all terrific in different ways. Seefried's Schubert is sweet, strong, and pure -- listen to her "Auf dem Wasser zu singen." Her Schumann is tender, inward, and...
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