Fritz Lehmann Conducts Romantic Overtures

Fritz Lehmann is a little-remembered conductor whose recording heyday was short, but who did manage to make dozens of recordings for Deutsche Grammophon before his early death at age 52 in 1956.

Lehmann has appeared here twice before - with his recording of The Nutcracker Suite and with Brahms and Schumann overtures, along with two of Dvořák's Slavonic Rhapsodies. This post will revisit the Brahms and Schumann works while adding overtures from the Romantic period by Mendelssohn, Weber and Schubert.

About Fritz Lehmann

To paraphrase myself from an earlier post: Lehmann (1904-56) was a busy conductor who died too young. An enthusiast of Baroque music and early advocate of period performance practices, much of his recorded legacy is from the classical and Romantic periods. DG kept him engaged, but he also recorded for other labels.

Although not reflected in this program, it's important to mention Lehmann's advocacy for Bach and Handel. He was conductor of the Göttingen International Handel Festival, from 1934-44, and then again from 1946-53, where he conducted modern revivals of two Handel operas. His death came while he was conducting a performance of Bach's St. Matthew Passion. At the time he was in the midst of recording the Christmas Oratorio. The final sections were completed with Günther Arndt.

Two Mendelssohn Overtures

In 1951, Lehmann joined with the Berlin Philharmonic for recordings of two sea-going Mendelssohn concert overtures issued on the 10-inch LP above. The first and better known is The Hebrides (also called Fingal's Cave), a marvelous, dramatic work here in a performance that does it full justice.

Calm Sea and Prosperous Voyage - written at about the same time as The Hebrides and inspired by Goethe - starts off (uh) calmly. There isn't enough wind to sail. But soon enough the voyage is on its way. The composer's music is never less than interesting, but the work suffers in comparison with its predecessor.

The recordings - like all here with the Berlin orchestra - were made in the Jesus-Christus-Kirche.

Brahms and Schumann Overtures

The second 10-inch LP is the one I have previously featured, but which has been thoroughly reworked for this post.

It combines Brahms' Tragic Overture, the portentous work that has remained familiar in the concert hall for nearly 150 years. Hugely dramatic and impressive, it is one of the composer's best and best-known works. 

Lehmann is a sure hand with this material, again with the Berlin Philharmonic in a performance from 1952.

From that same year we have Schumann's Manfred Overture, the most familiar part of the composer's set of incidental music inspired by the Lord Byron poem. From that music, the overture alone has maintained a footing on symphony programs.

For the Schumann, Lehmann leads the Bamberg Symphony, which is not as refined as the Berlin ensemble, but which still produces a worthy performance whose dramatic qualities make it a good disk mate for the Brahms.

Weber - Der Freischütz Overture

Late in 1952, Lehmann and the Berliners turned their attention to the overture from the first German Romantic opera - Carl Maria von Weber's Der Freischütz, which also is well performed by the musicians from Berlin. The opera itself is far more often heard in Germany than here in the US, but the engaging overture is a welcome program addition.

This pressing appeared in American Decca's budget 10-inch line. Decca reprinted many of Lehmann's recordings and those of other DG conductors such as Paul van Kempen and Ferenc Fricsay. This collection does not include the second piece on the Decca LP - Gluck's Alceste Overture - because it is not from the romantic period.

Two Schubert Overtures from the Same Work

Our final selections are two Schubert overtures associated with the same work - the composer's incidental music to Rosamunde, a play by Helmina von Chézy.

When Schubert assembled his Rosamunde score, he opted to use the overture he had written for his opera Alfonso und Estrella. This is the overture that is now sometimes called the Rosamunde, as it is here.

In 1855, well after the composer's death, a publisher substituted Schubert's Die Zauberharfe overture in an edition of the Rosamunde score. Since then, conductors have generally used that piece when they program the Rosamunde music, at least in part because it's considered better music than the Alfonso und Estrella overture.

Here you can judge for yourself in these 1952-53 performances from Berlin, again from Decca's budget 4000 series.

DG's sound during this period was impressive, although with a tendency to bass heaviness, which I've clarified in these transfers.

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The Ray Charles Singers Proclaim 'Spring Is Here'

The Ray Charles Singers return to tell us that spring is here, just a bit before the calendar does so.

Spring Is Here is a follow-up to my recent post of the singers' 1957 Summertime LP, which was popular with those of you who like good singing or pine for better weather, or both.

In terms of recording dates, this is the second in Charles' traversal of the seasons. It appeared in 1955, following 1954's Autumn Nocturne. Winter Wonderland would arrive in 1956. All will be featured here eventually.

As before, the effect of the Charles group is markedly different from the vocal groups popular in the 1950s, ranging from the Hi-Lo's to the jazz styles of Lambert, Hendricks and Ross. This is not jazz, certainly. The liner notes make the case that Charles was attempting to blend vocal and instrumental effects into a new kind of mood music. And yes, as with the Summertime album, the instrumentalists are not just accompanists: their lines are an active part of the scene setting.

Ray Charles frowns at someone's intonation

But my own view is still that the arrangements are influenced by Ray's appearances on Perry Como's television show, where songs would have had to set a scene or carry out a mini-story. The first song, "Spring Is Here," opens with Katie Wallace's acapella singing of "Maybe it's because nobody loves me." The ensemble then enters with the verse. Lorenz Hart's chorus only appears in the middle of the arrangement, with Katie Wallace again soloing.

Also as with the summer LP, the settings reflect the arranger's need to provide a basic scenario for the songs used on the Como show. "Paris in the Spring" starts off with a man and a woman intoning a few French words of love, for example. (It also has a few welcome solo lines for Charles.)

The liner notes do provide the background of the various songs, which frees me from the need to do so. (Let me mention, however, that the sleeve writer did not have the correct order of songs, so that may be a little confusing.) As before, the program includes familiar items interspersed with less-remembered numbers such as "Paris in the Spring," "A Young Man's Fancy," "Lovelier than Ever" (a wonderful song), "June Night" and "When It's Springtime in the Rockies."

Also as before, the singing is superb, the instrumentalists are excellent, and the recording is good. The Columbus Boychoir makes a few appearances. I suppose Ray wanted to use them on "A Young Man's Fancy," but they don't sing as well as Charles' superb professionals.

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Roy Harris' Folk-Song Symphony

This interesting LP was transferred as the result of a request. It is a 1975 recording of Roy Harris' Folk-Song Symphony (Symphony No. 4), in a very good performance by the Utah Symphony and Utah Chorale under Maurice Abravanel. 

The symphony - really more of a choral suite - consists of settings from American songs collected by John and Alan Lomax's Cowhoy Songs and Other Frontier Ballads and Carl Sandburg’s American Songbag. It is a very enjoyable, and little known, example of Americana, dating from 1940. The release was timed for the U.S. Bicentennial in 1976.

Roy Harris

The work had been recorded once previously, by Vladimir Golschmann and Viennese forces in 1960 - but has not been revived for recording purposes, to my knowledge. I have the Golschmann LP if anyone is interested.

Like the Schubert one-act operas I have uploaded and a few other items, the Abravanel album is apparently SQ-encoded, but I haven't had quad equipment for a long time, so I can't confirm that.

Maurice Abravanel

Maurice Abravanel (1903-93), who led a fascinating life, was conductor of the Utah Symphony for 32 years, until 1979, when he retired. He made many recordings with the ensemble, whose profile he raised immeasurably.

Here's what Robert C. Marsh had to say about the Harris LP in High Fidelity: "British composers can write extended works for chorus and orchestra, call them symphonies, and get away with it, but I sense that this Roy Harris score has been needlessly put down over the years because of the presence of 'symphony' in its title. In the classical sense it is not a symphony at all. Folksongs do not invite thematic development and variation, and Harris is more interested in preserving the identity of his material than in treating it the way Beethoven treated that waltz by Diabelli. The idiom is the American nationalist style of the '30s and '40s. and you might mistake this for a Copland score of that period, since both men were working in this spirit.

"The songs are all familiar, and the settings are craftsmanlike, sensitive to the texts, tasteful, and well-scored ... This is not great music, but it is thoroughly respectable music in terms of its limited artistic goals, and in a performance and recording of this quality it should see you through '76 and beyond with some pleasant moments." Nearly 50 years hence - approaching the 250th anniversary of the nation's founding - this disc and the music hold up well.

If you are interested in such Americana, I recently posted an LP of music by Alec Wilder - his Names from the War and Carl Sandburg Suite, the latter also inspired by the poet's American Songbag. 

LINK to Roy Harris' Folk-Song Symphony

New Remasters of Roy Harris' Music

I've newly remastered three significant LPs of Harris' music, as follows:

Harris - Symphony No. 3, Hanson - Symphony No. 4

This 1953 LP features Howard Hanson and the Eastman-Rochester orchestra in convincing performances of Harris' third symphony - generally considered his best - and Hanson's own Symphony No. 4.

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Harris - Symphony 1933 and Symphony No. 7

Classic performances of the Symphony 1933, in the 1934 recording from Boston and Serge Koussevitzky, coupled with the Symphony No. 7 from Philadelphia and Eugene Ormandy, in a 1955 recording.

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Harris - Piano Fantasy, Abe Lincoln Walks at Midnight

Recordings from 1955 with Johana Harris in the Fantasy for Piano and Orchestra, conducted by Izler Solomon, and Nell Tangeman in a setting of Abraham Lincoln Walks at Midnight.

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Si Zentner and Band Go 'Up a Lazy River'

I had a request from frequent commenter musicman1979 for music by Si Zentner's big band. That came after I mentioned that this LP - Big Band Plays the Big Hits - was a particular favorite of mine way back in 1961 when it was new and I was nearly new (12 years of age).

Zentner was a well-known studio trombonist, but was a very late arrival as a big band leader. He had started making records with "His Dance Band" for the small Bel Canto label in 1958, but had moved on to Liberty by 1960.

Zentner may have been late, but he certainly put together a spectacular band, presumably filled with his studio colleagues.

Big Band Plays the Big Hits is just what its name promises - a program of chart favorites of the time (1960-61) including the leader's own semi-hit, Bob Florence's rock 'n' roll version of "Up a Lazy River" (which, I will note for the finicky, Hoagy Carmichael and Sidney Ardoin called "Lazy River" when they wrote it back in 1931).

Billboard ad

The record swings (or rocks, as the case may be) from beginning to end, propelled by a terrific drummer whom I haven't been able to identify. Si himself is often heard solo or in section work.

The songs themselves are chosen from several sources: other bands still in business and putting out hits (Lawrence Welk, Johnny Dankworth, Bert Kaempfert); rock and R&B acts (Dee Clark, the Shirelles, the Drifters); and early guitar heroes (the Ventures, Duane Eddy, the Shadows). This heterogeny may seem disjointed, but in practice it works very well. It's an enjoyable album that I like just as much as I did 65 years ago.

Here's more information about the song sources, for those of you who haven't been around as long as I have.

"Asia Minor" was a hit for the mysterious Kokomo. He turned out to be jazz pianist Jimmy Wisner, who had decided to dress up the opening of Grieg's Piano Concerto in honky-tonk form, and name it for the Turkish peninsula for some reason. You can hear Wismer's version here. I think Zentner chose this because Grieg's main melody lends itself to legato trombone playing.

The first recording of "African Waltz" was by Johnny Dankworth in England (here), followed by Cannonball Adderley in the US (here). It was the first hit for songwriter Galt MacDermott, a Canadian who had studied music in South Africa and who was to have a huge success several years later with the musical Hair. Si takes the piece at a faster clip than either Dankworth or Adderley.

I don't think she could run in those heels

Jazz guitarist Johnny Smith wrote "Walk, Don't Run" in 1954 (here), but it didn't become a hit until the Ventures' kinetic rock version in 1960 (a huge favorite of mine back in the day). The Ventures actually were inspired by Chet Atkins' 1957 recording. Perhaps predictably, the guitar melody in the big-band version was handed over to Zentner.

Much different from the Ventures' proto-surf sound was Dee Clark's wistful "Raindrops" (here), the biggest success for the talented singer-songwriter. (Also of note is his excellent version of "Hey Little Girl.")

Zentner reached back to 1946 for Walter Gross' "Tenderly." Again, a good choice because it lends itself to a trombone lead. I don't think the song was on the charts in 1960-61, but there were versions by the Flamingos and Adam Wade back then (not to mention Ella Fitzgerald), so it's possible. (Here is Gross' version, which is impeded by his florid piano playing.)

"Calcutta" was a giant success in 1961 for Lawrence Welk (featuring Frank Scott on the harpsichord). German composer Heino Gaze had written the number as "Tivoli-Melodie" in 1958, recorded by Werner Müller, using the name Orchester Ricardo Santos. So how did it migrate from Copenhagen to Calcutta (Kolkata)? It's not clear, but the song did acquire lyrics and come out in Germany in 1960 as "Kalkutta liegt am Ganges" as sung by Vico Torriani. There also were English lyrics for "Calcutta," but Welk and Zentner didn't use them, so we'll ignore them. Welk's version is fairly close to Müller's; Zentner allots the harpsichord theme to (you guessed it) the trombone.

Doc Pomus and Mort Shuman's "Save the Last Dance for Me" is one of the most memorable songs of the day, as recorded by the Drifters with Ben E. King as the lead. It was a rhumba, but Si straightens out the rhythm in his brisk version.

"Wonderland by Night" was covered extensively on this blog several weeks ago - the entire Bert Kaempfert LP is available, along with his Christmas record. Si dispenses with Charly Tabor's virtuoso opening flourish as heard on the Kaempfert disc, then allocates the main trumpet melody to (you're right again) the trombone. It's a good version with some Milleresque wind voicings. The arrangement irons out the loping Kaempfert rhythm.

Jerry Lordon's composition "Apache" was inspired by the 1954 film of the same name. The first recording was by British guitarist Bert Weedon, but the UK hit was by the Shadows. Danish guitarist Jørgen Ingmann had the hit in the US. This is one of the best performances on Zentner's LP.

In which Duane Eddy plunks his magic twanger

Next, Si programmed a few tunes with a rock beat, presumably to get the young folks dancing. First is "Because They're Young," written by Aaron Schroeder, Don Costa, and Wally Gold for the film of the same name. James Darren warbled it on screen, but the hit was by guitarist Duane Eddy, who appeared in the movie, but (confusingly) did not perform the song therein. Eddy featured the song on his LP $1,000,000 Worth of Twang - one of the great album names, although not as good as the The Biggest Twang of Them All from a few years later.

The next item with a rock beat is "Up a Lazy River," as discussed above. It's worth noting that the song was so nice that Liberty released it twice on LP. The second appearance was on an album titled Up a Lazy River and subtitled Big Band Plays the Big Hits, Vol. 2. Hoagy Carmichael's original is much lazier than Si's.

The Zentner LP ends with "Will You Love Me Tomorrow," the heartfelt song written by Gerry Goffin and Carole King in 1960 for the Shirelles' album Tonight's the Night (a song which would seem to have been the prequel to "Will You Love Me Tomorrow"). Si and band turn it into an up-tempo blazer led by their very impressive drummer. A winner for sure, even if Shirley Owens, Gerry Goffin and Carole King would not have recognized what happened to their great record.

Excellent sound on the Zentner LP. Later on, I'll also be posting a much different but equally fine record from him, featuring the music of film composer Jerry Goldsmith.

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Another Neglected Schubert Work

This is the second in a series of Schubert's early short operas - works that are little recognized but include much beguiling music.

The first such disc was a Heinz Wallberg-led performance of Der vierjáhrige Posten (The Four-Year Sentry), which the composer wrote when he was all of 18.

By the time he had matured to 23, he had moved on to a better (if still stereotypical) story, while losing nothing of his lyrical gift.

Today's tale is of Die Zwillingsbrüder (The Twin Brothers), which contains a predictable case of mistaken identity, compounded by an improbable coincidence, and how these create complications for young lovers before the also-predictable happy ending.

Now you may feel as though you saw something like this on the Hallmark Channel, and you would not be wrong, but it would not have been accompanied by lovely music performed by a world-class ensemble.

Helen Donath, Nicolai Gedda

The young lovers are soprano Helen Donath and tenor Nicolai Gedda, bass Kurt Moll plays the father of Donath, and baritone Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau appears as both the title characters. On the podium is the august Wolfgang Sawallisch, leading forces from the Munich State Opera.

Wolfgang Sawallisch

As is common with productions of unfamiliar material, the critics caviled about what this wasn't than what it was. John Warrack in The Gramophone made sure that we know he preferred Schubert's more serious operas, noting, "The Singspiele with which Schubert believed he must, and would, conquer the stage are very much slighter; and Die Zwillingsbrüder is not even the most appealing of them."

Let's hear from George Jellinek in Stereo Review: "[I]t is a naive and unconvincing Singspiel that unfolds in the course of this well-produced and elegantly cast first recording, and even the uniformly fine singing and loving direction cannot make it effectively theatrical. There are ten arias, duets, and ensembles separated by spoken passages. One of them, a soprano aria (No. 3), is very attractive, with a clarinet interplay anticipating Der Hirt auf dem Felsen. Throughout, the orchestra writing is delicate and highly accomplished - after all, Schubert at twenty-three had already composed six symphonies - and the melodies are always engaging."

He adds that, "Missing, however, is the dramatic flow, the knack of involving the listener in the plot," while then conceding, "Still, it is an excellent performance of an opera by Schubert - and this description alone makes it almost irresistible."

Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau

"Almost irresistible" is the key phrase - this indeed is most pleasant to hear, and while it may not reach the heights of Schubert's masterworks, it is entirely enjoyable.

Let me mention that although the cover describes the production as a "Gesamtaufname" (complete recording), it actually is only the complete music. The dialog is cut down. Nor did EMI Electrola provide texts or translations with the disc. So I have included such from the Peter Maag-led performance of years later.

The sound, taken from an original pressing, is quite good; not quite as transparent as Der vierjáhrige Posten, which came from a few years later, but very listenable. The production dates from 1975.

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The Gramophone, December 1976

More Songs from the 'Dick Haymes Show'

At the height of his popularity in the mid to late 1940s, the singer Dick Haymes had a weekly radio show that also featured Helen Forrest, the Four Hits and a Miss vocal group, and bandleader Gordon Jenkins. Not long ago, we had a selection of songs from the program, with cleaned up audio and corrected pitch. Today we present Vol. 2, just as good if not better, with 17 songs. And once again, most of the selections are songs that Haymes did not record commercially.

This volume begins with a classic show-opener, the perky "Back in Your Old Backyard," introduced by Al Jolson in 1928 and written by Jolie, Dave Dreyer and Billy Rose. The Four Hits and a Miss add to the festivities.

Helen Forrest

Helen Forrest joins Dick for "Come to Baby, Do," an excellent end-of-the-war song by Sid Miller and Inez James. Doris Day recorded this one with the Les Brown band.

The soulful "I Can't Begin to Tell You," by Jimmy Monaco and Mack Gordon, came from the film The Dolly Sisters, where it was murmured by John Payne. It was nominated for an Academy Award in 1946, but this was when the Academy put up 15 songs or so for the Oscar. (That practice would change the next year.)

"It Might as Well Be Spring," one of the great Rodgers and Hammerstein songs, did win an Oscar, in 1945. Haymes was one of the stars of the film - which is charming and has a terrific score - along with Vivian Blaine, and they appeared together on the sheet music. Jeanne Crain shows up in a vignette above, presumably because it was her song in the production. (She was dubbed by Louanne Hogan.) Although Dick didn't sing the tune in the film, he was identified with it and issued the first commercial recording.

Next is one of the many songs that first achieved popularity in another language before being adapted for the American market. "What a Diff'rence a Day Made" started off in Mexico as "Cuando vuelva a tu lado" ("When I Return to Your Side"), written by Maria Grever in 1934. With English lyrics by Stanley Adams, the song was popular in the US in 1944 due to a recording by Andy Russell. But its greatest renown was to come later, under a slightly different title - "What a Diff'rence a Day Makes" - in the 1959 hit version by Dinah Washington.

"Slowly" is another movie song, one that Haymes did sing, in the film Fallen Angel, where Dick's Decca record is heard on the jukebox. Haymes didn't show up on the sheet music - stars Alice Faye, Dana Andrews and Linda Darnell did. The three look cheerful on the cover (well, maybe not Darnell), but the story is a grim film noir. The song is probably Hollywood composer David Raksin's second biggest hit, behind "Laura," from the film of the same name. Dana Andrews was also the male lead in Laura, with Gene Tierney rather than Darnell the femme fatale. Neither song was nominated for an Academy Award.

Another end-of-the-war song is next - "Gee, It's Good to Hold You" by Doris Fisher and Allan Roberts. Helen Forrest again duets with Haymes. Among the commercial recordings were those by Jo Stafford and by Woody Herman with a Frances Wayne vocal.

The commercial recording

"Look for the Silver Lining" comes from as far back as 1919. Jerome Kern and Buddy DeSylva wrote it; Marilyn Miller made is famous in Sally. The hit disc back then was by Marion Harris. The song is best known these days via the Judy Garland rendition in the 1946 Kern biopic Till the Clouds Roll By. But Dick and Helen had revived it earlier - for a 1944 Decca recording. This solo-Haymes aircheck presumably comes from the same period. (The flip side of the 78 was "Long Ago and Far Away," a Kern-Ira Gershwin song that is one of my favorite Haymes-Forrest records.)

Now we have another wartime love song - this one about a furlough rather than a homecoming. "Ten Days with Baby" is from the 1944 film Sweet and Low-Down, where it was done by Lorraine Elliott with Benny Goodman's Orchestra. This is another Jimmy Monaco-Mack Gordon composition. Here, "Ten Days with Baby" is more like 60 seconds with Dickie - I don't think this is the complete performance.

"My Heart Tells Me (Should I Believe My Heart)" is another movie song with lyrics by Mack Gordon, working this time with Harry Warren. It comes from 1943's Sweet Rosie O'Grady, where it was sung by Betty Grable. It is a typically skillful song from these composers, here done ample justice by Haymes.

Gordon Jenkins

DeSylva-Brown-Henderson's 1928 tune "Button Up Your Overcoat" is tailor-made for a duet, which you could encounter on half the musical and variety shows on radio and TV in the 1940s and 50s. Dick and Helen handle it affectionately without getting too cutesy. Gordon Jenkins starts this one with some atmospheric effects. The Four Hits and a Miss join in later.

"Symphony" started life in France as "Symphonie," written by Alex Alstone, André Tabet and Roger Bernstein. Jack Lawrence added the English lyrics. Alstone first wrote it as an instrumental; the words were added and it became a hit in 1945. It's a little overheated for me, but this is the sort of thing that Haymes did well.

The 1934 film College Rhythm yielded "Stay as Sweet as You Are." Lanny Ross did the vocal on screen. The Harry Revel-Mack Gordon song was popular with singers for many years - including Haymes.

Haymes material?

Dick surprisingly comes out with a version of "Old Folks," one of Willard Robison's most celebrated songs, this one with words by Dedette Lee Hill. The song has a rural ethos, which did not match Haymes' usual repertoire all that well, although he did play a farm boy in State Fair. He does well here for the most part. (The performance is unfortunately truncated.) The song dates from 1938; the first recordings included Mildred Bailey - a famous reading - Bing, and Bea Wain with Larry Clinton. The interest of Dick (or Jenkins) might have been stimulated by Tony Pastor's 1946 album of Robison songs. Robison's own recording is here.

A very different type of song is represented by "All the Things You Are," the renowned Kern-Hammerstein composition from 1939's Very Warm for May. The early commercial recordings included Helen Forrest with Artie Shaw. (Helen does not appear here.) The song had been featured in a few films about this time - 1944's Broadway Rhythm (Ginny Simms) and 1946's Till the Clouds Roll By (Tony Martin). Haymes includes the rarely used verse, which is worth hearing. The head voice at the end was not a good idea.

"Some Sunday Morning" comes from the 1945 film San Antonio where it was presented by Alexis Smith, dubbed by Bobbie Canvin (aka Barbara Ames). The song is by M.K. Jerome, Ray Heindorf and Ted Koehler. The first recording was by Haymes and Forrest; they recreate their duet here, although with Gordon Jenkins presiding rather than Victor Young. There are a few minor audio burbles on this recording.

For our final song, Dick breaks out "Come Out, Come Out Wherever You Are," which Cahn and Styne wrote for Frank Sinatra to sing in 1944's Step Lively. It's not a great song; the best part of it may be the verse, which Haymes doesn't include. You can hear it in the film version, although first you have to wade through a painful Gloria DeHaven nightclub sequence. Dick's version is quite short.

I believe I have the pitch right on these selections, but please let me know if you disagree.

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Bach Cantatas with Edith Mathis and Karl Richter

This post is a small tribute to a fine singer who passed away recently, with too little notice.

Edith Mathis (1938-2025), was a Swiss soprano who surely was one of the most admired artists in the second half of the 20th century.

Edith Mathis

As Norman Lebrecht wrote the other day, "There has been a muted response to the death this week of the eminent soprano Edith Mathis, Mozart star of the Karajan years at the Vienna Opera and, later on, one of the most exquisite Lieder singers of record. Never as famous as Schwarzkopf or Christa Ludwig, Mathis shunned flamboyance and focused on the musical and emotional core of a song. She was deeply, if not loudly, loved."

Lebrecht quotes Jürgen Kesting's assessment in the Frankfurter Allgemeine: "The voice of Edith Mathis, born in Lucerne, was a gift to lovers of what is lyrical and quiet in the world of music and, to put it paradoxically, to music lovers who think with their hearts. The seraphic beauty of her singing was the sensual manifestation of the spiritual."

Anna Reynolds

With this in mind, it may be appropriate to post one of Mathis' Bach recordings. Here she is heard in duet with contralto Anna Reynolds in the Cantata Du wahrer Gott und Davids Sohn (Thou God indeed and Son of David), BWV 23. This is the extent of Mathis' involvement in this 1973-74 set, but it is of interest otherwise, of course.

Karl Richter

Let me quote Stereo Review's Stoddard Lincoln on the disc: "Karl Richter is well known as a Bach specialist through his many recordings and concerts with the Munich Bach Choir and Orchestra. Making no attempt to use old instruments or any authentic performance practice, he elicits for Deutsche Grammophon a sound that is thoroughly modern. He uses the best soloists he can find, and they often turn out to be top singers of opera and lieder rather than Baroque specialists. Purists may cavil at this, but the general listener can only rejoice in the results. The choral and orchestral sound is sumptuous, and the individual lines, while not articulated in the Baroque manner, are clean and beautifully projected. The solo singing, for the most part, is superb. Edith Mathis is a joy."

Peter Schreier

Lincoln also praised tenor Kurt Equiluz, apparently confusing him with the excellent Peter Schreier, who is the tenor soloist in both cantatas.

Despite Lincoln's encomium, conductor Karl Richter very much divided opinion among critics. Here's Andrew Porter in High Fidelity: "Du wahrer Gott is a magnificent work that Bach composed, it seems, to demonstrate resourcefulness and mastery, when applying for the Leipzig job. But Richter trudges through it: his textures are thick and heavy. And so they are in Bisher habt ihr nichts gebelen, where his slow tempo makes the alto aria seem interminable, and the lilting 12/8 of the tenor aria (in a major key, after three arias in the minor) has no spring."

What one critic thinks is ponderous, another may consider monumental. Richter was an organist, and it is impossible to hear these performances without being reminded of that fact. Famous in his time - he was to live for just a few more years - even as these recordings were being released, his style was seemingly being eclipsed by the cantata recordings of Gustav Leonhardt and Nikolaus Harnoncourt that were being issued by DG Archiv's rival Telefunken Das Alte Werk. They were a harbinger of the historically informed performance practices that are now prevalent.

None of this gainsays the artistry displayed by Edith Mathis and all the singers and instrumentalists on this fine disc.

The download includes, as usual, full scans, including the texts and translations bound into the gatefold cover, along with the reviews cited above.

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