Composer: Hugo Wolf
Performer: Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, Gerald Moore
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: Warner
Release: 1957/2019
Size: 907 MB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: cover
01. No. 5, Mignon I. “Heiß mich nicht reden”
02. No. 6, Mignon II. “Nur wer die Sehnsucht kennt”
03. No. 7, Mignon III. “So laßt mich scheinen”
04. No. 8, Philine
05. No. 9, Mignon. “Kennst du das Land?”
06. No. 50, Ganymed
07. No. 29, Anakreons Grab
08. No. 26, Die Spröde
09. No. 27, Die Bekehrte
10. No. 24, Blumengrass
11. No. 25, Gleich und gleich
12. No. 28, Frühling übers Jahr
13. No. 20, Sankt Nepomuks Vorabend
14. No. 19, Epiphanias
To mark her seventy-fifth birthday EMI have produced this formidable tribute to Elisabeth Schwarzkopf’s art. Each of these albums is very generously filled and the transfers, with the few reservations expressed below, are well made. They provide an admirable conspectus of her extensive career of recording: the sheer breadth of the material is astonishing as is the consistency of the musical know-how shown…
Under Walter Legge’s influence, Schwarzkopf always made a speciality of Hugo Wolf. Her recordings of his songs perhaps represent her most valuable contribution to the gramophone. Most of her accounts here of the Goethe settings demonstrate that satisfying combination of keen intelligence and technical control which marked her most telling interpretations of Wolf. Most notable perhaps is Schwarzkopf’s assumption of Mignon’s character—catching the girl’s sadness, longing and mystery. As Philine she is too mannered, especially in an over-articulated final line, and her Ganymed just misses the setting’s sense of elation. The six Lieder für eine Fraustimme, particularly “Wiegenlied im Sommer” and “Wiegenlied im Winter”, are echt Schwarzkopf, sung with persuasive art, full of individuality and point.
“In Wolf, more than anywhere, Schwarzkopf’s highly individual art finds its zenith of achievement. It would be tedious to catalogue the many insights, just get the records and listen for yourself.” (Gramophone Magazine)
“These two discs contain some of the very finest singing of Wolf songs ever recorded…and the glorious singing is matched by Gerald Moore’s inspired accompaniment.” (Penguin Guide)