Search - Robert Schumann, Anton Rubinstein, Emile Waldteufel :: The Lighter Side of Emmy

Emmy Bettendorf doubles her presence on the Internet.

John Austin | Kangaroo Ground, Australia | 08/19/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"With this 75 minute CD, the estimable German soprano of long ago Emmy Bettendorf doubles her representation on the Internet. From her discography of about 200 items, Dr Robert Jones has here selected 20 non-operatic recordings made between the years 1925 and the early 1930s. In the Berlin of those days, her recording company Parlophon seemed always to have inexhaustible resources to pour into their cheap label productions. There were arrangers to render popular instrumental works by Tchaikovsky, Grieg, Elgar, Waldteufel and Rubinstein into song; there was not only a chorus to add but also budding tenors like Herbert Ernst Groh; and there were conductors like Otto Dobrindt to direct it all. The records had wide appeal in their day, one critic asserting that Emmy Bettendorf's singing could "make men go weak at the knees".



With motherhood looming, Emmy Bettendorf retired in 1932. It is possible to find on the Internet a letter she wrote, in faulty English, after WW2 had left her in severely reduced circumstances, in which she lists some preferred items that might be included in food parcels. Her fortunes later revived when she became lecturer in drama at the Berlin Conservatory. She died in 1963.



I hope a track listing is provided to accompany this review.

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A great operatic soprano scales it down for more popular tun

Alan M. Silbergeld | Baltimore, MD United States | 05/21/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The German soprano Emmy Bettendorf made her operatic debut in 1914 and in Germany (she seldom traveled abroad, mostly a tour of Holland) she was considered one of the most outstanding operatic sopranos of her time. She sang a variety of what in the Italian repertoire is called "spinto" (lyric-dramatic) and in the German repertoire "lyrisch-dramatische" roles. She made a a number of operatic recordings well-known to vocal recording collectors, including one of the best recordings ever of "Senta's Ballad" from Wagner's Der Fliegende Hollander and duets from his Lohengrin and Tannhauser with the incomparable heldentenor Lauritz Melchior. She even ventured into the heavy dramatic repertoire with the role of Brunnhilde in Wagner's Siegfried. By the mid-1920's her voice could no longer sustain such heavy fare and she undertook to sing lighter opera and operetta. It was at this time that she undertook to record much of this popular repertoire for the German Parlophon label. Lucky us.



Duttonlabs of the UK has lovingly transcribed 20 of these titles on the CD "The Lighter Side of Emmy". What we hear is a fresh voice that entirely belies its history of heavier usage. It is perfectly integrated between its registers, with beautiful, floated top notes and a sensuous mezzo-soprano timbre in her mid- and lower range; a wonderful legato and a great sense of phrasing. As well, she treats the text of each song with love and a style idiomatic to this genre of music. I have listened to it many times since I acquired it, just to capture in my mind the luscious sound of the voice.



The recording quality and the transfers are first rate. In addition to Emmy, one gets to hear in duets with Emmy a bit of another great light singer of the period, the tenor Herbert Ernst Groh (though he sings on Track 6, not Track 5 as indicated by the jacket) as well as another popular tenor of the times, Hans Clemens. Otto Dobrindt is the classy conductor on many of the tracks. The included biographical notes are excellent.



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