Search - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Felix [1] Mendelssohn, Ludwig van Beethoven :: New York: 1950; South Africa: 1951

A unique singer remembered.

John Austin | Kangaroo Ground, Australia | 10/22/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Few recordings made during lieder recitals of more than 50 years ago appear for the first time on the market nowadays. This distinction is accorded to Elisabeth Schumann (1888-1952). The recordings are taken from a New York Town Hall concert of 1950, where her accompanist was Bruno Walter, and recitals given in South Africa, Easter 1951, where her accompanist was Hubert Greenslade.



No other singer could make me believe, as Elisabeth Schumann did, that singing was as natural for humans as it was for birds. It does not matter that the beautiful silvery timbre is here a little dulled, nor that the vocal production and breath control are under careful limits. Indeed, Hugo Wolf's "Wie glanzt die helle Mond", depicting the old woman imaging how it would be when St Peter met her at Heaven's Gate, somehow gains additional poignancy in this performance from the last year of the singer's life.



Bruno Walter, still favoring arpeggiated chords in 1950, accompanied Elisabeth Schumann in 19 settings of Goethe lieder. The remaining tracks date from a South African tour a year later and reproduce slightly better. The singer still had the ability to color the voice and produce a wide dynamic range. Applause has been edited out, except where it breaks into a song's final moments.



A regret is that so many years had to elapse, as was the case with Gerd Puritz's biography of his mother, before this material was issued. Few are likely to remember a singer who retired from opera in 1938, and fewer are as interested in lieder recitals as flocked to hear this singer in the 1950s. A benefit is that the singer's granddaughter, Joy Puritz, with access to letters and family photos, can provide such a scholarly and balanced appraisal to accompany this 74 minute memento. Excerpts from Lotte Lehmann's glowing tribute to her friend and colleague are included in Joy Puritz's notes.

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