Search - Richard [1] Strauss, Richard [Classical] Wagner, Donald Runnicles :: Strauss: Four Last Songs; Death and Transfiguration; Wagner: Prelude and Liebestod from Tristan und Isolde

Magnificent Vocalism and Conducting

Grady Harp | Los Angeles, CA United States | 10/03/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This very fine recording serves as a true introduction to the art of Christine Brewer who is one of today's leading dramatic sopranos. She is ably assisted here by Donald Runnicles conducting a superb sounding Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. Of great interest is the fact the Brewer and Runnicles have just released the complete 'Tristan und Isolde' and that may explain the very close mutual understanding of this taxing yet soul-satisfying music of Wagner.



Runnicles opens the CD with the Prelude to Tristan and is then joined in the 'Liebestod' by Brewer who sails over the orchestra with complete ease and without a hint of strain. Hers is a huge voice, lush throughout the registers, and flexible, sensitive, and commanding - all prerequisites for a great Isolde. She is magnificent here.



Runnicles wisely programs the 'Tod und Verklarung' of Richard Strauss and draws a powerful convincing performance from the Atlanta ensemble. Then, with the introduction of Strauss' musical line solidly given, Christine Brewer joins him for the radiant Four Last Songs. She has the power to make these songs soar with the seemingly unending line that Strauss wrote, never giving the feeling that she has any problem with the breathing of these extended phrases. Her enunciation is perfect and she gives poignant interpretations to these demanding songs. If 'Im Abendrot' doesn't fade away with the resignation that say Schwarzkopf had, then consider that fact that Brewer is new to this cycle and there is no doubt that living with these songs a bit longer will establish her as one of the finest proponents of them. Recommended without reservation. Grady Harp, October 06"

Musical Rapture

Gerald D. West | Cleveland, GA USA | 08/28/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The selection and the order of compositions, the unhurried pace of the conductor, and the artistic excellence of the performances, provide a full hour of musical rapture.



The editorial review by Robert Levine on Amazon sums it up. Further accolades are superfluous, except to mention that the program notes by Nick Jones are, as always, worth the price of the album.



Wagnerites, rejoice! The stylish, wimpy sopranos after Birgit Nilsson need be endured no longer. Ms. Brewer has the pitch and the power to lift Wagner's notes from the score to the heavens. This lady knows her Isoldes from her Mimis!



Many sopranos have recorded the Strauss songs; a powerful voice, delicately applied, seems to work best. It's impossible to decide on one recording of choice. Dame Elisabeth Schwarzkopf and Jessye Norman are the gold standard. Ms. Brewer is a worthy contender. To net: Brewer soars, Schwarzkopf broods, Norman soars broodily.



The Telarc recording is technically perfect, but perhaps a bit more. The "presence" of the solo voice is startling: as though one is seated directly before Ms. Brewer, surrounded by the orchestra. Curiously, there is no background noise whatsoever: no one fidgets in his chair, turns a page of the score, or fusses with an instrument. Have the 150+ musicians and technicians at the recording sessions acquired miraculous self-restraint? Or, has art taken counsel with electronic wizardry at the mixing/editing console?

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A Telarc Dissapointment

Robert Dan Macduff | Illinois | 12/09/2006

(3 out of 5 stars)

"I have heard Christine Brewer may times and find her performances warm and brilliant at the same time. I attended the first Atlanta performance of this program and loved it. I've also heard Runnicles many times in San Francisco. He sometimes seems to overpower the singers; I say "seems" to, because it turns out that he knows exactly what he is doing. His singers become instruments in the overall musical staging. In the Liebestodt, one often couldn't pick Brewer out, but, at the same time, the orchestra would have an especially radiant quality, which was coming, of course, from Ms. Brewer. However - Telarc did not appear to trust Donald Runnicles' musical judgment. The engineers seem to have tried to isolate and boost the soprano's sound so that she can be heard more distinctly. This also boosts the hall reverberation caused by her singing. It sounds as though Ms. Brewer was recorded separately, perhaps in a nearby airplane hangar. This is the worst sound I've heard from Telarc in a long time. It does some justice to the orchestra alone, but is really awful when Christine Brewer sings."