Search - Beethoven, Pfitzner, Berlin Phil. :: Symphony 6 / Symphony 8

Major diva from the past

L. E. Cantrell | Vancouver, British Columbia Canada | 10/07/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Maria Cebotari was a big-time diva who flourished in grim times. This recording of both familiar and unfamiliar material is well worth hearing.



The infamous Amazon gremlins have clearly been camping out on this review site. It really would be nice to know just which Pfitzner performance of Beethoven was so good. And I've looked all over Amazon, but I can't find a single recording of "Madam Butterful," not even the beloved Spike Jones version. As for "Salame," there's not a slice to be found."

Exceptionally Dramatic!

BDSinC | Calgary, Alberta, Canada | 10/06/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"[...] This recording is of Maria Cebotari. She was a great star in Germany before and during the time of Hitler, which for some can make her recordings less desirable. However, one should look at her artistry not the political background in which she sang. Not only did this incredible artist sing, she was also in movies, including a movie version of Madam Butterful. She was a exceptionally beautiful woman. She was also an extremely well prepared artist, knowing her music completely before even attending a rehearsal. Like the other famous "Maria" (Callas) she infused everything she did with dramatic truth. However, one great difference between the two artists is Maria Cebotari didn't have to create "ugly" sounds to do what she did.



Her voice is one of very dark coloration. It is not bright and sparkling, which lends itself perfectly to the heavy dramatic music she sang. Even though she sang Mozart, and extremely well, her most often sung composers were R. Strauss and Puccini. Here we are honored to hear her interpretations of Strauss opera. We begin the recording with the moving final scene from Salame. I have heard this opera by many singers, and have many modern recordings of the work (one of my favorite singers in this role is Jessye Norman). Though some would argue that her dark, nearly possessed, sound is not "girlish" enough for the character, I would beg to differ. She doesn't sound girlish at all, that is true, but any young women so obsessed with wanting a man she demands his head so she can kiss it is, well, anything but girlish.



Her other selections from Strauss are equally exciting. Some of them we may be more familiar with (from Rosenkavalier, and paired with other singers; how her voice works with them!) while others are less so. The extract from "Dafne" is remarkable. The opera itself is rather strange, but has some interesting music in it. The opera Feuersnot is not well known to most, but what we hear is something quite interesting. Cebotari infuses the music with that special something that really makes it take off. In this selection she is not singing alone, so one has more of a sense of what she would have been like on stage with her fellow singers. And by the way, her fellow singer is Karl Schmitt-Walter, who does a wondrous job in his part. He is a singer well worth finding other recordings of. The opera "Taillefer" is completely unknown to me. However, again with other singers really presenting something wonderful akin to a performance, we hear wonderful music and the inner drama. Again, Cebotari shines, not over-shadowing those she is singing with, but complementing their stellar performances, giving us a real presentation of her work.



I highly recommend this recording to anyone who wishes to hear a truly wonderful singing, one who is exceptionally dramatic, but never pushed or ugly in sound. She is truly a wondrous artist that is not as well known to those outside Germany as she should be."