COMPOSERS: Various
LABELS: Romophone
ALBUM TITLE: Ernestine Schumann-Heink
PERFORMER: with various orchestras and accompanists
CATALOGUE NO: 81029-2 ADD mono
The latest crop of recital discs is dominated by two Romophone twin-packs, each a ‘volume one’ of a planned ‘complete edition’. The contralto Ernestine Schumann-Heink is an acquired taste, although the voice itself is quite extraordinary (Brahms admired her Alto Rhapsody) and her tragic biography even more so.
This first selection includes a plethora of songs and a Rheingold fragment (Schumann-Heink had sung in The Ring under Mahler’s baton). Both Romophone collections feature first-rate Ward Marston refurbishments. Preiser records are continuing their admirable vocal ‘quartet’ selections, each devoted to four German singers in a particular voice range.