Voices of our Time - Grace Bumbry
The interviews do very little for this concert DVD, but at 64…what a voice!
View record and artist detailsRecord and Artist Details
Composer or Director: Johannes Brahms, Richard Strauss, Hector Berlioz, Franz Schubert, Robert Schumann, Georges Bizet, Franz Liszt, Traditional, Fernando J Obradors
Genre:
DVD
Label: TDK
Magazine Review Date: 13/2004
Media Format: Digital Versatile Disc
Media Runtime: 0
Mastering:
Stereo
Catalogue Number: DV-VTGB-EUR
Tracks:
Composition | Artist Credit |
---|---|
Schwanengesang, 'Swan Song', Movement: No. 1, Liebesbotschaft |
Franz Schubert, Composer
Franz Schubert, Composer Grace Bumbry, Mezzo soprano Helmut Deutsch, Piano |
Schwanengesang, 'Swan Song', Movement: No. 5, Aufenthalt |
Franz Schubert, Composer
Franz Schubert, Composer Grace Bumbry, Mezzo soprano Helmut Deutsch, Piano |
Rastlose Liebe |
Franz Schubert, Composer
Franz Schubert, Composer Grace Bumbry, Mezzo soprano Helmut Deutsch, Piano |
Schwanengesang, 'Swan Song', Movement: No. 14, Die Taubenpost |
Franz Schubert, Composer
Franz Schubert, Composer Grace Bumbry, Mezzo soprano Helmut Deutsch, Piano |
(4) Refrainlieder, Movement: No. 3, Die Männer sind méchant |
Franz Schubert, Composer
Franz Schubert, Composer Grace Bumbry, Mezzo soprano Helmut Deutsch, Piano |
(6) Lieder, Movement: No. 1, Liebestreu (wds. Reinick) |
Johannes Brahms, Composer
Grace Bumbry, Mezzo soprano Helmut Deutsch, Piano Johannes Brahms, Composer |
(4) Lieder, Movement: No. 2, Lerchengesang (wds. Candidus) |
Johannes Brahms, Composer
Grace Bumbry, Mezzo soprano Helmut Deutsch, Piano Johannes Brahms, Composer |
(5) Lieder, Movement: No. 4, Auf dem Kirchhofe (wds. Liliencron) |
Johannes Brahms, Composer
Grace Bumbry, Mezzo soprano Helmut Deutsch, Piano Johannes Brahms, Composer |
(6) Lieder, Movement: No. 1, Therese (wds. Keller) |
Johannes Brahms, Composer
Grace Bumbry, Mezzo soprano Helmut Deutsch, Piano Johannes Brahms, Composer |
Oh! quand je dors |
Franz Liszt, Composer
Franz Liszt, Composer Grace Bumbry, Mezzo soprano Helmut Deutsch, Piano |
Enfant, si j'étais roi |
Franz Liszt, Composer
Franz Liszt, Composer Grace Bumbry, Mezzo soprano Helmut Deutsch, Piano |
(La) Damnation de Faust, Movement: ~ |
Hector Berlioz, Composer
Grace Bumbry, Mezzo soprano Hector Berlioz, Composer Helmut Deutsch, Piano |
Myrthen, Movement: No. 1, Widmung (wds. Rückert) |
Robert Schumann, Composer
Grace Bumbry, Mezzo soprano Helmut Deutsch, Piano Robert Schumann, Composer |
Myrthen, Movement: No. 3, Der Nussbaum (wds. Mosen) |
Robert Schumann, Composer
Grace Bumbry, Mezzo soprano Helmut Deutsch, Piano Robert Schumann, Composer |
Lieder und Gesänge III, Movement: No. 5, Aufträge (wds. L'Egru) |
Robert Schumann, Composer
Grace Bumbry, Mezzo soprano Helmut Deutsch, Piano Robert Schumann, Composer |
(6) Lieder, Movement: No. 2, Ständchen |
Richard Strauss, Composer
Grace Bumbry, Mezzo soprano Helmut Deutsch, Piano Richard Strauss, Composer |
(5) Lieder, Movement: No. 2, Sehnsucht (wds. Liliencron) |
Richard Strauss, Composer
Grace Bumbry, Mezzo soprano Helmut Deutsch, Piano Richard Strauss, Composer |
(4) Lieder, Movement: No. 2, Cäcilie (wds. Hart: orch 1897) |
Richard Strauss, Composer
Grace Bumbry, Mezzo soprano Helmut Deutsch, Piano Richard Strauss, Composer |
You can tell the world |
Traditional, Composer
Grace Bumbry, Mezzo soprano Helmut Deutsch, Piano Traditional, Composer |
(El) Vito |
Fernando J Obradors, Composer
Fernando J Obradors, Composer Grace Bumbry, Mezzo soprano Helmut Deutsch, Piano |
Canciones clásicas españolas, Movement: Del cabello más sutil |
Fernando J Obradors, Composer
Fernando J Obradors, Composer Grace Bumbry, Mezzo soprano Helmut Deutsch, Piano |
Carmen, Movement: ~ |
Georges Bizet, Composer
Georges Bizet, Composer Grace Bumbry, Mezzo soprano Helmut Deutsch, Piano |
Author: John Steane
This is all quite nice to know, but Bumbry’s own comments (she likes Schubert because ‘it’s exactly the opposite of my nature’, she ‘knows there is a difference between operatic singing and recital work’, and she doesn’t much care for modern composers such as Stravinsky and Dukas) do not add greatly to the store of wisdom. The programme is dedicated to the memory of Bumbry’s teacher, Lotte Lehmann, who would have had rather more of interest to say.
Best among the performances are ‘Liebestreu’ and ‘Auf dem Kirchhofe’ in the Brahms group. Bumbry is not, and in my experience never has been, a notably expressive singer, and watching her now in close-up does nothing to modify that opinion. But the voice, at 64, is still marvellous: rich and powerful, and wide in its range. Heard in person in London at that time, her voice satisfied the ear, and often amazed, through its gorgeous quality; as recorded, the uneven vibrations are harder to ignore. But, yes, she can still sing. And, as some of her countrymen might add: ‘And how!’
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