Despite John Steane’s typically generous and discerning tribute to Elisabeth Schwarzkopf in January’s Singertalk column, many young and not-so-young singers I meet can’t abide her interpretative style, which is strikingly at odds with the straightforward readings we so often hear today. Playing devil’s advocate, one can understand the nature of the complaints about Schwarzkopf’s constantly interventionist approach, her occasional distortion of vowel sounds and a general approach that William Mann once described to me as ‘verschmuckt’ (bejewelled). You may judge the point of such views, for instance, in a song like Auf dem Wasser, where not a phrase is left to speak for itself; compare it with the natural and simple reading of her contemporary Irmgard Seefried (Testament, 9/93), which is so much more appropriate to the song.
That said, the doubters should listen to this recital with Edwin Fischer, one of the greatest discs of Schubert singing ever committed to disc. As I found so often in her recitals dating back to Oxford days in 1950, annoyance with the occasional mannerism soon gives way to wonder at such an amazingly eager response to every facet of a song and its setting. And truly inspired by Fischer, who at once overawed and inspired the singer, as JBS relates in his notes, she throws caution utterly to the winds, forgets herself and astonishes us in accounts of Die junge Nonne, Ganymed and Gretchen am Spinnrade that have seldom if ever been surpassed for vocal consistency and sheer concentration – though it is a pity the singer makes a break in the final, long phrase of Ganymed.
Fischer, one of the noblest Schubert interpreters of his or any time, is obviously a partner in a thousand and on his own confirms his stature in the legendary 1950 recording of the Moments musicaux better transferred here than ever before – as are the Lieder. So this is a CD no Schubertian can do without.
Nor can Straussians be without the companion disc. Although many consider the 1965 stereo remake of the Four Last Songs, under George Szell, superior, I have always preferred this 1953 mono version, and listening to it again find no reason to change my mind. Schwarzkopf was here at her absolute peak of vocal accomplishment: her tone soars above the orchestra with the utmost ease and radiance. With Ackermann and the Philharmonia in sympathetic support, this version stands with those of Lisa della Casa, Sena Jurinac and Gundula Janowitz as wonders of recording history (though don’t overlook Schwarzkopf’s live 1956 reading with Karajan – it’s even more compelling in some ways than this one).
We are consoled for not having the soprano’s complete Arabella by the substantial extracts reissued here, in which she shows her understanding of Arabella’s complex character. Della Casa may have supplied a more golden tone, but Schwarzkopf matches her in terms of verbal acuity and phrasing. Metternich distinguishes himself with his virile, clear baritone in the Act 2 duet with Mandryka, where the voices blend so gratefully. Felbermayer makes a lively Zdenka and it’s good to have brief souvenirs of Dickie and Berry, two Vienna stalwarts of the day. This Strauss recital is crowned by Schwarzkopf’s glorious account of Countess Madeleine’s soliloquy, the close of Capriccio, an interpretation on a par with those of della Casa, Janowitz (both coupled with their Four Last Songs, listed above) and Elisabeth Soderstrom (EMI, 7/82 – nla). Nobody today, not even Felicity Lott, comes near to matching the eloquence of all three. Mataeic’s thoughtful conducting completes pleasure in this generously filled, satisfying reissue, but why should it be on References rather than on Great Recordings of the Century? And why no texts for the operatic items?'