The more I hear Jurinac‚ the more I consider her the complete singer. Here she reveals once again all her merits in a recital recorded at the height of her powers and which I had devoutly wished to be reissued when writing my Reputations article on the soprano last December. The ineffably beautiful‚ slightly vibrant tone is married to an innate artistry that leads‚ without any false steps‚ to the heart of the matter in every song. Not a trace of artifice mars her natural‚ spontaneous account of both Schumann cycles. Others admittedly probe deeper into the psychological recesses of the Eichendorff/ Schumann settings in the Op 39 Liederkreis‚ but very few deliver them more inwardly or with such a natural feeling for matching the texts to an ideal legato. Frauenliebe is deeply moving in its simple‚ sincere way and sung with such lovely tone that the mind entirely capitulates to the heartfelt feeling of the interpretation. No singer‚ before or since – not even Seefried or Fink‚ whom I reviewed in this cycle in July – is quite so credibly the 19th­century woman devoted to her man. Similarly‚ in the Liederkreis‚ you will search hard to find the lyrical songs sung so gloriously. With a pianist in perfect accord with his singer and a recording‚ almost 50 years old‚ faithful to the voice’s lovely quality‚ fresh and forward‚ this is a reissue to treasure. As a bonus there is Respighi’s post­romantic‚ slightly lugubrious evocation of Shelley’s twilight­hued verse. The 18­minute work exploits Jurinac’s rich lower register in haunting‚ translucent music.