It is the usual mode of listing the soloists in Mahler's 8th symphony
as they are listed for example on Haitink's 1971 Philips CD issue:

Ileana COTRUBAS, Heather HARPER, Hanneke van NORK, soprano I, II, III
-- Magna Peccatrix, Una Poenitentium, Mater Gloriosa Birgit FINNILA,
Marianne DIELEMAN, contralto I, II -- Mulier Samaritana, Maria Aegyptiaca
William COCHRAN, Hermann PREY, Hans SOTIN tenor, baritone, bass -- Doctor
Marianus, Pater Ecstaticus, Pater Profundus.

In some recordings there are only two sopranos and in those cases, for
the most part soprano I doubles as Mater Gloriosa. Almost always soprano
I, I; alto I, II, tenor, baritone, and bass who are the soloists in Part
II are also the soloists in Part I.

Serious Mahler collectors consult the standard reference work Peter
Fulop "A Mahler Discography" and for the most part the online discography
of Vincent Mouret http://mapage.noos.fr/vincent/us.html draws on this
work.  There are occasions however where all fails. The case of the first
commercially released recording Mahler's 8th is just such a case. Its
recent re-release on the label Scribendum (licensed from Decca) offered
me the opportunity to become acquainted with it. During the few weeks
in which I had anticipated my order of this recording I had gleaned from
the above noted online discography that this recording had an embarrassment
of soloists:

Annelies KUPPER, Hilde ZADEK, Corry BIJSTER, Annie HERMES, Lore FISCHER,
Annie WOUD, Lorenz FEHENBERGER, Frans VROONS, Hermann SCHEY, Gottlob
FRICK, David HOLLESTELLE, six females and quite obviously two tenors and
two baritones plus the expected one bass.

The two tenors Fehenberger and Vroons are well known to me. Thus, when
I did receive my copy (the Scribendum re-print has no listing of soloists
at all), I was able immediately to recognize Vroons as the tenor in Part
I and Fehenberger as the Doctor Marianus in Part II. Vroons is the tenor
who takes the part of Iopas in Beecham's 1947 live recording of Berlioz's
Les Troyens and also sings Faust in in Furtwaengler's (German language)
1950 live recording of the same composer's Damnation de Faust. I had
hoped for his Doctor Marianus, but one can in no way be unhappy with
that of the equally superb tenor Fehenberger.

Schey is well-known from his several recordings of Mahler's LefG and
one recording of RL as well as for his appearance in Mengelberg's 1939
Matthaeus-Passion (notorious for its excising of almost all the baritone
and contralto arias). Nevertheless I was not able to make a determination
on the Pater Ecstaticus. As to the females, most were all unknown to me
either as voices or as names. Fulop only has the following information:

SYMPHONY NO. 8
8.0030
EDUARD FLIPSE
A. Kupper, H. Zadek, C. Bijster, A. Hermes, L. Fischer, A. Woud, L.
Fehenberger, F. Vroons, H. Schey, G. Frick, D. Hollestelle, Rotterdam
PO and Chorus (rec. 7-3-54 at a concert in Ahoy Hall, Rotterdam) Epic
SC 6004 (rel. 3-55, del. 8-68) ARG 4-55 JD (England) Philips ABL 3024-5
(rev. 1-55 DS) notes by H.L. de La Grange GL 5773-4 (rev. 9-65 DC) G
03196-7 (Germany, France) A 00226-7 L Timings: 1st Mvt 25.08 2nd Mvt
56.24 Total 81.32.

Vincent Mouret replied kindly to my query that he had no further
information.  Subsequently my friend, Mr. Dick A. van den Toorn, proceeded
to undertake communication on my behalf with the Rotterdam Philharmonic
Orchestra and forwarded to me the following specifics from Mr. Bart
Diels, Marketing and PR:

The booklet containing the concert program mentions the following soloists:

Annelies Kupper, Sopraan I and Magna Peccatrix
Hilde Zadek, Sopraan II and Una Poenitentium
Corry Bijster, Sopraan and Mater Gloriosa
Annie Hermes, Alt I and Mulier Samaritana
Lore Fischer, Alt II and Maria Aegyptiaca
Annie Woud, Alt
Lorenz Fehenberger, Tenor and Doctor Marianus
Frans Vroons, Tenor
Herman Schey, Bariton and Pater Ecstaticus
Gottlob Frick, Bas and Pater Profundus
David Hollestelle, Bariton

Mr. Van den Toorn himself notes:

   "Personally I can add the following: this was the first performance
   of M8 AFTER WWII; a very emotional happening for the Dutch and
   specially for the bombed Rotterdam people"

Mr. Diels had noted that:

   "You can find more information on the July 3rd, 1954, concert
   in (the publication) Kosten, J.: Kroniek van Vijfenzeventig Jaar
   Rotterdams Philarmonisch Orkest, part 1: Jules Zagwijn - Eduard
   Flipse, Rotterdam 1994 (191 pp.)"

As we now have the listing of who indeed are the soloists in Part
II (the Fausts Verklaerung part) and as it is certain to my ears that
Vroons is the tenor in Part I, we shall reasonably believe that likewise
Hollestelle is the baritone in Part I.  In the chorus of Die Vollendeteren
Engel, there is an alto solo and one may hazard a guess that that may
be Annie Woud. Yet a cautionary note is necessary; we cannot yet be sure
either that (1) Annie Woud is not "merely" one of the two altos in Part
I or (2) is the alto in the "Die Vollendeteren Engel" section of Part
II.

Yoel L. Arbeitman
[log in to unmask]