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Date: | Mon, 21 Feb 2000 22:17:08 -0600 |
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Kevin Sutton wrote:
>For me, the Jessye Norman recording with the Gewandhaus and Masur is the
>Valhalla of this music. I absolutely cannot endure Sheryl Studer singing
>anything, let alone music that I love as much as the Four Last Songs.
>For the life of me I don't see what people find pleasing in the slurping,
>sliding, affected, portamento laden slop that she tries to pass off as
>singing.
While I admire both Studer and Norman in this piece (I also enjoy
Janowitz/Karajan on DG and Auger/Previn on Telarc)--the obvious choice
for this music is Schwarzkopf/Szell. This is an essential recording in
any library and EMI's remastering has done wonders for the sound of the
orchestra. Schwarzkopf has never sounded better, and I think Szell is
perhaps one of the top three Strauss conductors out there--this recording
just sounds natural, refined, and--well--beautiful. Mid-price too. For
what it's worth, I listened to the Popp/Tennstedt once and then turned it
off immediately--for m opinion her voice just isn't creamy enough for this
piece.
Cheers,
Marcus Maroney
[log in to unmask]
http://www.geocities.com/marcus.maroney
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