This album is included in the following sets:
This set contains the following albums:
- Producer's Note
- Full Track Listing
- Cover Art
BBC Lecture-Recitals, 1950, 1951
As given by by Elisabeth Schumann
These lectures offer a fascinating insight into the life and music of
the much-loved soprano, Elisabeth Schumann, speaking at the end of her
life (she died in 1952). Amongst the musical suggestions and
illustrations she sprinkles anecdotal gems, such as can be heard in our
sample here, where Brahms berates the orchestra of Arthur Nikisch and
demands that they play more "blue".
She leads us through a
musical journey of lied singing, and with expert accompaniment from
pianist Ernest Lush, offers seven full songs, plus numerous short
examples from both these and other works. Despite the simplicity of the
1950's BBC presentational style, the programmes move along at a good
pace, neither overly technical nor glib - two delightful and rare
offerings from one of the world's great singers.
Notes on the
restoration:This recording came to us via a "private issue" 33rpm LP,
which had clearly been mastered from older, probably acetate 78spm,
records. Both lectures were originally rather murky and scratchy, with
varying amounts of noise and hiss throughout. I've used a series of
techniques modified from our usual XR restoration methods to improve the
tonal quality of both speech and singing here, and carried out a huge
amount of declicking and decrackling, as well as a considerable amount
of noise reduction. Some remnants of the original poor quality sound
does, inevitably, remain - largely in the background - and should not be
a distraction from the fascinating musical and speech contain to be
found herein.
Andrew Rose
- Mozart: Das Veilchen (KV.476)
- Schubert: Lachen und Weinen (D.777)
- Wolf: Mausfallen-Spruchlein
- Brahms: Vergeliches Ständchen (Op. 84 No. 4)
- R. Strauss: Morgen (Op. 27 No. 4)
- Schubert: Die Forelle (D.550)
- Wolf: In dem Schatten meiner Locken
BBC Radio broadcasts from 1950 and 1951
Transferred from private LP issue EJS-328
Original source probably acetate 78rpm discs
Pristine Audio remastering by Andrew Rose, August 2007
Duration 52:03
Elisabeth Schumann, soprano
Ernest Lush, piano
Fanfare Review
"This is so much more than a record of a singer performing songs; it is a window to another era, the era of Slezak and Gadski, Gerhardt and Paul Reimers, singers for whom expression was as important as musicality. Needless to say, Pristine Classical enhances the sound quality of the original disc, although a small amount of the original surface swish remains. Indispensable for fans of the soprano as well as for vocal students wanting to learn more about the interpretation of Lied."
- Fanfare, May/June 2008