The defining moment in my interest in singers of the past was watching the NVC Arts’ video The Art of Singing: Golden Voices of the Century, a gift from a close friend while in graduate school. In particular, it was baritone Thomas Hampson extolling the virtues of Giuseppe De Luca’s legato—and then seeing and hearing De Luca’s marvelous singing—that won me over. Of course, I knew De Luca’s name, but hearing him sing was something completely different. It was transforming.
Everyone who has found value and enjoyment in historical recordings has his or her own story about how their journey began. For some, it is the suggestion of a trusted teacher or director, a colleague, or an admired performer. For others, it is a DVD, a book, or an online clip. Regardless, that journey began somewhere. It is the perpetual acquiring of names, sounds, and musical ideas. It is never-ending and ever-changing as personal tastes evolve and new singers are “discovered.”
Recommended Listening
If the world of historical recordings is new to you, the prospect of sifting through more than a century’s worth of options can be daunting. Where should I start? Who should I hear? Fortunately, those who are passionate about singers of the past are often willing to talk about the singers of whom they think most highly. Their advice and opinions can serve as a starting place for those just entering this incredible sonic world. And those who have long been a part of it can remind us of singers we might have forgotten, or can give us new insight into a singer with whom we have long been familiar.
Soprano Dina Kuznetsova, coach and accompanist Martin Katz, and conductor Stephen Lord share their astute recommendations on singers from the early part of the 20th century to more recent decades.
Dina Kuznetsova: My personal favorites, at different times, were Lotte Lehmann and Claudia Muzio for their genius of projecting emotion into the words and into the sounds. But one listens to different singers for different things:
Birgit Nilsson for amazingly powerful yet wonderfully healthy vocalism.
Leonie Rysanek in Die Frau ohne Schatten for an absolute commitment to both vocal performance and the character.
Anna Moffo for beauty of sound.
Renata Scotto for absolutely brilliant characterization.
Maria Callas for understanding what a magnetic voice and personality can do.
Amelita Galli-Curci for coloratura perfection.
Joan Sutherland for the sheer thrill a truly great singer can bring.
Martin Katz:
Callas, always, for finding the most music, the most theater in every role, even in roles she never sang on stage.
Conchita Supervia for Rossini style before we even knew it was Rossini style.
Bidu Sayão for showing that small voices can do roles normally done by larger ones.
Lucia Popp for consistent, superb musicianship and healthy singing.
Amelita Galli-Curci for incredible phrasing.
Ebe Stignani for the sound of a force of nature, not necessarily artistry.
Charles Panzera for gorgeous French style (in songs as well as arias).
Risë Stevens for honey-colored tone and seamless registers.
Any baritone before 1960 to show that baritones should be bright, not overly covered and wooly.
Stephen Lord:
Lauritz Melchior’s like will never be found again, and he is a total study for any and all.
Beniamino Gigli for the full vocal spectrum.
Rosa Ponselle was a miracle in the studio and in live performances.
Giuseppe di Stefano is always a good study for the good and the bad, if you train yourself in how to listen. Callas, too.
Richard Tucker was a fantastic verismo singer.
Zinka Milanov, not an Italian, defined the voice of Verdi.
Carlo Bergonzi has a technique and breadth of style that is unmatched.
Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau has perfect diction in all languages, as does [Nicolai] Gedda.
A mezzo who doesn’t hear Christa Ludwig, Giulietta Simionato, Sigrid Onégin, Shirley Verrett, or Janet Baker does herself a disservice.
Recommended Reading
Several years ago, my mother was taking a walk while visiting my sister in suburban Minneapolis. While she was out, she happened upon a garage sale where she purchased some books on voice and opera related subjects for me. Among them was an autographed copy of The Great Singers: From the Dawn of Opera to Caruso, Callas and Pavarotti by the late Henry Pleasants. Little did I know then that vocal history would become such an important part of my life and that I would eventually find myself regularly presenting the Henry Pleasants Lectures at the American Institute of Musical Studies (AIMS) in Graz, Austria.
The book is no longer in print, but “The Great Singers” is frequently available through used book dealers and libraries. It is an extensive and engrossing chronicle of the history of singing in the western classical tradition extending long before the advent of recorded sound. Through straightforward writing and strong opinions, Pleasants vividly brings to life the many personalities and voices that have shaped and defined the operatic art. “The Great Singers” has great entertainment value, but Mr. Pleasants’ thoughts and information on singers of the past can also help fill the gap left by primitive recording technology.
Because opinions vary greatly and different people value different things—especially when discussing singers and singing—it is particularly beneficial to seek opinions from multiple sources. J.B. Steane is one of the most comprehensive and prolific vocal historians. His Voices: Critics and Singers and Singers of the Century, Volumes 1-3 are collections of insightful essays on many of the great artists of the recorded era, both past and present. These books, published by Amadeus Press, are a wealth of information and would be a welcome addition to anyone’s personal library. As with “The Great Singers,” Steane’s writing enlightens and informs our ears and increases the value of our listening experience.
Numerous additional options are available, but Henry Pleasants was, and J.B. Steane is, among the most highly regarded experts on the subject. Their works are exceptional places to become acquainted with the names of singers and the roles they played, both literally and figuratively, in vocal history.
Recommended Record Labels
Several reputable companies are committed to high-quality transfers of historic vocal and instrumental recordings to CD. These transfers greatly reduce extraneous hisses and crackles so you can hear the music more clearly than ever before, maximizing your listening experience. Rare recordings that were previously the realm of the avid collector of vinyl LPs are now readily available (and affordable) for all to study and enjoy.
For those starting to build a personal library of historical recordings, these two labels—Prima Voce and Naxos Historical— are splendid places to begin.
Nimbus Records’ Prima Voce series is literally a “who’s who” of the most important (or, at least, most famous) singers from the early 20th century. Most of the series features the majority of the singers on compilation discs of operatic arias, but it also offers several artists—Caruso, Flagstad, Gigli, and Schipa among them—on discs dedicated to song repertoire. The Prima Voce catalog also contains numerous compilation CDs on unifying topics that serve as an introduction to a multitude of artists at once. These include The Prima Voce Treasury of Opera (two volumes), The Golden Age of Singing (four volumes), Great Singers at La Scala, Royal Opera Covent Garden, Divas (two volumes), and Legendary Baritones.
Like the Prima Voce series, the Naxos Historical label features many of the most prominent artists of the early 20th century. Naxos Historical is notable for its outstanding efforts to restore the recorded legacy of Caruso (12 volumes) and Gigli (15 volumes). The label has also released several recordings of distinguished performances of complete operas and operettas.
Two labels—Marston and Lebendige Vergangenheit—offer a wealth of options for those wishing to dig deeper into the rich history of recorded sound.
Marston. The personal record label of legendary audio engineer Ward Marston is bringing to the digital age many excellent singers whose work would otherwise be unknown or impossible to find. The intriguing inclusions on the Marston label include sopranos Florence Easton, Rosa Raisa, and Salomea Krushelnytska, American tenor Charles Hackett, and coloratura tenor Hermann Jadlowker. French singers—such as Claire Croiza, Marie Delna, Marcel Journet, Maurice Renaud, and Ninon Vallin—are well represented in the Marston catalog. A particularly interesting compilation is Mahler’s Decade in Vienna: Singers of the Court Opera 1897-1907. The Marston label also includes important and unique documentation of generally better-known artists, such as Geraldine Ferrar, Rosa Ponselle, and Conchita Supervia.
With more than 400 titles of high-quality transfers in its catalog, the Lebendige Vergangenheit series of Vienna’s Preiser Records offers many options not available on other labels.
Devotees often cite live recordings for the authentic theatrical experience and the true sense of the sound of a voice they provide. Two German companies, among others, are bringing a remarkable number of these performances to the market.
Munich-based Orfeo International’s Orfeo d’Or label is a magnificent source for recordings of live opera performances from the Salzburg Festival, the Vienna State Opera, the Bavarian State Opera, and the Bayreuth Festival in the years after the Second World War to the present. Of special note are recordings of many Salzburg Festival liederabende, including those by Walter Berry, Ileana Cotrubas, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Irmgard Seefried, and Fritz Wunderlich. In addition, the five discs of the Große Mozartsänger series—dedicated to the Mozart performances at the Salzburg Festival from 1922 to 1983—could be considered indispensable inclusions in any singer’s library.
The Walhall Eternity series is a bargain hunter’s dream for live recordings of complete operas. Most of the releases featured here are from the 1950s and capture performances from the German opera houses of Munich, Cologne, Berlin, Stuttgart, and Hamburg, in addition to those of Vienna, Milan, Florence, and the Met. This is an astounding place to find many of the most prominent singers working with some of the greatest conductors from the middle of the century at an affordable price.
If you enter this world of written and recorded vocal history, you will have at your disposal a rich treasury of sounds, musical and dramatic ideas, and fascinating personalities.
Talk to people about singers they admire, read about singers of other generations and our own, and, above all, listen.
