Finally. You’re the only TH-camr (sorry) who’s covered this set. I bought but haven’t opened it yet. Never thought of Norman as “limited” in any sense. She was one of the larger-than-life singers (not just because of her physical presence) of the 20th century. With all the seeming oddities the box is obviously aimed at avid fans. I think the main problem is that “her estate” is making decisions about the posthumous collection releases. So we have to bear with questionable artistic choices. Thanks!
I am always here for a Jessye story - the photo story cracked me up and I can well imagine how she was. being Australian I never got to hear her live because I think she had a bad experience here once. she was a singer with a completely unique way of singing and vocal timbre (she is the only person to have sung Erwartung almost perfectly rather than just barking it). "the Elgar of sopranos" is such a perfect line
A serious artist who could be both haughty and full of good humour. Some of her recordings, recital or not, are gorgeous and she had a beautiful, opulent, voice. There's much to admire in this box but Decca hasn't served her well. In the end we have her 4 Last Songs and for that we should all be eternally grateful. Stunning!
8:38 Maybe you can do a list of your favorite live coughs. I know Thielemann isn’t your favorite, but there’s a Lohengrin prelude with Philadelphia that features a cough right at the climax that in my mind has become as much a part of the performance as Leontyne Price in any of her Toscas or Aidas. Maybe it’s the wine talking. As always, thanks for sharing your point of view and humor.
The Karajan Liebestod with her , imo, ranks as one of the greatest recorded performances of it. The tempi and phrasing are perfect and in in the video of it, even he is moved by what they both created
The missing Berlin/Levine Strauss Four Last Songs are apparently on the recent Jessye Norman “Unreleased Masters” set. I understand some items in this set are of dubious value, but the Strauss is supposed to be quite good, with Levine’s tempos not as slow as Masur’s (which I have always found to be a bit tepid). I’d love to know if any of the rumors I am promulgating here are correct!
"Tepid" is the right adjective to describe the Masur contribution to the Norman Four Last Songs they did together. Norman's voice is wonderful, of course, but the orchestra never takes off behind her and is, furthermore, buried in the mix sometimes. One wonders if the engineers mixed Norman's voice forward partly because the orchestral playing was boring. So, it works as a staging for Norman but not as a completely satisfying experience of that music. I much prefer the Szell/Schwartzkopf Four Last Songs ...because of the magnificent orchestral playing there and the proper singer/orchestra balance they achieved. If we had a time machine, we would transport Norman to Cleveland for that recording.
In the summer of '77, I sat in on an afternoon rehearsal at the Blossom Music Center; Jessye Norman was guest soloist that evening, with Mathias Bamert conducting. They rehearsed Mozart's aria "Vado, ma dove?" and the Countess' "Dove sono?" (Figaro) and Jessye "marked" them...singing very softly, almost murmuring, and the Cleveland Orchetsra responded with their best intimate, hushed, magical sound. To use a cliched expression...I thought I had died and gone to Heaven; I actually wept. Decca clearly is confused; 2 complete Beethoven 9ths, 2 complete Mahler 3rds, Gurrelieder, Bruckner Te Deum??..when, in fact, devotees of Norman (all but the most fanatic) would want to own her ACTUAL recital programs...lieder, spirituals, concert arias, even the popular things. A silly and confusing way to produce a big Cd box.
Beware: Disc 10 has errors: The first minute and 30 seconds is silence, every track spills into the next track and the last track is missing the last minute and 30 seconds (meaning the Ravel is cut off). I have written to Decca, but no response so far
You're dead on about Brahms being tricky. We did the Geistliches Wiegenlied last Christmas (with cello instead of viola), and it was one of the hardest pieces interpretatively I've ever tackled. In that middle section where the piano and instrument launch into all kinds of contrapuntal stuff, all you can do is count like mad. There's a video of Norman singing Ich bin der Welt abhanden gekommen (with Mehta maybe) and she sneaks a breath in the middle of that first phrase, so there's hope for the rest of us.
as you allude to in your video, most likely Decca has decided they want to finish off her recordings with one more box, so they had to shoehorn everything into this one or that one.
I'm in agreement: too much stuff I don't really need, although I was surely a Norman admirer. A the Met, she was excellent in Strauss's "Ariadne" and as Judith in "Bluebeard's Castle". With it, "Erwartung", a work that doesn't do much for me. Both were televised. Too bad her Sieglinde isn't here, but it was recorded by RCA (and possibly others?).
![Beethoven: Sonata No.23 in F Minor [Medtner, Feinberg]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/6Cc0_ONCHRI/mqdefault.jpg)
Finally. You’re the only TH-camr (sorry) who’s covered this set. I bought but haven’t opened it yet. Never thought of Norman as “limited” in any sense. She was one of the larger-than-life singers (not just because of her physical presence) of the 20th century. With all the seeming oddities the box is obviously aimed at avid fans. I think the main problem is that “her estate” is making decisions about the posthumous collection releases. So we have to bear with questionable artistic choices. Thanks!
I am always here for a Jessye story - the photo story cracked me up and I can well imagine how she was. being Australian I never got to hear her live because I think she had a bad experience here once. she was a singer with a completely unique way of singing and vocal timbre (she is the only person to have sung Erwartung almost perfectly rather than just barking it). "the Elgar of sopranos" is such a perfect line
A serious artist who could be both haughty and full of good humour. Some of her recordings, recital or not, are gorgeous and she had a beautiful, opulent, voice. There's much to admire in this box but Decca hasn't served her well. In the end we have her 4 Last Songs and for that we should all be eternally grateful. Stunning!
8:38 Maybe you can do a list of your favorite live coughs. I know Thielemann isn’t your favorite, but there’s a Lohengrin prelude with Philadelphia that features a cough right at the climax that in my mind has become as much a part of the performance as Leontyne Price in any of her Toscas or Aidas. Maybe it’s the wine talking.
As always, thanks for sharing your point of view and humor.
The Karajan Liebestod with her , imo, ranks as one of the greatest recorded performances of it. The tempi and phrasing are perfect and in in the video of it, even he is moved by what they both created
The missing Berlin/Levine Strauss Four Last Songs are apparently on the recent Jessye Norman “Unreleased Masters” set. I understand some items in this set are of dubious value, but the Strauss is supposed to be quite good, with Levine’s tempos not as slow as Masur’s (which I have always found to be a bit tepid). I’d love to know if any of the rumors I am promulgating here are correct!
"Tepid" is the right adjective to describe the Masur contribution to the Norman Four Last Songs they did together. Norman's voice is wonderful, of course, but the orchestra never takes off behind her and is, furthermore, buried in the mix sometimes. One wonders if the engineers mixed Norman's voice forward partly because the orchestral playing was boring. So, it works as a staging for Norman but not as a completely satisfying experience of that music. I much prefer the Szell/Schwartzkopf Four Last Songs ...because of the magnificent orchestral playing there and the proper singer/orchestra balance they achieved. If we had a time machine, we would transport Norman to Cleveland for that recording.
In the summer of '77, I sat in on an afternoon rehearsal at the Blossom Music Center; Jessye Norman was guest soloist that evening, with Mathias Bamert conducting. They rehearsed Mozart's aria "Vado, ma dove?" and the Countess' "Dove sono?" (Figaro) and Jessye "marked" them...singing very softly, almost murmuring, and the Cleveland Orchetsra responded with their best intimate, hushed, magical sound. To use a cliched expression...I thought I had died and gone to Heaven; I actually wept.
Decca clearly is confused; 2 complete Beethoven 9ths, 2 complete Mahler 3rds, Gurrelieder, Bruckner Te Deum??..when, in fact, devotees of Norman (all but the most fanatic) would want to own her ACTUAL recital programs...lieder, spirituals, concert arias, even the popular things. A silly and confusing way to produce a big Cd box.
Beware: Disc 10 has errors: The first minute and 30 seconds is silence, every track spills into the next track and the last track is missing the last minute and 30 seconds (meaning the Ravel is cut off). I have written to Decca, but no response so far
Yes, I mentioned that in the video description. Thank you!
You're dead on about Brahms being tricky. We did the Geistliches Wiegenlied last Christmas (with cello instead of viola), and it was one of the hardest pieces interpretatively I've ever tackled. In that middle section where the piano and instrument launch into all kinds of contrapuntal stuff, all you can do is count like mad. There's a video of Norman singing Ich bin der Welt abhanden gekommen (with Mehta maybe) and she sneaks a breath in the middle of that first phrase, so there's hope for the rest of us.
The Immolation Scene from Gotterdammerung also seems to be missing and that was great...
Totally in agreement. Do you have any idea if Decca is planning to replace CD 10 ?
I heard that they are.
@@DavesClassicalGuide Thank you Dave.
8:36 “My Cough Is on That Record” sounds like a good Tinnitus Classics sideproject!
I have a Rostopivich early works CD (Prokofiev, I think) that has a lady coughing constantly.
I think most consumers would prefer smaller boxes with the artist ( really ) best recordings, than all these complete - recording -boxes
as you allude to in your video, most likely Decca has decided they want to finish off her recordings with one more box, so they had to shoehorn everything into this one or that one.
She and we deserved better. What a strange thing….
Jeesh Dave. I was eyeing this to buy. But I’m gonna pass!
Ah well. Onto some Marilyn Horne :)
I'm in agreement: too much stuff I don't really need, although I was surely a Norman admirer. A the Met, she was excellent in Strauss's "Ariadne" and as Judith in "Bluebeard's Castle". With it, "Erwartung", a work that doesn't do much for me. Both were televised.
Too bad her Sieglinde isn't here, but it was recorded by RCA (and possibly others?).
I enjoyed her expression on Sir Davis' Das Lied von Der Erde.
Her Der Abschied in that recording is my favorite . When her voice opens up near the beginning, it's a spiritual moment
Nice story on "that photo". What about the story, "I ain't got no sideways!" when she got stuck in the revolving door?
That was Ernestine Schumann-Heink
@@poturbg8698 exactly. A famous story