After Pappano’s Tristan, Jessye’s Isolde: as part of Decca’s “The Unreleased Masters,” a selection of excerpts which “for various reasons, was never published”. Masur’s way with the Prelude is mobile, and climax-focused, the Leipzig Gewandhaus as always playing beautifully for him.
Ian Bostridge is the “Seemann” – his voice instantly recognisable. As, of course, is Jessye’s (“Brangaene, du?”). Hanna Schwarz is Isolde’s companion, making for a formidable duo. But how Jessye invoked Isolde’s magic (“O zalmer Kunst der Zauberin”). Masur’s speed falters not; and yet this is full-force if not full-fat Wagner. Schwarz is good, if perhaps not overly nuanced but how we hear Isolde’s cries for air how visceral her emotions.
Cut to the Seemann and the second scene of act 1, cruelly short, but full of vital Isolde-Brangaene interactions. The longest act 1 excerpt (save for the Prelude) is from “Wie lachend sie mir Lieder singen”. The drama is on high here: and Masur ensured full detail from his orchestra. But the connection between Norman and Masur is not of the same electric and perfect quality as their recording of Strauss’ Vier letzte Lieder – and so one can see why Norman might not have approved this. But how magisterial her voice:
Act 2 brings six excerpts, again with the last as longest. Together with her Tristan, Thomas Moser, the effect of their meeting is breathless – both singers meet Wagner’s demands fully, though.
The magic comes in the moments between Isolde and Tristan (“O sink hernieder”; but the orchestra is not with them, emotionally, and so Wagner’s web is weakened. There are gossamer textures from the orchestra, for sure, but the thread that must pull through the whole feels slack, not taut. Moser is fabulous at the arrival of the “Liebestod” motif (really “Verklärung”). And are Brangaene’s warnings differentiated enough?
We certainly have Norman’s resplendency of voice here; but is there enough emphasis on “ew’ge Nacht?” The dark is their friend here, their normative status of the reality of their love. The arrival of the others is the closing point .. and we are untimely ripp’d to “Mld und leise”. Of course here, we have Norman’s BPO/Karajan to contend with, an absolute glory of the catalogue, and teh Tennstedt/LPO. Here, Masur allows the woodwind turns to come through nicely, but maybe there is not the underlying fire that leads us to that wonderful climax of the World’s breath. And when it comes, it’s all Jessye. A wonderful moment, but perhaps not the Universe-embracing moment Wagner envisioned:
Over to Berlin now for the second disc, the Berliner Philharmoniker under James Levine. It is interesting that the two top recommendations for Richard Strauss’ Vier letzte Lieder have often been seen as the “official” recordings by Elisabeth Schwarzkopf (with Georg Szell and the Berlin Radio orchestra) and Jessye Norman with the Gewandhaus and Masur. There’s another Schwarzkopf though, which gained traction in the UK through an EMI Références release (the French arm of EMI) conducted by Otto Ackermann, which some see as superior to the Szell. Here for Norman, Masur exits; Levine enters. In fact, Norman and Levine literally enter – we hear the applause, including that characteristic swell that always accompanied jessye merely walking on stage – it was always as enthusiastic as if she had already sung (even in her London appearances).
There is something very fresh about this “Frühling” – Levine and Norman seem absolutely on the same page.
“September” is, orchestrally, filled with life-enhancing detail. And how wonderful that Norman’s voice seems, at times a part of the orchestral tapestry. Levine finds lines I’ve never heard before, and they make sense. But is there too little give and take in the music?
No horn player has surely ever played the big solo in “September” better than the Principal in the Schwarzkopf/Szell recording; but the Berlin orchestral principal here makes a fine fist of it.
Time for some sleep” “Beim Schlafengehen” and a spectacular violin solo,, and Norman’s voice is free as a bird, her wordless legato faultless.
I do like that linear way Levine has, and it works particularly well at the opening of the only Eichendorff setting, “Im Abendrot”. Despite this being the BPO, some ofteh woodwind chording feels a little off. But the close is gorgeous, those avian woodwind perfectly balanced:
And so to the Wesendonck-Lieder in the standard Felix Mottl orchestration, a score Jessye was no stranger to. “Der Engel” exemplifies how Norman could draw a seeminglty endless legato line; and how she could change the emotion in a heartbeat. Here, the mystery of “Der Engel” is foregrounded:
“Stehe still!” certainly has few intentions of doing so: Levine ensures a wonderful sense of disquiet, while Norman relishes every word. Remember this is Norman’s third recording of Wesendonck: the early Colin Davis, then that legendary Tennetedt disc. But how the the arrival at “heil’ge Natur” does make its mark
Worth noting, too, there is a live Wesendonck-Lieder also with Levine (but now on piano!) on the Orfeo label:
“Im Triebhaus” is a “Studie zu Tristan” – the Prelude to the third at, which makes its inclusion here even more warranted. The orchestra is perfectly balanced, and Levina and Norman agree on the perfect tempo: as a result the music alternately glowers and glows. And the pianissimos they achieve! This is by far the longest of the Wesendonck-Lieder, and here it is the finest:
“Schmernzen” opens with one great orchestral outbreath. A lovely supplement to Jessye’s catalogue of this piece.
The third disc unites Haydn, Berlioz and Britten. Haydn’s Scena di Berenice (Hob. XXIVa:10). Perhaps not automatically associated with the Classical era, we should remember her contributions to Colin Davis’ Mozart series of operas for Philips. Here’s “Dove sono” from Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro:
Here’s the concluding aria from the Haydn:
Like her Purcell Dido (see above for “When I am laid in earth”), this would hardly be seen as “authentic”. But it is gripping. Ozawa and the Bostonians are hardly known for their HIP, She recorded it in 1982, with the Orchestre de Paris under Barenboim, which for some reason did not make it into the recent 15-CD Warner box:
I remember seeing her at the Festival Hall in the 1980s with Ashkenazy conducting in this piece, too. Anyway, here she is in Deccaland. This is a terrifically focused, dramatic account, the Bostonians alight. And Norman’s French is as impressive as her German (Wagner) and Italian (Haydn):
This Berlioz is the jewel of the set, a performance of blazing intensity. Norman is in her element, and this level of pinpoint orchestral accuracy is Ozawa all over. Ozawa s keener in rhythm and even more effective than I remember Ashkenazy being in Berlioz’s low-string depiction of a failing heartbeat:
Finally, Britten’s Phaedra. Another dying queen, then. And a performance that quells, at least temporarily, any and all of my doubts about Britten as a composer. Ozawa understands Britten’s processes perfectly; Norman finds Britten’s voice while seeing this as a prolongation of the basic concept of the disc. The close is so dramatic, with both Norman and Ozawa injecting huge urgency. Here’s the opening:
Yes, I can see why Norman withheld these given the superhuman nature of the vast majority of her approved catalogue. But this is indispensable for all Jessye fans – just to be reminded of that voice is a treat (any recording pales in comparison with the experience of hearing her live, though).
The set is available at Amazon here. Streaming below except for iDagio here.
