Search - Julia Culp :: Complete Victor and Electrola Recordings

A lovely introduction to a lovely lady

F. Behrens | Keene, NH USA | 04/13/2000

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Dutch born, Julia Culp was a noted Lieder singer who died in 1970 at age 90. Like so many of her time, she left a good deal of her legacy on the acoustic and the later electric 78s that were state of the art then. Romophone has gathered 41 of her Victor recordings made between 1914 and 1924 and 6 of her Berlin Electrola offerings into a 2-CD set titled simply (81035-2) and added it to their fine collection of similar sets such as the ones by Nellie Melba, Lotte Lehmann, and Leonard Warren which I have reviewed in my columns. Here we have 20 selections in German, 2 in Dutch, 4 in French and the rest in English--ranging from Brahms Lieder to a Romberg show song and some French opera. Seldom have I heard a more relaxing program; but alas I do not use that adjective in an altogether complimentary sense. Her contralto (some claim it to be mezzo) is lovely but seldom exciting. (The press release calls her style "intimate.") For example, her seduction song "Mon coeur" from the Saint-Saens opera is so lovingly and seamlessly sung that it is devoid of all drama. Now I know that many singers treat concert numbers in that way, but their doing so does not make it an acceptable practice. It is good to hear such old time favorites as "Silver threads among the gold" and even "All through the night," but one could wish for a little more emotional involvement. All right, so Culp is not Callas or Bartoli! And others may very well not find her as dramatically wanting as I do. On the whole, I will indeed play selections from this set many times in the future; but I will go to other singers for more excitement."