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Lotte Lehmann as Lieder singer

Eero Richmond | Brooklyn, NY | 04/15/2009

(4 out of 5 stars)

"When I was a teenager, I "fell in love" with the singing of Lotte Lehmann. I would drag out my old Lehmann LPs and play them for friends, who would say, "Who is that Hausfrau singing?" or, perhaps more kindly, "My, what an old-fashioned style!" It's true that Lehmann didn't have a notably beautiful voice, and she certainly used her fair share of vibrato and portamento (an older vocal style? - perhaps, though not all singers of her generation sang in this way). Despite all the above, I adored her.



So why did I like her so much? It wasn't exactly the sound of her voice. But I thought I did know: She didn't merely SING a song, she WAS the song! I felt then as now that she was one of the great interpreters of vocal music.



Later, of course, I learned that Lehmann's heyday was actually ca. 1910-1935 in Europe and that during that period she was known primarily as an opera singer. She had a tremendous following, especially in Wagner and Strauss roles. She was greatly admired by Strauss and sang in the premieres of at least three of his operas (and was THE famous Marschallin of the time). Even Puccini raved about her.



When she came to the U.S. she was already in her late 40s and had pretty much left the stage in favor of giving Lieder recitals, much to the delight of American audiences. She also made numerous recordings of the songs she sang in public.



Thirty of these songs are on the present CD, digitally remastered from 78 rpm records made from 1935 to 1949. (Lehmann was already in her late 40s, 50s, and early 60s at the time.) Attempts have been made to reduce surface noise. I must say, however, that I sort of enjoyed the occasional click and pop and the audible sound of Lehmann taking deep breaths at the end of musical phrases. It somehow makes the whole experience even more human!



Lehmann sings here a wide range of Italian, French, Russian, English, Swedish (Carl Sjöberg's eloquent "Tonerna," also a great favorite of Björling), and German songs, with German Lieder predominating. She was, of course, most at home in her native language, and I often had difficulty understanding the words in the non-German repertoire on this CD. At times I wasn't even sure WHAT language she was singing!



This is an interesting document of a remarkable lady who always gave her all. These performances reflect not only her musical gifts but also her greatness of spirit. Recommended.









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