Melchior: Prima Voce

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
The voice of Danish tenor Lauritz Melchior was unique. Absolutely evenly produced from ringing top to baritonal bottom, he seemed tireless, and no amount of heavy singing of Wagner's most challenging roles appeared to have any adverse effect on him--he sang until well into his 60s. The selection here is all you'll need to have. Melchior is stunningly partnered by Frieda Leider--perhaps the warmest of all Wagnerian sopranos--in the Tristan love duet, and his attention to legato and beauty of tone is amazing in this music. Lotte Lehmann joins Melchior in part of Act I of Die Walküre, where his Siegmund is both loving and heroic, and there's probably never been a recording of the Prologue Duet from Götterdämmerung quite as exciting as this one, with Kirsten Flagstad as his Brünnhilde. Elsewhere, Melchior's Otello excerpts (in German) are steely and exciting, while a French and Italian aria or two could have used their original languages. Walther's music from Die Meistersinger shows Melchior in a more lyrical mode. They don't make them like this anymore. --Robert Levine

Tracks:

Notung! Notung!
Inbrunst Im Herzen
The Love Duet, Act 2
Dir tone Lob
Hull Dich In Tand Nur
Land So Wunderbar (O Paradiso)
Gott! Warum Hast Du Gehauft Dieses Elend (Dio Mi Potevi)
Jeder Knabe (Nium Mi Tema)
Wintersturme
Am Stillen Herd
Morgenlich Leuchtend
Prologue Duet

Amazon.com

The voice of Danish tenor Lauritz Melchior was unique. Absolutely evenly produced from ringing top to baritonal bottom, he seemed tireless, and no amount of heavy singing of Wagner's most challenging roles appeared to have any adverse effect on him--he sang until well into his 60s. The selection here is all you'll need to have. Melchior is stunningly partnered by Frieda Leider--perhaps the warmest of all Wagnerian sopranos--in the Tristan love duet, and his attention to legato and beauty of tone is amazing in this music. Lotte Lehmann joins Melchior in part of Act I of Die Walküre, where his Siegmund is both loving and heroic, and there's probably never been a recording of the Prologue Duet from Götterdämmerung quite as exciting as this one, with Kirsten Flagstad as his Brünnhilde. Elsewhere, Melchior's Otello excerpts (in German) are steely and exciting, while a French and Italian aria or two could have used their original languages. Walther's music from Die Meistersinger shows Melchior in a more lyrical mode. They don't make them like this anymore. --Robert Levine

Customer Reviews:

Almost all the best recordings..........2006-08-04

Almost every important recording of the real 'voice of the (20th) century'. (Only missing are the Tristan duet with Flagstad and the Helen Traubel/Toscanini recordings from 1941. There has been no one since (or before, on the evidence of no less than George Bernard Shaw) who could sing these roles as if they were easy. In particular, if you've not heard the Tristan duet with Frieda Leider, you don't know what this music is supposed to sound like!