Jessye Norman (soprano)
The Unreleased Masters
rec. 1989 -1998
Decca 485 2984 [3 CDs: 166]
These recordings, remastered, remixed and issued with the permission of Jessye Norman’s family and estate, were made over a decade but had been withheld by the singer on the grounds that she was a perfectionist who did not think that they met her own very high standards. Her legion admirers might be forgiven for supposing that she was too exacting and are no doubt prepared to be more forgiving of what might at worst be minor flaws in the performance or engineering and welcome their appearance three and a half years after her death. Of particular note are the extended excerpts from Tristan und Isolde, in that she never sang the role of Isolde on stage or recorded the whole of it, otherwise recording only the Liebestod with Colin Davis, von Karajan and Tennstedt. The Strauss and Wagner song cycles and Berlioz’ cantata Cléopâtre she had previously recorded and all three became classics, but there is an intrinsic interest in hearing if or how her interpretations and voice changed when she tackled them again, particularly as those first two works are this time live recordings. Along with the second Cléopâtre, the Haydn and Britten cantatas were part of the “Three Queens of Antiquity” themed studio recording she made with Seiji Ozawa in 1994 but which was never released.
For my part, there were obstacles and even prejudices to overcome before I could give this collection a fair hearing, the first of which is that I feared I was already so attached to, and even imprinted with, Ms. Norman’s preceding studio recordings that I would not be able to listen impartially to any other versions and keep making invidious comparisons – especially bearing in mind that in both my surveys of recordings the Four last Songs and the Wesendonck Lieder (the piano version and the Mottle orchestration), hers emerged among the top recommendations. Secondly, as far as I am concerned, Ian Bostridge and Wagner – indeed operatic singing in general – go together like fishcakes and custard and I am sorry to say that I was never a fan of Thomas Moser’s Heldentenor, either. Neither do I enjoy much of Britten’s music. Finally, a nagging doubt: if these recordings weren’t good enough for Jessye to sanction their release, why should we presume to gainsay her judgement? I tried to push aside all those caveats and reservations and listen with as little bias as possible.
As it turns out, I regret to say that Norman’s doubts had more than a little foundation. Certainly, a lovely, dreamy Prelude sets the right tone for Tristan und Isolde and of course the Gewandhaus orchestra could hardly sound better; to my ears they sound virtually identical to Karajan and the BPO – and that is the highest compliment; if anything, the first great climax at 7:20 is even more intense. Mr Bostridge sings the sailor’s ballad prettily – admittedly sounding more like a teenage trainee hairdresser than a horny-handed Jack Tar, but let that pass…then immediately more doubts start to creep in and it all starts to go downhill. Hannah Schwarz – an artist I generally admire – as Brangäne sounds vocally out of sorts, crooning her music, her lower register weak. It then becomes apparent that – as reports of a certain disharmony during the recording sessions suggest – all is not well here; Norman does not really sound engaged or indeed enraged as the fiery, outraged Isolde should be as she supposedly warms to her theme of cursing her fate and her captors. Bostridge overworks the pathos of the reprise of his song and Norman ripostes sedately, whereas Isoldes with fire in their bellies positively exude rage and despair. I cannot help feeling that this is simply not her role; she had a similar temperamental failure with the parts of Carmen and Fidelio. She excels in the grandes dames roles like Strauss’ heroines, not women of action, and I begin to understand why she did not want this released. She makes a decent job of the narration of how she healed “Tantris” and his subsequent betrayal, but in truth nothing is very memorable; even key moments such as “Er sah mir in die Augen” (He looked into my eyes) and “Er schwur mit tausend Eiden” (He swore with a thousand oaths) go for little. “Mir lacht das Abenteuer” and the subsequent passage is screechy – something I have never heard in Norman’s voice before.
The famous “telegramme duet” ensues and Norman makes quite heavy weather of the two high Cs while Moser’s pulsing, uningratiating tone increasingly grates on the ear. He never sounds remotely heroic. The love duet “O sink hernieder” is blighted by his bleating, constricted emission. Schwarz is absolutely awful in Brangäne’s warning, singing unsteadily and flat, and positioned much too close to the microphone to make the right effect; l hardly recognise her as the singer who, for example, makes such a powerful Nurse for Sawallisch and Sinopoli in Die Frau ohne Schatten. Seconded by lovely orchestral accompaniment from Masur, Norman displays her usual prowess in the concluding Liebestod, reminding us of the Jessye Norman we know, but that was already apparent from the three previous recordings aforementioned, so we hardly needed the fourth here. In brief, these Tristan excerpts are an enormous disappointment and Norman was right to suppress them.
We turn next to the live Strauss and Wagner recitals disc. Levine’s manner is considerably speedier and more propulsive than Masur’s in his famous studio recording with Norman, but that’s fine, as his feel for the ebb and flow of this music is unimpeachable. The BPO, too, are marvellous – especially the horn and violin solos – and Norman is in glorious voice, so apart from the more urgent tempi, all the features which made that studio version so satisfying are present here – indeed, interpretatively and vocally, in terms of execution, the two versions are almost indistinguishable. Exactly the same is true of the Wagner cycle; the amplitude, warmth and sustained line of her singing are stunning. There is nearly a minute’s warm applause at both the start and conclusion of the Strauss and the occasional cough, whereas the audience for the Wagner is utterly silent until they applaud at the end. Unlike the Tristan excerpts, this is the artist we know and love; if we did not have Norman’s studio recordings of these works, then these live performances would be indispensable – but as it is, these are essentially more of the same – superb, but hardly any different.
The third disc presents the trio of noble, afflicted women. I confess to finding the Haydn conventional in expression and of only passing interest, beautifully sung though it is by Norman; she displays a trill, considerable agility for so large a voice and her usual linguistic facility. Cléopâtre, by contrast, is a supreme masterpiece and Ozawa conducts with his habitual flair and vigour in Berlioz – but of course Norman had already recorded it with Barenboim and this represents no advance on that account, which was vocally sumptuous and dramatically highly expressive – just as it is here. The musical depiction of the Egyptian’s queen’s failing pulse as she succumbs to the asp’s venom is one of the great pieces of note-painting, exquisitely managed by Ozawa. The role sits in the meat of Norman’s voice – but I guess I am puzzled that she felt the need to record it again; then, according to the notes, she pronounced herself dissatisfied with the audio mix, now rectified here. I find nothing to enjoy in what I hear as the disjointed, pretentious cacophony of Britten’s cantata; this is the first – and last – time I have listened to it but I am sure that those who do will find Norman peerless in it.
The sound is first-rate throughout; absolutely no issues there. The three CDs are handsomely packaged in cardboard sleeves with a substantial, 72-page booklet containing all the texts and translations, colour photographs, essays and tributes packaged in a slim cardboard box with a supposedly “loose”, unhinged lid which, when firmly fitted, requires the fingernails of Fu Manchu to open – at least in my set.
The bottom line is that for me, with the exception of the Haydn and the Phaedra cantatas neither of which much interests me, everything here is either disappointing or better or equally well-recorded by Norman elsewhere and despite the heartfelt written tributes, I cannot see how this set adds much to her lustre. The second disc is wonderful but essentially a duplication of the studio recordings; otherwise, when I want to remember her as the great singer she was, I will turn to a dozen other recordings first.
Ralph Moore
Jessye Norman obituary
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Contents
CD 1:
Richard Wagner (1813-1883)
Tristan und Isolde, WWV 90
Act I excerpts:
Prelude
Westwärts schweift der Blick
Frisch weht der Wind der Heimat zu
Weh, ach wehe! Dies zu dulden
Wie lachend sie mir Lieder singen
Act 2 excerpts:
Isolde! Geliebte! – Tristan! Geliebter!
Doch es rächte sich der verscheuchte Tag
O sink hernieder, Nacht der Liebe
Einsam wachend in der Nacht
Unsre Liebe? Tristans Liebe?
So starben wir, um ungetrennt
Act 3 excerpt:
Mild und leise wie er lächelt (Isoldes Liebestod)
Seemann: Ian Bostridge (tenor)
Isolde: Jessye Norman (soprano)
Brangäne: Hanna Schwarz (mezzo-soprano)
Tristan: Thomas Moser (tenor)
Gewandhausorchester Leipzig/Kurt Masur
rec. 1998, Gewandhaus, Leipzig
CD 2:
Richard Strauss (1864-1949)
Vier letzte Lieder
Richard Wagner (1813-1883)
Wesendonck-Lieder*
Jessye Norman (soprano)
Berliner Philharmoniker/James Levine
rec. live 1989 & 1992*, Großer Saal, Philharmonie, Berlin
CD 3:
Joseph Haydn (1732-1809)
Berenice, che fai? (Scena di Berenice), Hob XXIVa:10
Hector Berlioz (1803-1869)
Cléopâtre – Scène lyrique, H36
Benjamin Britten (1913-1976)
Phaedra, Op. 93
Jessye Norman (soprano)
Boston Symphony Orchestra/Seiji Ozawa
rec. 1994, Symphony Hall, Boston
