Déjà Review: this review was first published in October 2008 and the recording is still available.
Rosa Ponselle – American Recordings 1939 and 1954
Songs and Arias
Rosa Ponselle (soprano);
Romano Romani (piano) (CD 1: 1-8); Igor Chichagov (piano) (CD 1: 9-20, 24; CD 2: 1-11, 13-16; CD 3: 1-14, 19-21); Rosa Ponselle (piano) (CD 1: 21-23; CD 2: 12); Igor Chichagov (organ) (CD 3: 15-18); Mischa Schmidt (violin) (CD 1: 6, 7)
rec. 1939, 1954. ADD
Detailed track-list at end of review
Naxos Great Singers 8.111142-44 [3 CDs: 77 + 66 + 75]
Despite my having worked for RCA Records for several years Rosa Ponselle was a name from the past. Her voice and interpretations were virtually unknown to me! That was until I listened to these CDs. Hearing these CDs has changed all that!
The helpful biographical notes by David Alexander Terry were most informative and have quotations about Ponselle from artists of the calibre of Cllas and Pavarotti. Maria Callas remarked that Rosa Ponselle was “the greatest singer of us all” and Luciano Pavarotti wrote “Rosa Ponselle, almost more than any other singer, had the unique combination of voice and musical profundity to advance operatic interpretation by decades, simply by the sheer genius of her artistry. … Whenever young singers approach me and ask whom they should pattern their singing, after, I always respond: ‘Make a sincere study of the recordings of Rose Ponselle’”.
These CDs date from Ponselle’s middle years. The first comprises recordings set down in the RCA Victor Hollywood Studios in 1939 when she was about 42 years old. The other two offer recordings made at her home ‘Villa Pace’ in Baltimore by an RCA Victor recording crew in October 1954 when she made a return to singing after a few year’s gap. At that time she was 57. The notes by the producer of these CDs, Ward Marston outline the technical problems encountered by Naxos in their efforts to obtain quality material for this Ponselle album. When considering the artist’s age, the sonic limitations of the recording venue at Villa Pace and the transfer problems, it is amazing that the recordings were made and are now available on CD!
One can hardly criticise this project as it is an important historical oeuvre, letting us hear this great soprano’s interpretations and making them available for today’s opera-lovers and students. The sound has its limitations but it is wonderful to be able to hear this greatly admired singer in a variety of repertoire from numerous versions (with piano or organ accompaniment) of Ave Maria, through French repertoire including Lully, Debussy, Chausson, Saint-Saëns, Bizet, de Fonenailles, Delibes and Duparc. Neither does she ignore Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert and Wagner. This is heard alongside Spanish repertoire from Alvarez, to Granados and de Falla. There are a number of Italian songs as well.
Her superb phrasing, diction and interpretation are so carefully thought out and executed. She is so musical and one can sense her influence on the sopranos who followed her as the years rolled on. Her accompanists Romano Romani and Igor Chichagov were also of the highest order and there is some lovely playing from them.
We must be grateful for Naxos for providing the opportunity to hear this great soprano in her later years through the medium of these CDs.
Angela Boyd
see also Review by Göran Forsling
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Contents
CD1
Paolo TOSTI (1846 – 1916)
1. Si tu voulais
Nicholas de FONTENAILLES (19th Century)
2. A l’aimé
Nikolay RIMSKY-KORSAKOV (1844 – 1908)
3. The Nightingale and the Rose
Ernest CHARLES (1895 – 1984)
4. When I have sung my songs
5. When I have sung my songs (unpublished on 78 rpm)
Franz SCHUBERT (1797 – 1828)
6. Ave Maria
Anton ARENSKY (1861 – 1906)
7. On Wings of Dreams
Franz SCHUBERT
8. Ave Maria (unpublished on 78 rpm)
Johann Paul Aegidius MARTINI (1741 – 1816)
9. Plaisir d’amour
Anon. (arr. WECKERLIN, J.B.)
10. Jeune fillette (18th-century Bergerette)
Claude DEBUSSY (1862 – 1918)
11. Beau soir
Leo DELIBES (1836 – 1891)
12. Bonjour, Suzon
Claude DEBUSSY
13. La chevelure
Arr. ROSS, Gertrude
14. Carmen-Carmela
Enrique GRANADOS (1867 – 1916)
15. El Mirar de la Maja
Fermin Maria ALVAREZ (1833 – 1898)
16. La partida
Giovanni PAISIELLO (1740 – 1816)
La Molinara:
17. Nel cor più non mi sento
Attr. ROSA
18. Star vicino
Paolo TOSTI
19. A Vucchella
20. Ideale
21. Marechiare
Geni SADERO (1886 – 1961)
22. Fra a nana, bambin
Rodolfo FALVO (1874 – 1936)
23. Dicitencello vuje
Paolo TOSTI
24. Could I
CD 2
Jean-Baptiste LULLY (1632 – 1687)
Amadis:
1. Bois épais
Mario PERSICO (1892 – 1977)
2. Rosemonde
Camille SAINT-SAËNS (1835 – 1921)
3. Guitares et mandolines
Ernest CHAUSSON (1855 – 1899)
Poème de l’amour et de la mer:
4. Le temps de lilas
Johannes BRAHMS (1833 – 1897)
5. Von ewiger Liebe, Op. 43 No. 1
Richard TRUNK (1879 – 1968)
6. Mir träumte von einem Königskind, Op. 4 No. 5
Franz SCHUBERT
7. Erlkönig, Op. 1, D328
Ludwig van BEETHOVEN (1770 – 1827)
8. In questa tomba oscura, WoO 133
Ermanno WOLF-FERRARI (1876 – 1948)
9. Rispetto
Stefano DONAUDY (1879 – 1925)
10. O del mio amato ben
Paolo TOSTI
11. Aprile
Geni SADERO
12. Amuri, amuri
13. I battitori di grano
Trad.
14. Drink to me only with thine eyes
Roland FARLEY (1892 – 1932)
15. The Night Wind
Teresa DEL RIEGO (1876 – 1968)
16. Homing
17-31 Interview with Ruby Mercer
CD 3
Wolfgang Amadeus MOZART (1756 – 1791)
Le nozze di Figaro:
1. Voi che sapete
Vincenzo CIAMPI (1719 – 1762)
2. Tre giorni son che Nina
Franz SCHUBERT
3. An die Musik, Op. 88 No. 4, D547
4. Der Tod und das Mädchen, Op. 7 No 3, D531
Richard WAGNER (1813 – 1883)
Wesendonck-Lieder:
5. No. 5, Träume
Richard STRAUSS (1864 – 1949)
6. Morgen! Op. 27 No 4
Pyotr TCHAIKOVSKY (1840 – 1893)
7. Nur wer die Sehnsucht kennt, Op. 6 No. 6
Henri DUPARC (1848 – 1933)
8. L’invitation au voyage
Emil PALADILHE (1844 – 1926)
9. Psyché
Fryderyk CHOPIN (1810 – 1849)
10. Tristesse éternelle
Manuel de FALLA (1876 – 1946)
Seven Popular Spanish Songs:
11. No. 3, Asturiana
12. No. 5, Nana
George MUNRO (1680 – 1731)
13. My Lovely Celia
Kathleen LOCKHART MANNING (1890 – 1951)
14. In the Luxembourg Gardens
Georges BIZET (1838 – 1875)
15. Agnus Dei
Luigi LUZZI (1828 – 1876)
16. Ave Maria
Harrison MILLARD (1830 – 1895)
17. Ave Maria
Miguel SANDOVAL (1903 – 1953)
18. Ave Maria
Paolo TOSTI
19. Ave Maria
Luigi DENZA (1846 – 1922)
20. Se
Arturo BUZZI-PECCIA (1854 – 1943)
21. Colombetta
