1. Hamlet, Thomas, O vin, dissipe la tristesse
[4.04]
2. Faust, Gounod, Avant de quitter [3.51]
3. Carmen, Bizet, Chanson du Toréador [4.01]
4. Les Contes D'Hoffmann, Offenbach, Scintille
diamant [4.13]
5. Les Dragons De Villars, Maillart, Glöcken des
Eremitten [3.23]
6. Don Giovanni, Mozart, Deh, vieni alla finestra
[1.57]
7. Don Pasquale, Donizetti, Bella siccome un angelo
[2.29]
8. Il Trovatore, Verdi, Il balen del suo sorriso
[3.48]
9. Il Trovatore, Verdi, Mira d'acerbe ...
Contende il giubilo [7.38]
10. Rigoletto, Verdi, Cortigiani, vil razza dannata!
[4.32]
11. Otello, Verdi, Era la notte [3.09]
12. Pagliacci, Leoncavallo, Si può?Si può? [4.29]
13. Hans Heiling, Marschner, An jenem Tag [4.33]
14. Tannhäuser, Wagner, Blick ich umher [4.26]
15. Tannhäuser, Wagner, O du mein holder Abendstern
[4.42]
Richard STRAUSS (1864 - 1949)
16. Heimkehr Op.15, No.5 [2.36]
17. Ich liebe dich Op.37, No2 [2.16]
18. Ruhe meine Seele Op.27, No.1 [3.09]
19. Das Geheimnis Op.17, No.3 [2.25]
20. Die Nacht Op.10, No.3 [2.54]
21. Zueignung Op.10, No.1 [1.42]
Richard Strauss (piano) (trs. 17-21)
I am a recent convert to the joys of Heinrich Schlusnus’s ringing
high baritone. I suspect that he is less well-known to cognoscenti
because he recorded opera exclusively in German, as was the
norm in his day. He spent most of his thirty year career with
the Berlin Staatsoper. It is an extraordinarily smooth and flexible
voice, with a seamless legato, easy top notes and a comparative
weakness in the low notes. This latter is rarely evident when
he is singing in his true Fach of the Verdi baritone with its
high tessitura.
The firmness and steadiness of vocal emission is a wonder; he
is never throaty or constricted and seems incapable of faulty
intonation. The acoustic recordings made just before the advance
of electrical technology give a clean, clear idea of the character
of his virile baritone; only “Scintille diamante” (here “Leuchte
heller Spiegel, mir”) is marginally compromised by his lack
of resonance in the lower reaches but the range of this aria
is notorious and his subsequent top A flats are splendid.
As a bonus, Frida Leider is impressive as Leonora in “Il trovatore;
both singers have Wagnerian heft but also the agility and thrust
of true Verdians. Their duet is highly charged, taken very fast
and driven to a terrific climax. All the arias being sung in
German, this sometimes militates against the necessary suavity
and cunning one expects of the ideal Iago, for example, but
Schlusnus’s smoothness lends unctuousness to his interpretation.
Similarly, Mozart’s Don emerges as a seductive individual. The
ease of vocal production and vibrant vibrato make one regret
afresh the lack of Italian in the “Pagliacci” aria and once
again his free top is astounding.
The longevity of Schlusnus’s vocal health is testimony to his
superb technique. He was equally at home in bel canto Donizetti,
Verdian cantilena and declamation and the nuances of Schubert
Lieder. He was still singing superbly before his early death
from a viral heart condition in 1952 shortly before his 64th
birthday. The criticisms of his lower notes apart, the only
other reproach levelled at this singer’s singer was some lack
of differentiation in his characterisation, in that he concentrated
on evenness and “classicity” of emission before inflection.
That is not to suggest that his singing was ever dull; far from
it.
The six Strauss songs form a lovely, gentle postlude to the
operatic programme of fifteen items here; the composer himself
is pianist and they are flawlessly sung, even though the recorded
sound is crumblier and rumblier than the preceding tracks. His
soft singing in “Ruhe meine Seele” is sublime.
Ralph Moore
NIMBUS PRIMA VOCE NI7907 [76:17] 