In common with most
music-lovers I have a list of artists
from years past whom I would dearly
like to have heard live. Teresa Stich-Randall’s
name makes it onto my list of singers
without hesitation along with others
including Maria Callas. Were I pushed
to do so I would opt for Stich-Randall
in preference to Callas for the reason
that her art seems less prone to intervene
between music and listener. Stich-Randall’s
art will be known to owners of Karajan’s
famous Der Rosenkavalier or Falstaff
sets, but it took a live lieder
recital to reveal her greatness to me.
Partnered by Hans Rosbaud at the Aix-en-Provence
Festival in 1956, the programme consists
of Mozart, Schubert, Brahms, Strauss,
Debussy and Schumann – available on
INA 262008. Hardly a song in the recital
can be dismissed lightly and as a whole
it’s noteworthy for the fact that well
known and less known items sit comfortably
beside one another. The encore, Schumann’s
Widmung, is nothing less than
a revelation.
Coming to this four
CD boxed set I had high hopes that have
for the most part been realised upon
hearing it. That the set casts its net
wide in terms of overall repertoire
is commendable, as is the fact that
it brings onto CD - often for the first
time to my knowledge at least - studio
recordings of extracts from roles in
which Stich-Randall was much admired.
The lieder items all but avoid duplication
entirely with the INA disc. It is good
that a few recordings have found their
way complete into the set too, even
if this is also a source of minor frustration
at times. Just why was Beethoven’s Fantasia
included? It is nearly 15 minutes into
the piece before the chorus entry and
even then Stich-Randall plays a minor
recurring role in proceedings. Maybe
if the performance as whole held together
better than it does I would be more
inclined to overlook this, but this
is 18 minutes of playing time that says
little in favour of The Art of Teresa
Stich-Randall.
Handel and Bach afford
much more of an opportunity for her
to make an impression. CD 1 opens with
Handel’s ‘Ode for Saint Cecilia’, which
is given a spacious reading under the
direction of Anthony Bernard, indeed
he maintains a stately vision very much
at odds with today’s period instrument
approach. Stich-Randall shows her qualities
as an unassuming stylist throughout
the six sections to which she contributes.
Not only is her tone assured and crystal-clear,
but her English diction betrays nothing
of her American origins. Alexander Young
contributes his tenor line with firmness.
Handel’s cantata ‘In Praise of Harmony’
gives her a fine vehicle again; indeed
it is hard to imagine it sung with greater
sensitivity. It’s no surprise the recording
won the coveted Preis de Tonkunst for
1964. It still wears its years lightly.
That Bach accounts
for a reasonable part of her concert
repertoire can be appreciated from the
items included here. She sings it with
a sense of the eternal. Maurice André
contributes his near constant trumpet
part in ‘Jauchzet Gott in allen landen’
with enthusiasm and his tone works well
against Stich-Randall’s voice. A good
reminder of tenor Ernst Haefliger in
his prime under a young Lorin Maazel
is afforded by an extract from the B
minor Mass.
Mozart with orchestra
fills all of CD 2 and lieder with piano
a chunk of CD 3. Though the style of
the performances themselves are a little
different, she can bring to mind another
American, Barbara Bonney, as her closest
equivalent today. Though Stich-Randall
throws off Mozart’s florid lines in
the orchestral works with ease, she
is no mere songbird. Vocal agility,
clarity of tone and diction and heartfelt
feeling all contributed in making her
one of the exemplary Mozart sopranos
of her, indeed, of any age. Different
colours are found in the voice to differentiate
the various sections of ‘Exultate Jubilate’,
the Mass and Vespers. It’s nice to have
the Laudamus Te from the C minor Mass
too. Karl Ristenpart conducts the Orchestra
de Chambre de la Sarre with stately
reverence at times (the andante in ‘Exultate
Jubilate’ is a good deal slower than
one might expect) but his is a genuine
chamber orchestra that is well drilled
and precisely balanced. What of Stich-Randall’s
operatic Mozart though? Just a single
aria from Così represents
it (well, I might add); nevertheless
it is a pity not to anything of the
Figaro’s Countess, Giovanni’s Donna
Anna (illustrated in the booklet), Magic
Flute’s Pamina, Idomeneo’s Ilia or Entführung’s
Konstanze. These roles were her regular
calling cards at major Festivals around
Europe.
Some compensation is
to be had with the inclusion of the
lieder. When encountering performances
such as these one wonders why more singers
don’t perform them regularly. Stich-Randall
does so with the same care for nuance
as exhibited in the orchestral works.
Jacqueline Bonneau’s accompaniment is
unassuming and a touch recessed at times.
From that same recording of 1961 comes
a group of nine Schubert settings to
complete a programme of German lieder.
The selection is of well known items
but the readings are fresh and carefully
prepared. Particularly impressive is
the hushed control of tone combined
with faultless breathing whichever evident
whichever composer is being performed.
Mozart’s ‘Das Lied der Trennung’ or
Schubert’s ‘Du Bist die Ruh’ and ‘Nacht
und Träume’ best illustrate this.
‘Die Forelle’ darts winningly in a swiftly
flowing stream. The Schubert contribution
to the set is rounded off with a pleasing
reading of the ‘Salve Regina’, once
more sensitively accompanied by Ristenpart’s
Sarre forces.
The quartet of arias
on CD 4 not yet mentioned give some
indication of where her musical heart
lay – with passionate roles that, alas,
she performed all too rarely. La
Traviata sees her Violetta in a
whirl; Louise lacks for little
tenderness; Tosca is reflective
of music as the love she lived for.
It is unsurprising that such a supreme
Mozartian should bring much required
intimacy to her performance of Strauss’s
Ariadne monologue. That her mantra
was "Die Musik ist heilige Kunst"
one can believe and her performance
of Vier Letzte Lieder shows this
also. Occasionally she is taxed a touch
by breathing, but overall it is a radiant
reading that finds more shading in the
lines than larger voices can do when
they approach these songs. For a work
that it’s hard to think of ever having
a definitive performance, this version
joins those by Jurinac, Popp and Schwarzkopf
that bear repeated hearing.
The booklet offers
only a brief three side appreciation
and includes a rather pompously worded
testimonial by Gabriel Dussurget. No
texts or translations to accompany the
music are included and some will find
this a drawback. There might be a few
quibbles over what is or is not included
here, but it’s the quality of Stich-Randall’s
singing that really matters and that
is beyond reproach.
Evan Dickerson
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Teresa Stich-Randall (soprano) 
