Dame Janet Baker - download (MP3 & FLAC)

“no typical Italianisches Liederbuch, this. Neither Janet Baker nor John Shirley-Quirk was particularly known for this repertoire - though they've both so convincing that one can't guess why...I was continually excited by new insights at every turn...particularly when Baker sets aside her patrician poise and is seized by the music's inner volatility...Why wasn't this recording released decades ago?” Gramophone Magazine, December 2012

'‘Here are Janet Baker and Rosalind Plowright firing on all cylinders as the rival queens of Scotland and England … Charles Mackerras is the superb conductor; would that he had given us more Donizetti while at the Coliseum.’' The Times on CHAN 3017

“This revival celebrates the association of Janet Baker and Charles Mackerras within the context of the ENO company and one of its most memorable productions. For those who saw this, the set will call the stage back to mind with wonderful vividness; but the appeal goes well beyond that, preserving a performance stamped with the strong individuality that confers the status of a gramophone classic. This brought a personal triumph for Janet Baker and it impresses afresh by the distinctiveness of her vocal characterisation. It isn't every singer who reflects, or re-creates, the distinctive identities through vocal colour and 'registration'. Everyone who was there will remember the 'Royal bastard!' in confrontation with Elizabeth, but equally powerful, and more regal, is her command – 'Be silent! Leave me!' – to the Lord Chancellor of England who brings to Fotheringay news of her condemnation to death. By contrast, the quieter moments can be immensely moving, as, for instance, in the line in which she acknowledges an unexpected generosity in her great opponent. In that role, Rosalind Plowright gives what surely must have been one of the supreme performances of her career.
The writing for Elizabeth makes immense demands of the singer, and in these fearsome opening solos the technical challenges are triumphantly met.
John Tomlinson's massive bass commands attention (which it doesn't then always reward with evenness of production). The male soloists have not the most grateful of roles, but Alan Opie's Cecil shows its quality in the duet with Elizabeth, and David Rendall endows the ineffectual Leicester with plenty of Italianate ardour. The chorus has limited opportunities, and has certainly been heard to better advantage on other occasions.
A word of warning must be added concerning texts which involve cuts and adaptations. The transpositions are defended as standard practice when an exceptional mezzo-soprano (such as Malibran) took a soprano role, in the present instance merely conforming to the lower orchestral pitch of Donizetti's time. However, it's unlikely that at this date the set would be bought or rejected with this kind of consideration foremost.
What remains are the strong positives, most notably the vitality of Mackerras's conducting and the glory of Baker's singing. Also, for those to whom this is a priority, the opera is given in clear English.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010

“two outstanding performances by Dame Janet Baker, recorded at the peak of her career...Luxon makes the selfish Tarquinius into a living character...The seductive beauty of the writing - Britten then at his early peak - is caught splendidly” Penguin Guide, 2010 edition ***

“The Faure is reverentially tender...the chorus eagerly responsive and so perfectly blended.” John Steane, Gramophone Magazine

“Giulini responds sympathetically to Faure's emphasis of the word 'requiem' itself in five of the seven movements, and guides the Philharmonia Choir with a strong a sure hand. The very opening prayer is heavy and burdened, with a gravity that is never over-emphatic…Giulini's is a full-bloodedly Romantic performance. It is a characteristic performance, scrupulous, effective but quite without showiness.” John Warrack, International Record Review

“This is an important disc and one that will give great pleasure since it contains so much fine and deeply committed singing. It’s certainly a mandatory purchase for all admirers of Brahms’s lieder or of Dame Janet Baker.” MusicWeb International

“what singing: what a voice, what beauty of line, variety of colour, incisive diction and unforced mastery of the whole difficult art of Lieder…the disc is a feast.” The Times

“Listening to these Brahms songs culled from BBC broadcasts one realises just why Dame Janet's reputation continues to remain so high and why so many of her successors don't quite match her standards. To every song here, familiar or unfamiliar, she brings her special ability of making it her own and reaching to its heart. It's an almost uncanny gift, and not one easy to explain, but it makes every song in this programme momentous. Wondrous is the sustained half-voice with which she invests Nachtwandler with its intimate, sad feeling.
Then there's the outpouring of joy that is Meine Liebe ist grün to which she brings the most lustrous tone and an outgoing manner, and finally the gentle sense of fun, never overdone, which she brings to the very familiar VergeblichesStändchen.
If Brahms had written no other songs than Feldeinsamkeit, Der Tod, das ist die kühle Nacht and Von ewiger Liebe, he would surely be hailed as a great Lieder composer. Baker obviously understands their astonishing high quality. The first is sung, as it should be, with a kind of inner wonder, each amazing line given its full due. In the second, a Liebestod avant la lettre, she sings with the proper impassioned feeling, while the last, a happier statement of eternal love, is sung with the rugged conviction that always showed the singer at her very best.
Lush and Hamburger, especially the latter, are fully cognisant of what to do with Brahms's intricate writing for the piano. The sound is admirable, catching early Baker in full flow.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010