Richard Strauss

A deluxe edition re-mastered and remixed for SACD surround sound from the original acclaimed recording made in 1999.

CD received glowing reviews and is in the Gramophone Best CDs and DVDs Yearbook.

Steve Davislim is a highly sought after Australian tenor based in Vienna who has established a stellar international career working with the most prestigious orchestras and conductors in Europe, the USA and Australia.

Davislim’s voice is full of colour and warmth and informed in every note by an all too rare combination of intelligence and imagination: “it’s almost enough to make you believe in God” St Petersburg Times.

Recording debut of Australian-born Simone Young, recognised as one of the leading conductors of her generation and Music Director of Hamburg State Opera.

First of a series of five CDs that Steve Davislim is making with Melba, including Schubert’s song-cycle Winterreise and the world premiere recording of Saint-Saëns’ 1-act opera Hélène.

CD notes by distinguished Strauss biographer Michael Kennedy.

Digipak with picture disc and 30-page colour booklet with essay and aria translations.

Historic Masters Ltd. Is delighted to be associated with, and to have contributed to, this CD release of little known material by one of the truly great tenors of the twentieth century. In the course of our researches we have discovered original metal parts for three recordings by Jussi Björling which were not released by EMI at the time they were made. All three have now been issued as part of our Historic Masters series and we are delighted to be able to make copies available for transfer to this CD. The tenor solo from Bizet’s Les Pêcheurs de perles was recorded in April 1947. Given that it is Björling’s only studio version of this aria, it seems surprising that it remained unissued until November 1977, late in the LP era. Only then was it included in an EMI boxed set entitled The Art of Jussi Björling. The other two items, the songs Mattinata and For you alone, rank amongst our most sensational discoveries in the EMI archive. These were the very first recordings made by Björling as an adult on 4 September 1929. Piano accompanied, they were almost certainly intended as tests to determine Björling’s suitability for a recording contract. Listening to these first recordings, there can be no surprise that Björling clearly passed this examination with flying colours. Three months later he was in the studio for what was in effect the launching of his hugely successful recording career with HMV and Victor. In the first few months of that career Björling repeated both songs – this time with full orchestral accompaniment. Perhaps this explains why the original tests were forgotten and, indeed, were marked in March 1930 as ‘destroyed’. In 1952, RCA, using the recently developed tape technology, decided to record a selection of the songs that Björling performed at his recitals. It is unlikely that all of these pieces would have been given at one time, but they were certainly included in his programmes over the years and give a very representative selection of the range of his repertoire. Apart from German Lieder, he always liked to sing some Swedish pieces, as well as works by the Finnish composer Sibelius, who complimented him on his interpretations of his songs, particularly those written to Swedish words. This recording from 1952 remained on the catalogue for many years as an LP in the USA, but it was less widely available in Europe and can now be heard here for the first time in a CD transfer from the original master tape. It finds Björling in particularly glorious voice.

Extract from the booklet

With its new production on 7th June 2008, the Vienna State Opera revived a long-standing tradition of having the finest representatives of the profession

singing Capriccio. The work was first staged in Salzburg in 1950 in a production subsequently seen in Vienna. Both there and in Salzburg, the Countess was for many years sung by Lisa Della Casa in one of the Strauss roles with which she was most closely associated.

The present live recording is the first official record of this ideal interpretation, with Georges Prêtre in the pit, vividly demonstrating his Strauss credentials.

It virtually goes without saying that the singers who were engaged to appear with Lisa Della Casa were in every way her equals.The difficulty in choosing between poetry and music becomes all the more understandable when the representatives of these two art forms are artists of the stature of Waldemar Kmentt and Walter Berry. Both men were among the company's leading singing actors, bringing to their parts both striking vocalism and an impassioned wooing of the woman on whom they have set their hearts. No less impressive is the American baritone Robert Kerns, whom Herbert von Karajan had invited to join the Vienna State Opera ensemble two years previously and who remained with the company until his premature death at the age of 55 in 1989.As the Count he displays natural charm in his attempts to win the hand of Christa Ludwig's imposing Clairon. Otto Wiener was more of a heroic baritone than either Berry or Kerns, allowing him to bring all the necessary authority to the role of the theatre manager La Roche and to his great address. Last, but not least, are the two 'Italian' singers, whom it would be difficult to imagine better cast today: the young Lucia Popp and Fritz Wunderlich turn Strauss’s witty parody of Italian bel canto singing into a serious highlight.

Elmo Cloe (1919 – 1962) was a soprano with a huge career in Italy but one that never really spread overseas or to other countries. She sang many of the spinto roles and this collection reflects that with arias from Tosca, La Gioconda, Il Trovatore and Un Ballo in Maschera.

Thanks to Salomé (1905) and Elektra (1909) Richard Strauss was soon hailed as the legitimate heir to Wagner. His use of advanced harmonic language blended with a solid, practical knowledge of theatrical “specifics” touched the borders of modernity. The text was set by Oscar Wilde and Strauss was very determined to reach a perfect harmony between the music and the words. To recreate the atmosphere of the libretto and respect French aesthetics, Strauss drew inspiration first and foremost from Pelléas et Mélisande by Debussy, whose influence is quite clear in the writing of Salomé. The original French version of the opera had fallen into oblivion and music publishers no longer knew of its existence. It was thanks to the Munich Richard Strauss Institute that the original manuscript was finally rediscovered. Dynamic are pleased to be able to present the original French version of the opera. It was recorded in 2007 at the Valle d’Itria Summer Festival on the 100th anniversary of the first staging.