Wagner: Einsam in trüben Tagen (from Lohengrin) (Elsa's Dream)

The German soprano Maud Cunitz was a legendary leading singer, who was completely dedicated to the ensemble of her opera house. She was self-critical and self-confident enough to never attempt a role to which she was unsuited.

Transfiguration is acclaimed star soprano Camilla Nylund’s much-awaited first album of arias.

This CD portrays the lyric-dramatic soprano with famous arias and scenes from operas by Richard Strauss and Richard Wagner, including the grueling final scenes from Tristan und Isolde and from Salome.

The featured arias reflect the lyrical and dramatic facets of Camilla Nylund’s current roles at such venues as Staatsoper Dresden, Vienna State Opera, and Bayreuther Festspiele.

The Tampere Philharmonic Orchestra is led by their chief conductor Hannu Lintu.

CD booklet also includes full libretti.

This Irish soprano had outstanding talent coupled with powerful determination to succeed. Amazingly, she made a successful career in Italy between the World Wars. The years from 1922-1924 were her great years at La Scala. She enjoyed great popularity especially in the role of Butterfly which is included here.

We were delighted when the internationally renowned soprano Christine Brewer agreed to record some of her favourite repertoire pieces on her first recital disc for Chandos in 2005. No surprise that it was a huge success – so we were even more delighted when she returned to record this second volume – repertoire which you would never hear in a single concert or operatic performance, but here capturing Brewer’s glorious range, wonderfully supported by Judith Howarth, Timothy Robinson and the London Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by David Parry.

Christine Brewer’s earlier recital (CHAN3127) introduced into this series the dramatic soprano voice and included in its programme, as does its successor, arias from Gluck’s Alceste and Wagner’s Tannhäuser. In a previous age both operas were sung by Kirsten Flagstad, by general consent the greatest heroic-dramatic soprano of all. Christine Brewer now adds one of the most formidable challenges in the repertoire, Leonore’s solo in Act I of Beethoven’s Fidelio. Otherwise, the two significant extensions are in time, backward to Handel and forward to Britten and Menotti.

Tudor presents Vol. 2 in its series of recordings made on the famous Welte-Mignon Piano. These ‘rolls’ from the famous Hotel Waldhaus Sils-Maria in the Swiss Alps, feature performances by Vladimir von Pachmann, Theodor Lescheitsky, Raoul Pugno and Arthur Friedheim, playing music by Chopin, Liszt, Mozart and Glinka. There is also a performance of Camille Saint-Saens playing his own Rhapsodie d’Auvergne.