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Posted by Martin Walker on May 3, 2007, 11:39 am
213.36.25.38
Reading this very involving & appreciative review by G�ran Forsling, I was struck by two points. As far as the unpublished "Fa la nanna" goes, might that not be put down to the success of Schipa's famous version & Lehmann's unwillingness to be found lacking in comparison? Only a suggestion, I have no evidence. Secondly, I think it is slightly unsuitable to compare a late 1968 Seefried performance of "Gretchen am Spinnrade" with Lehmann's, since her voice began declining earlier; there is a very fast 1956 studio performance on Archipel, a live from Salzburg '57 on Orfeo & the BBC recording from 1962 - yes, the voice has already lost some of its fluency & warmth of tone, though in fact she shrieks "sein Kuss" less here, but what intensity & psychological insight! I think we both agree on that - I would like to take this opportunity of stressing the immense value of listening to this song in the context of the other Gretchen Lieder (as on the Archipel disc & the BBC recording), including the rare & amazing D.126. What a Faust opera Schubert might have been capable of! - Personally, though, to one desiring to start a Lehmann collection, I would recommend seeking out her performances of Korngold from *Die tote Stadt* and *Das Wunder der Heliane*, then her early recording of Elsa's "Du Ärmste" for sheer magic.
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