Word: schwarzkopf
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...year he followed up with the U.S. premiere of Sir William Walton's Troilus and Cressida. Adler also revived such difficult classics as Verdi's Macbeth and Wagner's Flying Dutchman, gradually building up his own high-caliber stable of singers, including Germany's Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, Vienna's Leonie Rysanek, British Tenor Richard Lewis, and a strong group of young American discoveries. This season's highlights: the brilliantly staged U.S. premiere of Francis Poulenc's religious opera, The Carmelites (TIME, Feb. 11), and Richard Strauss's seldom-produced Ariadne auf Naxos...
...occasion: the reopening of Wagner's Festspielhaus at Bayreuth in 1951. The recording has a predominantly heavy effect, partly because of foggy fidelity, and there are some sloppy attacks in the orchestra, but there are also some stunning bursts of choral sound, some impressive singing by soloists (Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, Elisabeth Hongen, Hans Hopf, Otto Edelmann), and some unique French horn performances in the scherzo...
Strauss: Ariadne auf Naxos (Irmgard Seefried, Rita Streich, Elisabeth Schwarzkopf; Philharmonia Orchestra, conducted by Herbert von Karajan; Angel, 3 LPs). One of Strauss's important operas, handicapped by a confused libretto, but abetted by some soaringly lyrical music. Even when the score is less than inspired, the cast's three unbeatable leading sopranos melt the listener...
There is a unique quality about Italian sopranos that makes their singing especially exciting. On Wednesday night Renata Tebaldi provided an excellent example of Italian singing at its best. Her voice is more sensuous and passionate than Elizabeth Schwarzkopf's, but lacks the cool perfection of the Viennese singer's style...
Even the middlebrow part of the catalogue is pretty dressy when a soprano of the stature of Elisabeth Schwarzkopf stars in Johann Strauss' Fledermaus...