A good year for record collectors

The Lehmann Centennial year turned out to be a gratifying one for Lehmann record collectors. Three compact discs were released and one more was compiled and will be released in July. The premier publication on three LPs of the liedr that Lehmann sang for CBS radio in l941 was perhaps the single most exciting event of the Centennial. The Lotte Lehmann Centennial Albbum was issued by the Lehmann Archives of the University of California, Santa Barbara. Not only do these recordings include items never recorded by Lehmann, but they were manufactured on vinyl, played at 33 rpm, and are almost without surface noise--l0 years before commercial LPs!

Lehmann introduces each song while Ulanowsky tinkles away in the background. She is relatively free from the constraints of the recording studio and I doubt that a second take was made of any song. That's not to say that they're flawless. Rhythm problems occur, especially in the Brahms set. But no matter what technical errors occur, there is always a sense of intense involvement and at the same time, spontaneity. Harold Huber, a record collector who specializes in vocal music, wrote, "I am amazed at the quality of the sound, and of the quality and moving power of her singing...."

William Moran, the well-known discogapher and recorded vocal music expert, re-mastered and edited this set of radio programs. He stated that this treasure included "...all new material, all with comments by Lehmann, all splendid recordings. She was really in excellent voice...I have experimented quite a bit and have gotten very superior results by using the old Western Electric WE-9A pickup which was orginally designed just for these transcriptions."

Dr. Daniel Jacobson, Centennial coordinator, discovered the original recordings in the Archivcs, and was also responsible for putting together abeautiful box for the set of three LPs, plus an informative booklet with the original poetry and translations.

The last evening of the radio series is Christmas Eve and Mme. Lehmann announces that the series will be discontinued. Remember that the US had entered the war three weeks earlier. This, then, is an important set for historical as well as musical reasons. These albums may still be ordered from the Library at UCSB.

The Lehmann-Melchior-Walter recording of Die Walküre is on almost every list of the "Ten Best Recordings of the Ccntury." Though some of the recent LP re-releases have improved the sound quality, it is was the advent of CD laser technology that Lehmann's sound is allowed to bloom. Her impassioned portrait of Sieglinde can be heard on DANACORD's CD DACOCD 317-318, as well as on the Angel (EMI) CDH 7610202.

EMI's Keith Hardwick also put rogether the Angel CD, "Lotte Lehmann, Opera Arias," CDH 7610422. Though it contains no new releases, the sound is excellent and provides the beginner with samples of vintage Lehmann of the 1920's and 30's in the best transfers now available. The classic recording of "Komm, Hoffnung," from Beethoven's Fidelio and the Marschallin's Monologue from Strauss' Der Rosenkavalier stand as testimony to the complete involvement in a role which was Lehmann's trademark.

There are lighter arias from operettas, arias from lesser-known operas such as Die tode Stadt and Das Wunder der Heliane, both by Korngold, as well as the obligatory Wagner excerpts. Both German and American reviewers have been enthusiastic about this CD and have lauded both Lehmann and the relatively good sound. Preiser Records of Vienna has released the sixth Lehmann album in their "Lebendige Vergangenheit" series, LV 1364. Known for both their high sonic standards and discographic data, Preiser doesn't include anything that hasn't been released many times on LP. The Fidelio aria mentioned above, as well as Wagner, Strauss and Korngold material is available once again for those of us who have worn out our now out-of-print LPs of the 1960's.

In the next newsletter I hope to report in detail the contents and quality of the forthcoming RCA Lehmann CD of lieder. It will include some songs never before released, others which never have appeared on LP, a test pressing, and other beautiful lieder which have appeared only on long-out-of-print LPs. William Moran was responsible for the mastering of this CD and had the cooperation of Frances Holden and access to original metal masters provided by RCA's John Pfeiffer.

--Gary Hickling