Lehmann on the Radio

Jim Sjveda, in his Opera Box radio program on KUSC (Los Angeles, 90007), July 25, 1989, devoted a special program to famous interpteters of the Liebestod from Wagner's Tristan und Isolde. These included Fremstad, Leider, Flagstad, Callas, Tebaldi, and Nilsson. At the very end of the hour he played one last version, introduced with these words: "It was always a tremendous pity that the great German soprano of the 20th century and the greatest of all German soprano roles were never able to come together. The singer herself flirted with the idea throughout most of her career but being the intelligent woman and the canny artist that she was, she realized that it would always remain well outside her vocal grasp.

"Fortunately, in 1930 she left a version of the Liebestod that gave us a clue as to what that characterization might have been. Vocally, it is neither opulent nor overwhelning. But then again, none of her finest recordings ever were. And yet, as an interpretation of the scene, as a projection of the character, as a subtle delineation of the meaning of every single word, it is still THE Liebestod of the century. (music) The closing moments of a role she was never once able to sing on stage, the Liebestod, the final moments of Wagner's Tristan und Isolde, from a recording made in 1930 by soprano Lotte Lehmann." Happily, that ethereal rendition of the Liebestod is to be found on the EMI Lotte Lehmann Opera Arias compact disk released earlier this year. --JS

On the National Public Radio program "Chamber Music from Santa Fe," Fred Calland presented a loving tribure to Mme. Lehmann. It included samples of famous recordings, as well as her reading and singing Ich grolle nicht from Schumann's Dichterliebe. The tribute included accurate information on Lehmann's life and career and was probably initiated because former Lehmann student, Benita Valente, sang on this program of chamber music. As a related aside, Miss Valente recently visited the Lehmann Archives and was favorably impressed -GH