Auch kleine Dinge

Lehmann pearls found among a great variety of CD collections

For those of you who want every CD on which Lehmann sings or for the opposite, those who like Lehmann, but would like to hear other singers as well, I've assembled the following list of CDs. These also are great gifts to introduce people to a broad range of singers while allowing them to hear Lehmann.

Lauritz Melchior, Wagner, Schumann, Arias, Duets With Flagstad & Lehmann. LL joins Melchior in the Robert Schumann duets "Er und Sie," "So wahr die Sonne," "Unter'm Fenster," "Familien-Gemälde" & "Ich denke dein" with orchestra accompaniment. Good transfer; no texts or transIations. RCA 7914-2-RG

The Vintage Collection: Operetta, Great Performances of Viennese Operetta from the Twenties and Thirties; includes such singers as Schmidt, Ivogün, Tauber, Patzak, Hüsch etc. LL sings in ensembles that include Tauber, in selections from Strauss' Der Ziguenerbaron & Die Fledermaus. BBCZCR 716.

Les Introuvable du Chant Wagnerien includes LL singing "Euch Lüften" from Lohengrin recorded in 1930. Many great Wagnerian voices sing on this CD: EMI CMS 7 64008 2.

Richard Tauber's EMI compilation includes LL singing the duet "Glück das mir verblieb" with him from Korngold's Die Tote Stadt. CDH 7 4029 2.

Royal Opera House Covent Garden: An Early History on Record includes the last act trio from Strauss' Der Rosenkavalier in the 1933 recording with Schumann and Olszewska. Nimbus Prima Voce NI 7819.

Another Nimbus CD is called Divas l902-1935. It includes LL singing "Komm, O Hoffnung" from Beethoven's Fidelio. Other artists who are included: Tetrazzini, Melba, Patti, Hempel, Galli-Curci, Ponselle, Turner, etc. German, French and English synopses, and, as with the above mentioned Nimbus, this uses the Ambisonic process; NI 7802.

Nimbus has also released Great Singers in Mozart on which LL sings "Porgi Amor" (in German) in the 1927 recording. Tauber, Schorr, Ivogün, Schumann-Heink, Kipnis, Supervia, Patzak, Hüsch and Schöne appear on this CD. Summary translations in German, French and English. NI 7822.

Be prepared for surface noise on the Pearl CDs which, in an a 78rpm recording, use no noise redution. Pearl has released Covent Garden on Record: A History, in which LL appears in Vol II (1910-1925) singing "Es gibt ein Reich" from Ariadne auf Naxos by Strauss, and from a 1917 recording of "Porgi Amor" (in German) from Mozart's Marriage of Figaro. Other singers include De Luca, Melchior, Chaliapin, Piccaver, Schorr, Melba, Schumann, Rethberg, Muzio, etc. 3-disc set with no texts or translations; thumb-nail bios of the singers and their Covent Garden data; GEMM CDS 9925.

LL sings once in Pearl's Vol IV of the Covent Garden on Record series "Mein Herr, was dächten Sie?" from Die Fledermaus recorded in 1931. This 3-disc set, again without texts or translations, includes arias sung by Tauber, Pinza, Gigli, Flagstad, Tibbet, Kipnis, Leider, etc. GEMM CDS 9926.

The Metropolitan Opera has several CDs on which LL sings. Sunday Night Concert at the MET includes her famous 1941 recording of "Ständchen" by Strauss with Ulanowsky. Sembrich, Melba, Gluck and more recent singers are included on 2 CDs. CD 04244; Casette 04345. To order call 800/892-2525 or write Met Opera Guild, 70 Lincoln Center Plaza, New York NY 10023-6593.

Other Met CDs include Der Rosenkavalier with LL as well as Crespin, Lear, Schwarzkopf, Te Kanawa, etc. CD 04225.

An Old Met Christmas includes LL, Caruso, Martinelli, McCormack, etc. CD 04241. These Met releases are also available as cassettes.

LL is included in a 3-CD set: 50 Great Moments in Opera. Produced by RCA & Angel "Special Projects," these offer no frills packaging (no texts or translations), but a broad range of singers in their most famous repertoire. From Caruso's "Celeste Aida," to Callas singing "Casta Diva," one can find what many consider the "classic" recordings. Contemporary singers such as Domingo are included. LL sings "O sei er gut...Die Zeit sie ist..." from Der Rosenkavalier, but instead of the classic recording of 1933, they have used the 1927 version. Beautiful Music Co., 777 Larkfield Road, Commack, NY 11725 and request CDs "OPD", LPs "OPR" or Cassettes "OPC".

An otherwise instrumental three-CD Schubert set is available in Europe and includes four songs from LL's recording of Die Schöne Müllerin; Sony 35K 48136.

LL sings "Dich Teure Halle" from Wagner's Tannhäuser (recorded in 1930) on Great Voices of the Century. Memoir Records, PO Box 66, Pinner, Middlesex HA5 25A, England. Others on this "Great Sopranos" CD include Teyte, Lemnitz, Vallin, Ponselle, etc. -GH