The Unreleased Masters

by Jessye Norman

Overview

Jessye Norman was a notoriously severe critic of her own work, and she rarely approved unreleased materials for reissue. The recordings here, made between the late '80s and the late '90s, were approved by Norman's family, who have it right. Norman objected to their release for fairly trivial reasons; in the Strauss Four Last Songs, she was dissatisfied with a single note, although nobody could quite agree on which note it was, while the highly unusual Benjamin Britten Phaedra, Op. 93, missed the cut because of a slightly substandard live mix, and the Wagner Tristan und Isolde excerpts apparently brought to mind the singer's rocky relationship between Norman and conductor Kurt Masur. All the recordings are glorious, and it is great to have them. The Tristan excerpts, which were studio recordings, and the Strauss Vier letzte Lieder and Wagner Wesendonck-Lieder, recorded live, lie directly in Norman's sweet spot, and the live recordings are excellent for the time, whatever the singer may have thought. Perhaps the biggest surprises are the selections by Haydn, Berlioz, and Britten, none a composer with whom Norman was ever much identified. Hear these selections from a live Boston Symphony concert under the baton of Seiji Ozawa on the theme of Queens. The Britten is extremely moving in its final aria, "My time's too short, Your Highness," which was true of the composer at the time. Norman's voice is heavier than that of the work's dedicatee, Janet Baker, but the text and the emotions are clear. The excerpts from Haydn's late scena Berenice, Hob. 24a/10, still an underperformed work, are especially impressive as Norman slims her voice down in a way to which she must have been unaccustomed. This recording more than meets Norman's objections, and it is a valuable document that reveals little-known sides of her artistic personality. ~ James Manheim

Product Details

Release Date:	03/24/2023
Label:	Decca
UPC:	0028948529841
Rank:	110844

Tracks

Disc 1

1. Tristan und Isolde WWV 90 (excerpts)~Prelude: Langsam und schmachtend
2. Tristan und Isolde WWV 90 (excerpts)~Act I: Scene 1: Westwärts schweift der Blick
3. Tristan und Isolde WWV 90 (excerpts)~Act I: Scene 2: Frisch weht der Wind der Heimat zu
4. Tristan und Isolde WWV 90 (excerpts)~Act I: Scene 3: Weh, ach wehe! Dies zu dulden!
5. Tristan und Isolde WWV 90 (excerpts)~Act I: Scene 3: Wie lachend sie mir Lieder singen
6. Tristan und Isolde WWV 90 (excerpts)~Act II: Scene 2: Isolde! Geliebte! ¿ Tristan! Geliebter!
7. Tristan und Isolde WWV 90 (excerpts)~Act II: Scene 2: Doch es rächte sich der verscheuchte Tag
8. Tristan und Isolde WWV 90 (excerpts)~Act II: Scene 2: O sink hernieder, Nacht der Liebe
9. Tristan und Isolde WWV 90 (excerpts)~Act II: Scene 2: Einsam wachend in der Nacht
10. Tristan und Isolde WWV 90 (excerpts)~Act II: Scene 2: Unsre Liebe? Tristans Liebe? Dein' und mein
11. Tristan und Isolde WWV 90 (excerpts)~Act II: Scene 2: So starben wir, um ungetrennt
12. Tristan und Isolde WWV 90 (excerpts)~Act III: Scene 3: Mild und leise wie er lächelt (Isoldes Liebestod)

Disc 2

13. Vier letzte Lieder TrV 296~I. Frühling
14. Vier letzte Lieder TrV 296~II. September
15. Vier letzte Lieder TrV 296~III. Beim Schlafengehen
16. Vier letzte Lieder TrV 296~IV. Im Abendrot
17. 5 Gedichte für eine Frauenstimme WWV 91~No. 1 Der Engel
18. 5 Gedichte für eine Frauenstimme WWV 91~No. 2 Stehe still!
19. Tristan und Isolde, WWV 90~Act 2. Unsre Liebe? Tristans Liebe?
19. Tristan und Isolde, WWV 90~Act 2. Unsre Liebe? Tristans Liebe?
20. Tristan und Isolde, WWV 90~Act 2. So starben wir, um ungetrennt
20. Tristan und Isolde, WWV 90~Act 2. So starben wir, um ungetrennt
21. Tristan und Isolde, WWV 90~Act 3. Mild un leise wie er lächelt (Isoldes Liebestod)
21. Tristan und Isolde, WWV 90~Act 3. Mild un leise wie er lächelt (Isoldes Liebestod)

Disc 3

22. Scena di Berenice Hob. XXIVa:10~Recitativo: Berenice, che fai?
23. Scena di Berenice Hob. XXIVa:10~Cavatina: Non partir, bell'idol mio -
24. Scena di Berenice Hob. XXIVa:10~Recitativo: Me infelice! -
25. Scena di Berenice Hob. XXIVa:10~Aria: Perché, se tanti siete
26. La Cléopâtre H.36~Allegro vivace con impeto ¿ Récitatif: C'en est donc fait! -
27. La Cléopâtre H.36~Lento cantabile: Ah! qu'ils sont loin ces jours, tourment de ma mémoire -
28. La Cléopâtre H.36~Méditation (Largo misterioso): Grands Pharaons, nobles Lagides -
29. La Cléopâtre H.36~Allegro assai agitato: Non! ¿ non, de vos demeures funèbres
30. La Cléopâtre H.36~Allegro non troppo ¿ Recitativo misurato (Moderato): Dieux du Nil, vous m'avez trahie!
31. Phaedra Op.93, Cantata~Prologue: In May, in brilliant Athens
32. Phaedra Op.93, Cantata~Recitative: My lost and dazzled eyes saw only night
33. Phaedra Op.93, Cantata~Presto: You monster! You understood me too well
34. Phaedra Op.93, Cantata~Recitative: Oh Gods of wrath
35. Phaedra Op.93, Cantata~Adagio: My time's too short, your highness

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Jessye Norman   Primary Artist,Vocals,Soprano (Vocal)
James Levine   Conductor
Ian Bostridge   Tenor (Vocal)
Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra   Orchestra
Boston Symphony Orchestra   Orchestra
Seiji Ozawa   Conductor
Hanna Schwarz   Mezzo-Soprano (Vocal)
Thomas Moser   Tenor (Vocal)
Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra   Orchestra
Kurt Masur   Conductor

Technical Credits

Franz Joseph Haydn   Composer
Richard Strauss   Composer
Benjamin Britten   Composer
Dennis Collins   Text Translation
Richard Wagner   Composer,Librettist
Jonathan Stokes   Digital Mastering
Costa Pilavachi   Liner Notes
Anne Schneider   Liner Note Translation
Robert Lowell   Librettist,Text Translation
Hector Berlioz   Composer
Francis Marchal   Liner Note Translation
Jean Racine   Librettist
Hermann Hesse   Text
Edward Weston   Project Manager
Ulrich Vette   Balance Engineer
Cees Heijkoop   Engineer,Balance Engineer
Daniel Fesquet   Liner Note Translation
George Hall   Liner Notes
Mari Prackauskas   Text Translation
Lionel Salter   Text Translation
Christiane Frobenius   Liner Note Translation
Wolf-Dieter Karwatky   Balance Engineer
Cyrus Meher-Homji   Liner Notes,Executive Producer
Evert Menting   Engineer,Balance Engineer
Felix Mottl   Orchestration
Cord Garben   Recording Producer
Pierre-Ange Vieillard   Text
Volker Straus   Balance Engineer,Recording Producer
Stephan Reh   Engineer
Pietro Metastasio   Librettist
Willem van Leeuwen   Balance Engineer
Mathilde Wesendonck   Text
Joseph (Karl Benedikt) Freiherr von Eichendorff   Text
Andrew Dalton   Music Data,Publishing,Repertoire