Brigitte Fassbender was the opera director at our local opera house when my dad first started taking me to the opera. Some of the first operas I saw in her stagings were Tosca, Rheingold, Lohengrin, Turn of the Screw, ... And I've been hooked ever since. Thank you for your overview and take on her discographic legacy!
First heard her in that Heger MARTHA w/ Gedda, Prey, Rothenberger-a perfectly cast quartet of singers in which her young chocolatey mezzo was irresistible. Got me hooked.
The "Ständchen" with a male chorus is, actually, a completely different piece, not the too-well-known song. And a wonderful work it is. In the recording in the EMI box, the pianist is Sawallisch, if I remember correctly.
Wow, thanks for this! I have/love both of these boxes. On balance, Fassbaender might be my favorite mezzo, but it's a tough call. She had a greater range of repertoire than other favorites (Janet Baker, Christa Ludwig, Shirley Verrett, Tatiana Troyanos), so that probably gives her the edge in my mind. Regardless, she's amazing, and so is her Winterreise. Also: "sludgette"! Nice one.
Towards the end of her career she did a Klytemnestra in Elektra at the Met which was absolutely demented. Truthfully, she didn't pay a lot of attention to Strauss's notes but it was amazing and gutwrenching nonetheless. BTW, I must be one of the few listeners who really enjoys Reimann's Lear. I'm glad you're attentive to your cleaning lady. Lord bless them, they leave us so much more time to listen to music. 🙏
I attended several of her lieder recitals (including her very last performance as a singer in 1994) and always felt that she was an amazing lieder singer. I particularly loved her approach to Brahms.
Brigitte Fassbender was the opera director at our local opera house when my dad first started taking me to the opera. Some of the first operas I saw in her stagings were Tosca, Rheingold, Lohengrin, Turn of the Screw, ... And I've been hooked ever since. Thank you for your overview and take on her discographic legacy!
In her youth, she was once one of my favorite pieces of luxury casting: Solti’s WALKÜRE Waltraute. I was forever spoiled.
First heard her in that Heger MARTHA w/ Gedda, Prey, Rothenberger-a perfectly cast quartet of singers in which her young chocolatey mezzo was irresistible. Got me hooked.
The "Ständchen" with a male chorus is, actually, a completely different piece, not the too-well-known song. And a wonderful work it is. In the recording in the EMI box, the pianist is Sawallisch, if I remember correctly.
You got it right!
Wow, thanks for this! I have/love both of these boxes. On balance, Fassbaender might be my favorite mezzo, but it's a tough call. She had a greater range of repertoire than other favorites (Janet Baker, Christa Ludwig, Shirley Verrett, Tatiana Troyanos), so that probably gives her the edge in my mind. Regardless, she's amazing, and so is her Winterreise.
Also: "sludgette"! Nice one.
Towards the end of her career she did a Klytemnestra in Elektra at the Met which was absolutely demented. Truthfully, she didn't pay a lot of attention to Strauss's notes but it was amazing and gutwrenching nonetheless. BTW,
I must be one of the few listeners who really enjoys Reimann's Lear.
I'm glad you're attentive to your cleaning lady. Lord bless them, they leave us so much more time to listen to music. 🙏
I attended several of her lieder recitals (including her very last performance as a singer in 1994) and always felt that she was an amazing lieder singer. I particularly loved her approach to Brahms.
I heard her sing Winterreise (with Aribert Reimann) live, in a concert in Tel Aviv in the early 1990s. Unforgettable
As noted, she sang some excellent Mahler, Kindertotenlieder in particular.
Marjana Lipovšek sings the Sphinx on Foster's recording of Oedipe. Thanks for the Fassbaender review!
Bingo! She is amazing.
Are you planning to explore the version by my old friend Ben Luxon? ☺️
I hope so. He was a great artist.