Saturday 5 August 2006

Farewell Elisabeth

Soprano Elisabeth Schwarzkopf has died, aged ninety. The Times has an obituary.
James Inverne, editor of Gramophone, the music magazine, said: “Elisabeth was the diva’s diva. She had the kind of glamour that was associated with stars of the silver screen, and a voice that most people interpreted as having that old- fashioned aristocratic touch.” Inverne pointed to her singing of the Marschallin, in Der Rosenkavalier, as a classic. “She had one of the most sheerly beautiful voices any soprano could be blessed with.”
I'll be playing my own two favourite Schwarzkopf recordings later today: Richard Strauss's 'Four Last Songs,' which she sings beautifully, and a delightful recording of 'Operetta Arias.' The 'Nun's Chorus' on this last is just astonishing.

Farewell Elisabeth.

TAGS: Music, Obituary

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