- Main performer:
Wolfgang Anheisser - Time: 69:01
- Release Date: 1995
Review
As these selections were all recorded in the years just before Anheisser's untimely death, it might be easy to let opera-lover-nostalgia color reviews, since for all too many, it's a foregone conclusion that the best singers in any given time are the ones now retired or dead. However, this recording stands so firmly on its own merits that such sentimentality would be an insult. Anheisser is at his remarkable best in this recording, with a fresh virile tone, an easy top range, and lieder-like attention to the text. The comic selections, in particular, are vividly (perhaps exaggeratedly for some tastes) characterized, as well, though in some moments, such as "Blick ich umher" from Tannhauser and the closing to Die Konigskinder, more vocal tenderness would be appropriate, and the Verdi (sung in German) is far from idiomatic.The sound is rather boxy, and at times the strings sound as though they're playing from another room, but the conducting is quite rich, suited to the largely Romantic-era repertoire, but with a mellowness that keeps it from becoming schmaltzy. The notes include biographical notes in German, English, and French. Since so many of the selections are relatively unfamiliar outside Germany, at least brief synopses would have been more than usually welcome. ~ Anne Feeney, All Music Guide
