Inga Nielsen (1946-2008) was the leading Danish Soprano of the past 30 years. With an astonishing freshness to her sound she moved from lyric to dramatic soprano in the 1990s, and I remember her superb live performances as Salome (on CD as well) and Elsa at the Royal Danish Opera. Other major achievements included The Empress (Die Frau Ohne Schatten), Chrysothemis and Erwartung, roles she performed in all the major opera houses.
At times, she also performed at less stellar venues: I vividly remember a performance of Strauss´ Vier letzte lieder at my local town hall in Gentofte, Copenhagen around 1985 with a local youth orchestra in which I was playing second violin. How we got through the Strauss score alive I don´t know. And why she accepted to sing with us at all still surprises me.
The present double-CD is a more than overdue documentation of her work, and spans a period of more than 50 years of recording, beginning with "This year´s at the spring" in 1952 accompanied by her father Arne Nielsen (she was 6 years old).
Among the highlights is a complete performance of Erwartung, conducted by Gerd Albrecht, in which her clear and fresh soprano shines eerily throughout. Also the excerpts from Die Frau Ohne Schatten ( "Wehe mein mann") and Elektra ("Ich kann nicht sitzten") shows her at her best. And on top, Plácido Domingo appears in the duet "Toi! Vous! Oui...c´est moi" from Manon.
To hear Inga Nielsen in a complete role, the recording of Salome with Michael Schönwandt and the Danish National Radio Symphony Orchestra is among the finest on disc and strongly recommended.
5 comments:
Danish National Radio Symphony Orchestra is one of the finest i ve ever heard and Schönwandt should be an internationally acclaimed star. I heard him (and the Orchestra) in a Frau Ohne Schatten in Athens (you can find a recording at my blog) and i was totally astonished by their sound! Inga Nielsen was singing the Empress next to Eva Marton's faerberin....
Actually the excerpt from Die Frau Ohne Schatten on the Inga Nielsen CD is from that performance you mention in Athens, conducted by Michael Schönwandt. Thanks for the information - I will definitely check the performance out on your blog.
I completely agree - Schönwandt is a first-rate Richard Strauss (and Wagner) conductor. The performance he conducted of Elektra last year in Copenhagen is one of the most exciting I´ve ever been to.
Would it be too much to ask you for an upload of the Athens excerpt?
No problem - just have to figure out how to do it..(am still a pretty new internet music listernes and haven´t uploaded anything before.)
She died from cancer yesterday.
Post a Comment