Great Strauss Scenes

Here is brilliant selection, direction, and artistry, transparently captured by the Telarc technicians! Maestro Runnicles, the music director of the Deutsche Oper Berlin, Christine Brewer, the superb American soprano, and an augmented Atlanta Symphony Orchestra collaborate to reveal the operatic genius of Richard Strauss. (This team gave us a magnificent Strauss/Wagner album in 2006, Telarc 80661).

"Elektra" and "Salome" are Strauss's operatic masterpieces. These are staged tone poems in which singers and orchestra perform as equals. The drama is full-bloodied and Freudian: no meek seamstresses wasting away in Parisian garrets, no hysterical Italian ladies throwing themselves off parapets, no resolute Celtic princesses leaping into the sea. Instead, Strauss gives us a classical Greek lady selecting an axe for dispatching her treacherous parents, and a lovely young Judean princess making love to the severed head of the unfortunate prophet who spurned her advances.

The selections in the album will delight admirers of Strauss, and enlighten listeners willing to venture beyond the Teutonic silliness of "Der Rosenkavalier". The score is complex and fascinating. Follow the libretto to discover Strauss's unique melding of voice and orchestra to portray action, motivation, and anticipation!

The opening track is the recognition scene from "Elektra". For this, Ms Brewer and the orchestra are joined by the splendid bass-baritone, Eric Owens. Note the dissonant "Elektra Chord" motif from the orchestra.

A brief, sweet interlude from "Capriccio" (track 2) follows. Next, we are treated to the imprisonment scene from "The Woman Without a Shadow" (track 3) sung by Ms Brewer and Mr Owens.

The last two tracks are the highlights of "Salome". We are deprived of the pleasure of viewing Ms Brewer's rendition of the Dance of the Seven Veils (track 4) due to limitations of the medium, but we are compensated with the grandest finale (track 5) in German opera since the fall of Valhalla!

As always with Telarc-ASO discs, Nick Jones provides program notes worth the price of the album. He publishes the libretti (in German and English) in the CD booklet, and posts his commentary on a referenced web site.

This new album is a worthy addition to music collections. The music is beyond value, of course; still, Amazon has managed to overprice the disc. Get it now, but try to find a better price!

I tend to pair Christine Brewer with Deborah Voigt, two acclaimed American sopranos gifted with a beautiful top range, considerable power, and an appealing stage presence. In an age of diminished voices, one can't choose between them so far as being suitable for Isolde, Elektra, or Fidelio -- opera houses would be thrilled to have either as a headliner. But I was surprised that Voigt is 50 and Brewer 54. The latter has risen with comparative slowness, achieving her reputation in Strauss and Wagner mostly in the past decade, while the more versatile Voigt, aided by the powerful support of James Levine at the Met, has been a star much longer, and her range extends to a range of Verdi heroines as well as Wagner and Strauss. Calling her voice glorious, the Times critic expressed frustration that Brewer has been reluctant to sing in opera houses, or even to take on full roles. She's best known for excerpt recordings like this one.

On this Cd Brewer's voice seems to be that of a younger singer but with the signs of musical maturity. Her Recognition Scene form Elektra is possibly the most tender and touching I've ever encountered, and she sings from inside the emotion with convincing sincerity. Is she more impressive than, say, Alessandra Marc or Deborah Polaski? They are less ingratiating singers to me, and the plushness of Brewer's tone, along with its delicacy in the top range, sets her apart. Eric Owns makes for a forceful Orest, if a rather stiff one, while Donald Runnicles, despite his long career in the opera pit, seems too routine. The Atlanta Sym. plays beautifully, and everything is caught in impeccable sound by Telarc, as we've come to expect.

The same virtues, particularly Brewer's outpouring of beguiling sound, hold true in her portrayal of the dyer's Wife in the imprisonment scene from Die Frau ohne Schatten. The finale scene form Salome is more of a chestnut than the preceding scenes, and Brewer is ardent and unflinching, although there isn't much poison or sexiness in her delivery. Yet one cannot think of a true rival to Brewer's star power at this moment except for Voigt. Next up is another dream role for her, Ariadne, but it will be in English on the Chandos label.

This is a treat either if you love Richard Strauss or if you don't know his works well & would like a special introduction. Christine Brewer has a unique and beautiful voice, perfectly suited to these Strauss scenes. And she makes the roles hers. I saw her in Chicago Lyric Opera's 'Die Frau Ohne Schatten" and among 4 superb singers, she shone as the Dyer's Wife. And you will get a generous 10 minutes of "Frau" here, with the fine bass- baritone, Eric Owens as her husband, Barak. The disc opens with the powerful "Recognition" scene from 'Elektra' - again with Eric Owens, as her brother, Oreste, whom she does not at first recognize. She makes Elektra's mad pain quite specifically hers. She does not remind me of anyone else I have seen or heard in the role. I hope someone mounts a production of Elektra for her!