Stephanie Blythe.(Sound Recording Review)

"BRAHMS, WAGNER, MAHLER" Ensemble a sei voci, Ensemble Orchestral de Paris, Nelson. Texts and translations. Virgin Classics 45702

Wagner's Wesendock-Lieder are rarely performed in their original version for high voice and piano; most often, they are heard in their more familiar 1890 orchestration by Wagnerian conductor Felix Mottl. Mottl emphasized the songs' Tristanesque character with his heavy instrumentation, and listeners can choose from an ample selection of recorded versions with dramatic sopranos (plus the classic and ardent account by mezzo-soprano Janet Baker). hr 1976, Hans Werner Henze made a version for alto voice and chamber ensemble, emphasizing the intimacy of the poems and creating a fascinating range of instrumental colors; this arrangement of the five songs on texts by Wagner's intimate friend Mathilde Wesendonck provides the centerpiece to Stephanie Blythe's latest CD.

Blythe's mezzo-soprano voice, rich and resonant but with plenty of cutting edge, is perfectly suited to this cycle, and the songs, transposed by Henze down a third, lie in the meaty part of her voice. No doubt Blythe could credibly sing them in the original keys, and once or twice, for example in the voluptuous beginning of "Schmerzen," I longed to hear her hurl her sound at the opening line, "Sonne, weinest jeden Abend" (Sun, you weep every evening) as Wagner wrote it. Magnificent as this phrase sounds in Blythe's voice, the downward transposition eliminates much of its visceral impact.

Brahms's Alto Rhapsody with orchestra and male chorus is an elusive work, requiring awareness of the emotional ...