Jussi Bjorling.(Sound Recording Review)

[] "BJORLING REDISCOVERED: Carnegie Hall Recital September 24, 1955" Music of Beethoven, Foster, Giordano, Grieg, Mascagni, Puccini, Schubert, Sibelius, Sjoberg, Tosti, et al.; Schauwecker, piano. Texts and translations. RCA Red Seal 82876-53231-2

Struggles with illness throughout the 1950s apparently interfered not a whit with the legendary abilities of Jussi Bjorling (1911-60), as his 1955 Carnegie Hall recital, newly available on RCA Red Seal, amply demonstrates. Most of this program was previously released on LP, but nine of these tracks were omitted then, and are available here for the first time. Bjorling's technique remained flawless and seemingly effortless, his glowing sound free-flowing and unblemished. He could still sing convincingly at any dynamic level in any part of his range, with a completely organic and unfailingly tasteful sense of drama. Occasional high notes veer sharp, but there are never any signs of pushing or vocal strain accompanying these slight intonation flaws.

Several of the songs on this program were Bjorling recital favorites and can be compared with recordings he made of them earlier in his career (many of which are still available, in compilations or reissues). When heard in this context, the 1955 Carnegie Hall performances reveal a more blazing, more intensely focused but still completely natural sound, along with a general sense that the stakes are much higher. In Beethoven's "Adelaide," a 1939 recording (reissued ...