An almost legendary pairing.
Alan Montgomery | Oberlin, Oh USA | 11/27/2006
(5 out of 5 stars)
"How wonderful of DGG to reissue these performances, documented nicely as to what LPs they came from. The singing is astonishing. How many sopranos could range from Oscar (in Ein Maskenball) to Marie in Wozzeck. But Evelyn Lear does so, with some incredibly lovely Lieder singing in between. Morike Lieder are not so often performed as to make this a duplication in many CD catalogues. Stewart's Wotan's Abschied is beautifully felt, with the Berlin Philharmonic in its glory behind him. It cuts off, however, just before the start of the fire music, so we don't get Wotan's last line. Still the level of singing here is outstanding. The duet album offered from another label - Don Giovanni, Aida, etc. - is less impressive because Ms. Lear is forced to singing more heavily (and less pristinely) than usual. Now if only Sony-BMG would reissue the incredible Ives LP on CD again. It was honest, straightforward singing, with no pretension except in one or two "precious" songs. Rather than overkill with too many excerpts, these cover the highlights of two sensational careers. Buyer need not beware. This is world-class singing."
Two great American singers who conquered Europe
Santa Fe Listener | Santa Fe, NM USA | 09/27/2006
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Now somewhat forgotten except by those with long memories, Evelyn Lear and husband Thomas Stewart achieved greater success in Europe than any other Americans of their generation except Leontyne Price. Stewart was Karajan's Wotan in his recorded Walkure from 1967, and also in Siegfried, while about the same time Lear was Karl bohm's Pamina in Zauberflote. It was unheard of for two Americans to be signed up on the yellow label for DG, but here we have just a sample of their recordings--just in time to commemorate Stewart's recent death at 78.
For me, he's the real star here. His Flying Dutchman soliloquy 'Die frist ist um' is riveting--a good place to start if you don't know how intense and foxused an artist he was (for a while he held the record for repeat appearances at Bayreuth, I believe). The high point for Lear as a solo artist is probably the long stretch devoted to Strauss and Wolf lieder, where her warm, musical style is most evident. Orchestrated lieder by Wolf are a rare commidity, and Stewart performs a batch with incredible intensity. These discs range over a huge range of songs, duets, arias, and scenes, however--too many to summarize.
As for their duet recitals, we get only 3 Stephen Foster songs from an LP that made quite an impression in the Sixties--all beautifuly sung, without a trace of operatic crossover pretension. In that vein we get Dvorak's Moravian duets and ohters from Brahms and Schumann. Devoted as they were to each other, I think Stewart does best on his own, so my recommendation centers chiefly on him."
Track Listings (79) - Disc #1