Sales Information:

"We all envied her, because all that we had to struggle so hard to achieve
seemed so natural and self-evident to her because she knew how to sing
from the heart" said Elisabeth Schwarzkopf of her colleague IRMGARD
SEEFRIED.Collected here are Seefried's complete recital recordings for
Deutsche Grammophon as well as highlights from her recordings of opera
and sacred music for the label and includes material both unpublished and
new to CD.Irmgard Seefried was a revered artist among lovers of natural
singing, wrote the critic Alan Blyth


The emotions, grave or gay, are expressed directly, unfussily, genuinely, in that
peculiarly outgoing manner that was this artist's supreme gift.' This gift illuminates
song repertoire from Bach to Bartok and beyond in a newly compiled and remastered
set of her recital albums recorded by Deutsche Grammophon in the 1950s and 60s.
'If I were condemned to hear only one voice for the remainder of my life I think it might
well be hers,' wrote Blyth on another occasion (a reissue of the 1953 'Liederabend'
anthology of concert performances). 'If I wanted to be charmed, to laugh or to cry I
would fnd her the perfect companion.'
The core of the set is formed by several albums of Romantic Lieder by Schubert,
Schumann, Brahms and Wolf. As well as an imaginative collection of Goethe settings,
there is an album of Heine and Schumann, poetry and song, in which the recited
portions are reissued on CD for the frst time. The set includes two appendices, both
also new to CD: Seefried's contribution to the DG audio documentary series 'Erzahltes
Leben', and 'Erik Werba Accompanies You', in which the soprano's regular recital
partner plays the piano part for famous Lieder (with the idea that the listener at home
will take the sung line for themselves).
Seefried also made several opera recordings as well as sacred music for Deutsche
Grammophon. Generous excerpts from these - often including entire scenes, not just
arias - are included as newly-compiled anthologies across fve CDs.
Seefried's greatness transferred to modern song repertoire, too: not only the opulent
romanticism of Respighi's Il tramonto but Werner Egk's German- Mediterranean
Quattro canzoni, and a selection of sacred solo motets by Paul Hindemith that
surprised and delighted many critics on its frst issue.
All the material in this Original Covers collection has been newly remastered, and the
set is richly illustrated and accompanied by a new essay on Seefried's art by Tully
Potter as well as an English translation of Ein Selbstportrat by Fer van Campen.
"Desert island recordings ... a portrait of an exceptional artist at the height of her
powers. If it's not already in your collection, it should be." Fanfare , March 2015
(Mozart, 'Liederabend')
"If you can resist the sixth waltz as sung on this disc, you have a heart of stone and
something should be done about it." Gramophone, August 1963 (Brahms: LiebesliederWalzer)
"One of Irmgard Seefried's very best records, especially the Cornelius side ... tenderly
beautiful, and sung in clear, fresh beautiful tones." Gramophone , August 1957
(Brahms/Cornelius)
"I have never heard Seefried so consistently in beautiful voice ... Since these are
recordings made at concert performances, the whole personality comes over very [info sheet from distr.]