Description:

Heather Harper was an artist who was equally comfortable on the opera and the concert stage. Here we have assembled excerpts from an array of concerts and recitals in which she performed during the early 1970s. The highlight for me is a stunning rendition of Ravel’s Shéhérazade. There are only a few singers I can think who were as successful pulling of the Straussian soaring lines of the opening number, “Asie”, as well as the delicate vulnerability of the final number, “L’indifferent”. The great discovery for me is a set of early Britten songs, set from poems by Victor Hugo and Paul Verlaine. Although there are traces of what would become his mature style, to my ear, they show a direct influence to Alban Berg. And speaking of Britten, he lends his skills as a pianist to Der Hirt auf dem Felsen by Schubert. One of the recitals also features bass, Michael Langdon in songs by Schoenberg and Brahms. None to mention.

In Stereo and Mono

OD 12136-1