The Record of Singing Volume 5 - From the LP to the Digital Era (1953-2007) - Box Set 10CDs

Label : EMI
Format : Flac (image + cue)
Cover : Box (front + back)

The first four Record of Singing boxed sets surveyed a fairly broad compass of significant singers from 1899 to the early 1950s. Volume 5 spans more than half a century, starting in 1953 and ending in 2007. The collection's contents embrace many schools, nationalities, and styles, yet is nowhere near so comprehensive as its predecessors. Furthermore, EMI's back catalog governs Volume 5's entire curatorial agenda, and as such many key singers of the past half-century fall by the wayside. Where's Renée Fleming, Eileen Farrell, Thomas Quasthoff, Rene Pape, Jan DeGaetani, Phyllis Bryn-Julson, Maureen Forrester, Jane Eaglen, Kathleen Battle, Samuel Ramey, Cathy Berberian, Inge Nielsen, and Gustav Neidlinger, just to name a few?

I think it best to accept this release as the EMI Vocal Celebration it is, and open yourself up to its potential discoveries. For example, the all-Wagner disc contains some terrific Lohengrin rarities featuring Astrid Varnay and Rita Gorr, plus Hans Hotter's freshest studio Wotan's Farewell. Who knew that atypical fare such as the aria from Act 1 of Roussel's Padmavati would suit Marilyn Horne's unforgettable timbre, or that the normally stentorian James King could spin out Amor ti vieta from Giordano's Fedora so idiomatically? Yvonne Minton's purity of tone and effortless breath control in È amore un ladroncello seems easier to appreciate outside the context of the sluggish complete Così fan tutte (conducted by Klemperer) from which it's excerpted.

As to be expected, Volume 5's timeline reflects an increased interest in Baroque and early music and the emergence of a rich countertenor tradition from the pioneering Alfred Deller to current artists like Phillippe Jaroussky and David Daniels. Seasoned collectors, of course, will be familiar with Flagstad's Wagner Liebestod, Callas' Verdi, Vickers' Carmen Flower Song, Christa Ludwig's Mahler, Walter Berry's Papageno, and Ben Heppner's Walther. However, that might not be the case with those just getting started in vocal music, and who'll appreciate a tasting menu of Volume 5's size and scope.

Complete tracklist : The Record of Singing Volume 5