ARIAS AND SONGS BY HANDEL, SCHUMANN, SCHUBERT,...

ARIAS AND SONGS BY HANDEL, SCHUMANN, SCHUBERT, BRAHMS AND STRAUSS. Jessye Norman, soprano; Geoffrey Parsons, piano. Philips 422 048-2 (compact disc). Norman is far from her formidable best in this recital, recorded live (with attendant outbursts of applause) at the 1987 Hohenems Festival. Handel’s stringent stylistic demands sit uneasily on her opulent soprano, and everywhere Norman seems unwilling to cast a spell of introspection or levity, even if material such as Schumann’s “Widmung” or Schubert’s “Der Musensohn” requires it. Yet, despite the occasional raw patch, she can stir an audience with “Ave Maria,” or revel in the long line of “Der Tod und das Madchen” without compromise. Philips’ sound is a bit steely.