MARIA IVOGUN: SONGS AND ARIAS. Various orchestras...

MARIA IVOGUN: SONGS AND ARIAS. Various orchestras and conductors, Michael Raucheisen, piano. Nimbus NI 7832. Chiefly remembered now as the mentor of Erna Berger and the teacher of Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, the Hungarian-born soprano was one of the most important singers prior to WWI and into the early ‘30s--though she sang very little in North America. As shown in “Lo! Here the gentle lark,” the Handel excerpt and the Strauss waltzes, she had remarkable fluency and accuracy above the staff--way above. But she could also be a marvelously expressive singer, as proved in the “Traviata” solo (sung in German) and the second half of the “Lucia” Mad Scene. Her voice was not all top-heavy, either. The middle and lower ranges are shown to be rich and full in Nicolai’s “Nun eilt herbei” and a gutsy “Fledermaus” Csardas, as well as a heartfelt “Die Post” of Schubert. Her embellishments may seem overdone by today’s tastes, but she was in every way a remarkable singer.