Editorial

Schwarzkopf; the idle days of summer........not!

Although it was hardly unexpected (after all she was in her ninety-first year) I was extremely saddened to learn of the death of Dame Elisabeth Schwarzkopf at the beginning of this month. Through listening to records I became acquainted with her voice at an early age and have a vivid recollection of hearing her sing in Salisbury of all places in the mid 1960s. I later saw her in concerts in London and actually met her when she came to a concert given by a student friend of mine at the Salzburg Mozarteum.

Initially I was less enthusiastic about her operatic recordings and tended to side with those who carped about her 'mannered style'. I favoured other sopranos such as Della Casa and Janowitz who were often accompanied by gutsier conductors (for some time I also had a problem with Karajan in his Columbia phase, finding his readings overly precious). A few of her recordings however were played on a regular basis: her Alice Ford, the title role in Orff's Die Kluge (the lullaby scene has remained a constant in my Desert Island Discs for over thirty years), her Mozart concert arias and, slightly later, the Schubert and Wolf recordings.

In 2003 I wrote the notes for a reissue of many different songs and arias on Regis. To get myself in the mood I revisited a number of Schwarzkopf recordings and found myself marvelling at the colouring of the voice. Far from being 'mannered' the impression was rather of a singer who had taken exquisite care in the preparation and who, despite being exceptionally critical of the finished article, nevertheless delighted in the performance.

When the long hot summer began I anticipated a lengthy period of listening to LPs, watching cricket, going to the beach and taking in the odd cultural activity or two. An email from a major label in late June for some consultancy work put paid to that and I seem to have been glued to the computer and the telephone ever since. The work has been tiring but exciting, but the sheer intensity of the workload has made me enjoy the occasional periods of relaxation all the more: the LPs I have listened to have helped me wind down after the long day; I have managed to combine researching for sleeve notes with watching my son excel on the cricket field; I have fitted in the occasional day at the beach; enjoyed yet another visit to WOMAD at Reading; and have just experienced a week of Shakespeare at Stratford. Life's not so bad really.