Classical Music

Baritone G�rard Souzay never had the opportunity to develop a following due to his brief operatic career. Yet experts recognized his innate musicality and his perfect pronunciation of German - his Lieder interpretations are considered legendary. Souzay limited himself to recitals of German Lieder and French m�lodies, but what you'll hear provides sheer delight. He still is a singer for aficionados, but this historic recital, recorded in his prime, will surely further this great singer's reputation throughout the world.

The firm of M. Welte and Söhne’s NYC branch on 5th Ave. lasted from 1865 until 1917, under the name M. Welte and Sons. Established by the founder’s son, Emil Welte (1841–1923) lived in the USA permanently, only rarely visiting Freiburg. A recording studio with a grand piano for making piano recordings and a recording organ as well occupied this fine 5th Ave. address. Piano recordings of the Welte firm were thus not only made in Freiburg im Breisgau from 1905 until 1932, but also in New York. Featuring organists Clarence Eddy, Samuel Atkinson Baldwin, Lynnwood Farnam, Richard Epstein and Edwin H. Lemare.

This selection of Posthumous Songs covers the period 1889-1909, with one song from 1933. Here one senses Zemlinsky's earliest development and years of musical study, as he tests his skills on some of the finest German poets. That he was fully up to the task is immediately evident upon listening. The American baritone, Steven Kimbrough, studied at the University of Birmingham, Alabama, and at Princeton Theological Seminary (graduated in 1962). He had further studies in Italy. Kimbrough is well known as a recital and concert singer through many appearances at New York's Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center, and with symphonies in the USA and abroad. He is the foremost interpreter of the "turn-of-the-century" school of Viennese composers (most of whom were effaced by Hitler's Third Reich), as is demonstrated by his many highly praised recordings. He has presented in the Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall and elsewhere a recital of their songs under the title "Forbidden Composers."