Jazz
Lena Horne
13 products
ESSENTIAL HORNE
Marilyn Horne - Rossini Recital / Martin Katz
Christmas with Marilyn Horne & The Mormon Tabernacle Choir
Meyerbeer: Le Prophete / Lewis, Horne, McCracken, Scotto, Bastin
...Whenever Marilyn Horne's Fides holds the stage, it matches the energy of the piece itself. The role calls for a Brünnhilde range with an Amneris-type voice: the vocal flexibility and dramatic punch needed are extraordinary. Miss Horne, as she has shown in her Decca discs of the character's most famous passages (SXL6149, 5/65 and SET309-10, 5/66), has them all, and she brings out the pathos of the part without sentimentalizing it. She opts for all the more difficult alternatives and executes them with a supreme confidence. In brief, I found hers a thrilling performance.
-- Gramophone [5/1977]
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...Of great voices the present recording can offer at least one. Marilyn Horne, even at this date (1976), was no longer singing with the firmness of earlier years, as is clear if this performance of "Ah, mon fils" and the Prison scene is compared with that included in her magnificent first LP recitals. Even so, much of the richness remains and the majestic virtuosity is unimpaired... The Royal Philharmonic under Henry Lewis play well, colourful orchestration being among the score's most attractive features...
-- Gramophone [10/1989]
Puccini: Il Trittico / Maazel, Cotrubas, Scotto, Horne, Gobbi, New Philharmonia, London Symphony Orchestra
The snag is that particularly with CBS's somewhat close recording balance, the atmospheric qualities of each opera—which some Puccinians would regard as among their highest merits—are underplayed. When I first reviewed Il tabarro, this absence of essential atmosphere made me give a less charitable review than I would now. Hearing it in context with the other performances, it is refreshing and invigorating to have a taut and relatively unyielding view of a fine score, even while one misses the dark evocations of the scene under a bridge of the Seine in Paris, which other versions so vividly capture.
The other gain from hearing the performances together is to have the dominance of Renata Scotto reinforced in both It tabarro and Suor Angelica. In Il tabarro neither Placido Domingo as Luigi (not quite in his warmest voice) nor Ingvar Wixell as the bargemaster Michele (rather too gritty-toned as recorded) is exactly a cipher, but Renata Scotto consistently focuses the centre of involvement with her dramatic and finely detailed singing.
In Gianni Schicchi the central pivot is provided of course by the contribution of the veteran Tito Gobbi, and though there may be some signs of the voice not being as young as it was, it is a deeply satisfying performance, as fine in its way as the classic one he recorded for HMV 20 years earlier. That HMV version is included in the boxed reissue set of Il trittico which appeared two years ago (SLS5066, 10/76), with all three operas given marvellous performances but with very dated recording and only Schicchi in stereo. The Decca set under Gardelli (SET 236-8, 12/62) is more idiomatic in performance than this Maazel CBS issue, and the sixties recording is amazingly bright and full for its age. But the new issue, controversial as it may be in some ways, is certainly refreshing, and should in particular win converts among those who still regard Puccini as merely soft and sentimental.
-- Gramophone [8/1978, reviewing the LP release of Il Trittico]
Verdi: Falstaff
Mahler: Symphony No. 2 / Fischer, Gustav Mahler Fest Kassel Festival Orchestra
Rossini: Il Barbiere di Siviglia / Chailly, Horne, Ramey, Nucci, Orchestra del Teatro alla Scala
A suave account of Rossini’s classic comedy, with Riccardo Chailly and his La Scala forces clearly enjoying the piece and a top-quality cast fulfilling the requirements of all the principal roles.
– BBC Music Magazine
ORLANDO FURIOSO
Rossini: Liederabend (Art Song Evening) 1992 / Horne, Katz
Although Marilyn Horne was 58 years old at the time of this concert, no weakness clouded the beauty of her voice. Among the recordings over the course of Horne's career, there are many Rossini operas. This all-Rossini program shows that she could convincingly dominate the smaller forms as well.
REVIEW:
Little needs be said about Marilyn Horne, one of the greatest singers of all time, with a highly distinctive voice, immediately recognizable and colorful, a deep sense of musicality, and a vocal technique that is awe-inspiring. No ornamentation, no roulade, no trill, not the longest phrase, were beyond her phenomenal breath control. Add to this her almost magical personality.
Liederabend does need a word of explanation. The Liederbands (Liederabenden) were an extensive series of vocal recitals (over 60 years) performed at the Schwetzingen South- West Radio (Germany) Festivals. For all its touting as a Liederabend Horne’s program is all-Italian, all-Rossini (a Horne specialty). 19 songs, early and late, familiar and unfamiliar; all musical delights. Among the better known are ‘La pastorella’, ‘Bolero’, ‘La molinara’, the arias ‘Cruda sorte!’ (Italiana in Algeri and ‘Di tanti palpiti’ Tancredi. A few from ‘Sins of my Old Age’ are included.
Here is a great singer at the top of her form with most entertaining music. No texts, but a biography of Horne and a history of the Festival are included.
-- American Record Guide
I Will Breathe A Mountain / Horne, Katz, Tokyo Quartet
Horne has always been a distinguished interpreter of Bernstein. Here she sings excerpts from his theater and concert works to great effect, including the number from 'Songfest' intended for her as well as a song from the elusive '1600 Pennsylvania Avenue,' his final musical. Although recorded a bit late in the singer's career, it is good to have Horne's thoughts on the music of Samuel Barber. The songs are among the most beautiful of American art songs. This is an important addition to the legacy of recorded American song.
Teatro Regio di Parma Concert (Live)
