This is a disappointing release. After Nina Stemme’s fine performance as Isolde on the recent Domingo/Pappano set, in which she exhibited a handsome, flexible sound, there was every reason to assume that she would continue to please. But Wagner is not Strauss. A grand voice must penetrate the orchestra in Wagner; it must soar over it in Strauss. Stemme does not soar. The Four Last Songs should seem an endless lyrical deluge; here, despite her ability to take the long phrases in one breath (the one near the close of “Beim Schlafengen” comes to mind), there is a sense of unease, whether vocally or with the “floating” idiom. What we get is far from the flawless, legato outpouring the music craves. As an interpreter she seems a bit detached as well.
Furthermore, her tone appears to have hardened, and there isn’t as much sheerly beautiful or easy singing on this new CD as there was in her Isolde. The opening of the Salome final scene is not the maniacal stretch of expressionism we expect–rather, it is effortful and vaguely uncertain. However, as the scene progresses Stemme more effectively articulates the young princess’ predicament, and by its close we are convinced and impressed. She fares better as the Countess in the lovely, moonlit final scene from Capriccio, but we’re reminded of Elisabeth Schwarzkopf too often for comfort.
I don’t mean to be unkind, but Isolde and the music recorded here places Stemme in an enormous, very competitive playground, and she may not be absolutely ready for such an environment. If hers were the only performances of these works I’d ever heard I guess I would be impressed, but thinking of the likes of Nilsson, Varnay, Schwarzkopf, Norman, and Kanawa in this repertoire, she does not stand up well. Antonio Pappano’s accompaniments are sympathetic and wonderfully played, but the entire recording lacks immediacy, particularly when it comes to the voice.
