This classic collection of premiere recordings is self-recommending. In fact, it’s amazing in hindsight to note that the Barber and Copland pieces, new when recorded, have since become unchallenged classics of American vocal music. More to the point, William Warfield’s Old American Songs, Leontyne Price’s Hermit Songs, and Eleanor Steber’s Knoxville: Summer of 1915 all represent performances that in some ways have never been surpassed, and that remain standards by which newcomers are still judged. The performances of Virgil Thomson’s two pieces are similarly standard-setting, even if the music has not entered the repertoire in the same way that the Copland and Barber works have. The excellence of the remastering adds to this collection’s attractions, but the complete absence of sung texts is an inexcusable lapse for a release of this importance. [1/1/2000]
