Just about half of this recital devoted to German soprano Anne Schwanewilms singing Wagner is purely orchestral—good, but not major performances of the Overture and Venusberg Bacchanal from Tannhäuser and the prelude to Tristan. Judging from these performances, conductor Manuel Lange (or Cornelius Meister—both names are given as “conductor”) is not a true Wagnerian: his touch is too light; the Bacchanal is entirely lacking wildness; the Tristan Prelude is well enough played but lacks any of the yearning quality that defines it.
Schwanewilms is a lovely singer with a beautiful, silvery tone; the voice is not huge but it is perfectly focused and there is never any sense of straining. Gundula Janowitz and Elisabeth Grümmer come to mind when listening to her: the former was a great Richard Strauss/Mozart soprano who occasionally dabbled in Wagner (Sieglinde and Elsa); the latter, also a Mozartean, sang Senta, Elsa, etc. (You might also compare the weight of her voice to Elisabeth Schwarzkopf’s.) About the furthest into Wagner Schwanewilms should be venturing seems to be Elisabeth in Tannhäuser; here she fills out the role handsomely and the singing itself is lovely. She would make a fine Elsa as well.
Her undertaking of the Wesendonck Lieder is a mistake; the voice lacks depth and I believe she transposes the songs up a tone. Gravitas is lacking. And it isn’t just the voice itself: Schwanewilms delivers the text matter-of-factly and leaves the listener cold. (Jonas Kaufmann recently stumped the experts by recording these songs beautifully, darkly, and in the original key.) Similarly, Schwanewilms’ “Liebestod” is very pretty and sung much the way her Kaiserin in Die Frau ohne Schatten is sung—in a lyrical, utterly feminine fashion, with smooth emission and a lovely tone. But as far as the character’s otherworldliness is concerned, forget it.
Sorry, wrong composer.
