![]() If it weren’t for the date and grainy black and white footage, some viewers might suppose this recital came after the 1970 London one. The next recital, from Paris in 1967, finds Schwarzkopf with the Orchestre National de l’ORTF, conducted by one Berislav Klobucar. Taken together, both recitals still serve as a classic portrait of how to present and sing lieder, in a way that respects the tradition and manages to connect to an audience. However, the affectations that non-admirers of Schwarzkopf complain about interfere at times, with too-knowing a wink here, too downcast a glance there. As the recital proceeds, the voice settles. She begins again with Mozart, but initially the passing years can be heard in some slight intonation lapses and warbliness. Nine years later, Schwarzkopf opens up, braving some English spoken interludes, and moving about the studio, making sure to shift her chiffon-type dress with every change of stance. The selections tend to the lighter side here, opening with a slight Mozart number (“Die kleine Spinnerin”), through Schubert’s “An die Musik,” and closing with two Hugo Wolf selections. In place of spontaneity comes a poised, well-rehearsed artistry. In 1961, the voice and manner combine seamlessly in a professional, disciplined performance. With famed accompanist Gerald Moore (who throws in a sly bit of self-promotion at one point by asking, “Am I too loud?”), placing these two recitals back to back gives a point of reference for relating to Schwarzkopf’s late career. The best part of the disc comes in the first half of its 90 minutes, with two television studio recitals filmed in London the first from 1961 in black and white, the second from 1970, in color. As the last section on this disc, from Brussels in 1969, only features two selections (two pleasant but negligible Menotti songs), making assumptions on the completeness of the others wouldn’t be advised.
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