Purcell: Dido and Aeneas (In German) - Mödl, Prey, Lindgreen; Schmidt-Isserstedt. Hamburg, 1955

$2.48



Listen to a Sample:

 

A German language Dido and Aeneas is a definite oddity.  However, it is genius casting to have one of the most compelling singing actress of her day, Martha Mödl, sing one of the most quintessential tragic heroines.  Listening to this performance it occurred to me that despite her success in roles like Isolde and Brünnhilde, Mödl was probably never a true soprano.  Here in a mezzo role she exhibits a vocal ease that I have never heard from her and her voice is remarkably rich.  Hermann Prey, here in the dawn of his career, uses his suave baritone to shape a nuanced performance.  His singing is immediate and has an intimacy that one would expect from a great Lieder singer.  The sound is fair to good.

OD 10368-1