Listen to a Sample:

Pros:

• Risë Stevens' glamor and beauty allowed her to crossover into popular culture in a way that few mezzos in history have been able. That said, this recording of excerpts from Orfeo ed Euridice reveals that when you strip away all of the trappings of Hollywood there was an artist of extreme refinement and intelligence. Her lower range in particularly is sumptuously rich, giving Orfeo's monologues almost a guttural sadness.
• Erich Kleiber's approach is unapologetically romantic, but still rendered with taste and restraint.

Cons:

• The sound is consistent with what you would expect from a 1939 aircheck.

In Mono

OD 11781-1