Berlin Classics Eterna Collection 0033062BC mono, 51:50 (Distrib. Albany) ****:
Heinrich Schlusnus (1888-1952) endures as one of the most versatile of German baritones, equally comfortable in mostly lyric and occasional spinto roles, his liquid voice capable of complementing tenors like Anders and Tauber; or his Herculean range might easily embrace dark territory in Verdi, Marschner, and Mahler. His Evening Star from Tannhauser (with Leo Blech) proves a case in point, his voice matching the grace of the strings and harp with flowing color. Schlusnus had established his work as Wolfram in Tannhauser as early as 1917. Schlusnus takes Don Giovanni’s Serenade in rich, tightly controlled phrases, the German approximating the lyricism natural in the Italian original. The high, grainy tessitura in La Forza del Destino, Don Carlos’ aria, with its knotty melismas, proves no obstacle to Schlusnus’ flexible staying power.
The recital opens with Xerxes’ cavatina, a recitative and larghetto, whose famous Ombra mai fu enjoys a wonderfully rich sonority. Montfort’s scene from The Sicilian Vespers projects anguish, emotional fury, and determination at once. His plaint to his son makes us wish we had a Verdi Macbeth on this disc. With the incomparable singer-actor Helge Rosvaenge as Arrigo, we are in the throes of intrigue, the recitative breaking into the broad melody which dominates the overture. Would there were a Pearl Fishers with these two artists! Germont’s four-square aria from La Traviata gives us Schlusnus as the concerned parent, pleading for his child’s happiness at the expense of Violetta’s passion. The woodwnds and strings under Hanns Steinkopf all but swoon. We conclude with Posa’s Death from Verdi’s Don Carlos, in which throat and head projection from Schlusnus achieves a purity of line in the funereal march which only wants the original Italian to make it authentic old school Verdi. Strong support from the various conductors, including the often under-rated Arthur Rother (1885-1972), who could really resound with the best of them.
— Gary Lemco
