Lebendige Vergangenheit is such a great series. Indispensible, really.
Just recently found out about Reinmar. Wow! What a voice! I really enjoy his recording of Wotan's farewell:

And with the great Rosvaenge in Otello:

 

I'd certainly never heard of him.

 

That Wotan's Abschied from Reinmar is pure magic!

About Rosvaenge. Lebendige Vergangenheit also issued an album featuring several performances. Many decades ago I was impressed with his thrilling range and passion, never more suitable than his brilliant performance of Strauss' Italian Singer's aria in Rosenkavalier.

Despite his obvious brilliance, over time I have become less fond of his "over the top" performances - like his "ach so fromm"

That is not real criticism - just a personal view.

 

About Rosvaenge. Lebendige Vergangenheit also issued an album featuring several performances. Many decades ago I was impressed with his thrilling range and passion, never more suitable than his brilliant performance of Strauss' Italian Singer's aria in Rosenkavalier.

Despite his obvious brilliance, over time I have become less fond of his "over the top" performances - like his "ach so fromm"

That is not real criticism - just a personal view.

Over-the-top he was, but don't you wish there were a tenor alive who had a voice capable of going there?

 

That Wotan's Abschied from Reinmar is pure magic!

Isn't it? Despite the sound quality, the singing was so good it was the example of that piece I played for my students when we covered the Ring in our class on epics. They liked it a lot.

I just ordered the Beecham Zauberflote with Rosvaenge in it. I'm kind of excited for an over the top Tamino -- if Tamino's too subtle I just find him annoying.

Over-the-top he was, but don't you wish there were a tenor alive who had a voice capable of going there?

Sigh.

 

I just ordered the Beecham Zauberflote with Rosvaenge in it. I'm kind of excited for an over the top Tamino -- if Tamino's too subtle I just find him annoying.

I like Rosvaenge in the right music (especially Verdi), but to me he sounds completely miscast as Tamino.

 

I like Rosvaenge in the right music (especially Verdi), but to me he sounds completely miscast as Tamino.

It came today and I'm listening to his Dies bildnis ist bezaubernd schoen. I like it quite a lot. I like that his voice is strong. I find many tenors more known for Mozart repertoire like Schreier, Simoneau, and Gedda to be underpowered, pinched, and not as rich.

 

We first meet Tamino as a clueless young fellow running from a snake, calling for help, and being saved by a bunch of women. I see Tamino as very much a boy. Roswaenge doesn't sound boyish to me. It's as if Siegfried were running away from Fafner and the forest bird flew in to save him!

 

Back to Reinmar, this legendary performance of Feuerzauber (magic fire) is well worth hearing, despite the very poor recording quality - but what would you expect for 1929?

But - just for comparison, here is the more well-known Hans Hotter - undeniably superb, but to my ancient ears, not perhaps quite in the class of Reinmar (Yes, go ahead and argue)

 

Hotter never had the smoothest voice, but he had power and eloquence. He was also tall and imposing onstage - the very image of a god. Reinmar is vocally cleaner and sings the music with a beauty and ease we rarely hear, but he digs less deep into Wotan's emotions. He also sounds more a true baritone as opposed to the bass-baritone of Hotter. I'm not sure how well the recording indicates his capacity to ride Wagner's orchestra and fill the opera house. We do have many live recordings from Hotter.

 

"After World War II, Rosvaenge divided his time between Berlin and Vienna. His voice showed little sign of age; it was still warm and sonorous throughout its range, and brilliant and lustrous in its upper register. Indeed, he could produce an easy and full-blooded high D during his vocal prime. This can be heard in one of his most celebrated recordings, the Postillon's Song ("Mes amis, écoutez l'histoire") from Le postillon de Lonjumeau by Adolphe Adam."

 

We first meet Tamino as a clueless young fellow running from a snake, calling for help, and being saved by a bunch of women. I see Tamino as very much a boy. Roswaenge doesn't sound boyish to me. It's as if Siegfried were running away from Fafner and the forest bird flew in to save him!

Totally agree that Tamino is boyish, but I differ slightly in what that means for the singer singing him. To me, operatic voice should refelect the soul of the character, not their physical speaking voice. So Tamino or Rinuccio in Gianni Schicchi may be a little shrimp, but I don't want them to sound like it. They're really in love, and his I want to hear that mainly not in the interpretation (though in that too) but in the voice itself. For me, opera is the magnifying glass of the soul, and the voice is the lens.

The Reinmar vs. Hotter question is a good example. Hotter may have more interpretive nuance, but Reinmar's voice actually communicates more to me than Hotter's nuance. Ideally, a singer would have both, and the ones that do are the greatest of the greats. But to me the voice is primary and indispensible, and shouldn't be lightened or lessened to make a character sound weak or girlish/boyish.

 

Totally agree that Tamino is boyish, but I differ slightly in what that means for the singer singing him. To me, operatic voice should refelect the soul of the character, not their physical speaking voice. So Tamino or Rinuccio in Gianni Schicchi may be a little shrimp, but I don't want them to sound like it. They're really in love, and his I want to hear that mainly not in the interpretation (though in that too) but in the voice itself. For me, opera is the magnifying glass of the soul, and the voice is the lens.

You're gonna hate Lars Vogt on the new DG recording with Nezet-Seguin....

The Reinmar vs. Hotter question is a good example. Hotter may have more interpretive nuance, but Reinmar's voice actually communicates more to me than Hotter's nuance.

There have been a lot of fine bass-baritones who've sung this music impressively. But most of them sound like that, and no more. Few have sounded like a god - Hotter, Schorr, Kipnis, and Reizen are the only ones that come to mind.

 

[QUOTE
There have been a lot of fine bass-baritones who've sung this music impressively. But most of them sound like that, and no more. Few have sounded like a god - Hotter, Schorr, Kipnis, and Reizen are the only ones that come to mind.[/QUOTE]

Thank you for that referral. Kipnis has always been a great favorite of mine but I had never heard him sing Wotan. Very impressive and "godlike" as you say:

As for Schorr, His interpretation and voice sound to me more like Reinmar and maybe even more thrilling: