Sena Jurinac RIP

[Barbirollians]

Sad to hear that the greatest IMO Mozart and Strauss soprano of the 20th century had died on Tuesday at the age of 90 .

I love her voice - from her magnificent Four Last Songs with Busch, the immensely characterful Figaor with Gui - the mesmerising Leonore with Klemperer . Perhaps most of all two arias by Smetana on the References disc from1990.

Any other views of her singing ? you can keep Schwarzkopf as far as I am concerned.

[martin_opera]

I agree and it is a sad loss. She is unparalleled in Mozart and Strauss with a tone that cuts through the music rather like Kathleen Ferrier. Gundula Janowitz was her natural successor I think. In addition the discs mentioned I adore her Elisabetta in Von Karajan's Salzburg Festival recording of Don Carlo. I think if I had to describe her voice in one word it would be "polished".

[amateur51]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=td4T_L4irco&feature=related

[Barbirollians]

A superb Tchaikovsky singer she was too . http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fc4OO...eature=related

[Barbirollians]

Good obit by the late Alan Blyth in the Guardian . Also an amusing anecdote from Robert Ponsonby

At dinner one evening there was discussion of that 1947 season. Of Schwarzkopf's somewhat obtrusive technique, she remarked: "Dear Elisabeth – she gets one note from her elbow, another from the back of her neck." She then jumped up to demonstrate. We fell about.

[verismissimo]

It seems to have been a long time since I heard this great artist, so I've been making up for it.

Wonderful Fiordiligi under Busch from Glyndebourne 1950. Leonore under Klemperer from Covent Garden in 1961.

Then, this evening, as Octavian in the Paul Czinner/Salzburg film under Karajan. Wonderful. I have a rather ropey old video of that, but I notice that it's been re-released quite recently on DVD:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Rosenkavalier-DVD-Elisabeth-Schwarzkopf/dp/B005G3ZUHY/ref=sr_1_2?s=dvd&ie=UTF8&qid=1322344127&sr=1-2