Episode 329. Lois Marshall @ 100
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Yesterday was the 100th birthday of the sublime Canadian singer, Lois Marshall (29 January 1925 – 19 February 1997). I was sorry to see that there were very apparently few acknowledgements of this momentous occasion. Three years ago, in a Countermelody series on Great Canadian Singers, Lois Marshall was my first subject. If you haven’t heard of her (which is entirely possible, given the vagaries of posthumous fame and reputation), you are in for an enormous treat. Possessed of a rare musical scrupulousness, an interpretive honestly, directness, and integrity, as well as a finely-honed dramatic sensibility, Lois Marshall, in a better world, would have graced the world’s operatic stages. Alas, she was stricken with polio as a child, and though she managed to gain the ability to walk, staged opera was a genre which she only rarely attempted. Yet she worked with the world’s greatest conductors, among them Toscanini, Stokowski, and Beecham, and was a recitalist celebrated the world over. This episode offers an extended yet partial glimpse of the range and variety of her artistry, and includes recordings of arias by both Purcell and Puccini (the title role of Turandot!), Bach and Beethoven, as well as a dazzling array of recital repertoire from Debussy to folk song arrangements. Fellow Canadians Maureen Forrester and Glenn Gould are also featured. I wanted very much to present a brand-new Lois Marshall episode in hono(u)r of her centennial, and I promise you that is in the works, but in the meantime, I listened early this morning to the first Lois Marshall tribute I posted and I have decided to republish it today as I continue to prepare the brand-new episode. Some of today’s material, in particular an excerpt from Oskar Morawetz’s From the Diary of Anne Frank, which Lois Marshall premiered in 1970, serves as a grim reminder of the United States’ further descent into madness and inhumanity, especially since the inauguration of King Ubu. Through the darkness, however, the glorious voice and humanity of Lois Marshall provide us with an ideal example of our better selves.
RECORDINGS HEARD IN THIS EPISODE

Traditional Scottish, arr. Malcolm Lawson: Loch Lomond. Lois Marshall, Weldon Kilburn [1959]

Henry Purcell, Anonymous librettist, adapted from William Shakespeare: Hark! The Ech’ing Air (The Fairy Queen). Lois Marshall, Eduardo Pedrazzoli, London Symphony Orchestra [1959]

Traditional Scottish, arr. Healey Willan, Robert Burns: Ae Fond Kiss. Lois Marshall, Weldon Kilburn [1959]

Johann Sebastian Bach: Wir beten zu den Tempel an (Jauchzet Gott in allen Lande, BWV 51). Lois Marshall, Ernest MacMillan, Toronto Symphony Orchestra [1954]

Johann Sebastian Bach: Liebster Jesu, mein Verlangen (Cantata, BWV 32). Lois Marshall, Robert Bloom, Brian Priestman, Bach Aria Group Orchestra [1972]

George Frideric Handel, John Arbuthnot, et.al. (after John Dryden’s translation of Ovid): As when the dove laments her love (Acis and Galatea). Lois Marshall, Eduardo Pedrazolli, London Symphony Orchestra [1959]

Giacomo Puccini, Giuseppe Adami, Renato Simoni: In questa reggia (Turandot). Lois Marshall, Eduardo Pedrazzoli, London Symphony Orchestra [1959]

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Caterino Mazzolà (after Pietro Metastasio): Parto, parto (La clemenza di Tito). Lois Marshall, Eduardo Pedrazolli, London Symphony Orchestra [1959]

Joseph Haydn, Gottfried van Swieten: With verdure clad (The Creation). Lois Marshall, Anthony Bernard, London Symphony Orchestra [1957]

Ludwig Van Beethoven, Pietro Metastasio: Ah, Perfido!, Op. 65 (excerpt). Lois Marshall, Eduard Grikurov, Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra [1962]

Oskar Morawetz, Anne Frank: I have not thought about her for months (From the Diary of Anne Frank). Lois Marshall, Lawrence Leonard, Toronto Symphony Orchestra [1970]

Traditional British, arr. Welford Russell. Flow Gently, Sweet Afton. Lois Marshall, Maureen Forrester, Yehudi Wyner [live 1974]

Traditional British, collected and arranged Cecil J. Sharp: Oh, No, John. Lois Marshall, Weldon Kilburn [1958]

Traditional Irish, arr. Benjamin Britten, Thomas Moore: The Last Rose of Summer. Lois Marshall, Judy Loman [1976]

Gustav Mahler, traditional folk text collected by Achim von Arnim, Clemens Brentano: Rheinenlegendchen (Des Knaben Wunderhorn). Lois Marshall, George van Renesse [live Netherlands 1956]

Claude Debussy, Pierre Louÿs: Le tombeau des naïades (Trois Chansons de Bilitis, L.97/3). Lois Marshall, Weldon Kilburn [1968]

Ottorino Respighi, Percy Bysshe Shelley, translated Roberto Ascoli: La nuda tomba (Il tramonto, P 101). Lois Marshall, Orford String Quartet [1971]

Traditional Spanish, arr. Manuel de Falla: Polo (Siete canciones populares españolas, No. 7). Lois Marshall, Weldon Kilburn [ca 1969]

Robert Schumann, Adalbert von Chamisso: Süßer Freund, du blickest mich (Frauenliebe und -leben, Op. 42/6). Lois Marshall, Weldon Kilburn [1960]

Franz Schubert, Wilhelm Müller: Gefror’ne Tränen (Winterreise, D.911/3). Lois Marshall, Anton Kuerti [live Toronto 1976]

Johannes Brahms, 1 Corinthians 13, translated by Martin Luther: Wenn ich mit Menschen- und mit Engelszungen (Vier ernste Gesänge, Op. 121/4). Lois Marshall, George van Renesse [live Concertgebouw 1956]

Richard Strauss, Heinrich Heine: Beim Schlafengehen (Vier letzte Lieder, TrV 296/3). Lois Marshall, Glenn Gould [CBC telecast, 15 Oct 1962]