Episode 358. Elisabeth Söderström Revisited
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There are very few singers that mean more to me than does Elisabeth Söderström. I was first made aware of her at the tender age of ten, when I became obsessed with Pelléas et Mélisande after hearing the (at the time) brand new recording of the opera conducted by Pierre Boulez which featured Söderström and George Shirley in the title roles. Further explorations yielded further delights: the complete Rachmaninov songs with Vladimir Ashkenazy, the Janáček heroines under Charles Mackerras. I began grabbing every recording of hers that I could get, and every time I encountered her unique voice, frail yet passionate, I fell further and further under her spell. And then I saw her onstage, both in recital and as the Marschallin on the Met Tour and I became an even more passionate devotee. When I was recently reminded that May 7 was her birthday, I determined that it was time to revisit her legacy and artistry. Because she was so quintessentially Swedish, I have chosen a program featuring Söderström singing primarily in Swedish, including a healthy sampling of music by Swedish composers (Blomdahl, Nordheim, Lindberg, Alfvén, Larsson, Nystroem, and Rangström). And because she sang so many of her operatic roles in Swedish translation, we also get to hear her as Charpentier’s Louise and Puccini’s Cio-Cio-San. Vocal guest stars are fellow great Swedish singers Erik Sædén and Hugo Hasslo. Also expect some delicious and delightful surprises, as this most spontaneous and inspired of singers always had something unexpected up her sleeve!
RECORDINGS HEARD IN THIS EPISODE
Hugo Alfvén: Symphony No. 4 “Från Havsbandet” [From the Seaward Skerries], Op. 39 [excerpt]. Elisabeth Söderström, Stig Westerberg, Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra [1979]
Sigmund Romberg, Oscar Hammerstein II, Otto Harbach, Frank Mandel: (Ökensången [The Desert Song]) [sung in Swedish]. Elisabeth Söderström, Egon Kjerrmans Orkester [1956]
Karl-Birger Blomdahl, Erik Lindegren [after Harry Martinson]: Aniara. Elisabeth Söderström, Bo Lundborg, Sixten Ehrling, Orchestra and Chorus of the Royal Swedish Opera [from 1960 film soundtrack]. Two excerpts.
- Daisi Doody Scene
- La Garçonne’s Song
Arne Nordheim, Pär Lagerkvist: Sem molnen [Like the Clouds] (Aftonland [Evening Land]). Elisabeth Söderström, Militiades Caridis, Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra [1975]
Gustave Charpentier, Charles-Simon Favart: Depuis le jour (Louise) [sung in Swedish]. Elisabeth Söderström, Lars Billengren, Albert Wolff, Stockholm Royal Orchestra [live Stockholm 06.VI.58]
Maurice Ravel, Tristan Klingsor: L’indifferént (Shéhérazade, M. 41/3) [sung in Swedish]. Elisabeth Söderström, Stig Rybrant, Malmö Symphony Orchestra [live Malmö 04.VI.70]
Edvard Grieg, Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson [orchestrated Andrew Davis]: Prinsessen [The Princess], EG 133. Elisabeth Söderström, Andrew Davis, New Philharmonia Orchestra [1976]
Ingvar Lidholm, Eyvind Johnson: Nausikaa ensam [Nausikaa Alone] [excerpt]. Elisabeth Söderström, Stig Westerberg, Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra and Choir [1971]
Lars-Erik Larsson, Hjalmar Gullberg: Trot du att fåren skulle [Do you think that sheep would ever graze] (Förklädd Gud [God in Disguise], Op. 24/8). Elisabeth Söderström, Erik Sædén, Stig Westerberg, Stockholms Radioorkestern [1958]
Gösta Nystroem, Ebba Lindqvist: Det enda (Sinfonia del mare [Symphony No. 3]). Elisabeth Söderström, Stig Westerberg, Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra [1971]
Karl-Birger Blomdahl, Erik Lindegren: …resan i denna natt […the journey on this night] [excerpt]. Elisabeth Söderström, Yuri Ahronovitch, Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra [1984]
Jean Sibelius, Finnish folk text: Luonnotar, Op. 70. Elisabeth Söderström, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Philharmonia Orchestra [1981]
Oskar Lindberg, Erik Axel Karlfeldt: Jungfru Maria, Op. 15. Elisabeth Söderström, Claude Génetay, Nationalmusei Kammarorkester [live Stockholm 20.VIII.74]
Giacomo Puccini, Giuseppe Giacosa, Luigi Illica [after John Luther Long, David Belasco]: Letter Scene (Madama Butterfly) [sung in Swedish]. Elisabeth Söderström, Hugo Hasslo, Sixten Ehrling, Stockholm Royal Orchestra [live Stockholm 1953]
Ture Rangström, Bo Bergman: Bön till natten (Den mörka blomman, No. 2). Elisabeth Söderström, Stig Westerberg [1957]
