Pilar Lorengar: A portrait in live and studio recordings from 1959-1962

The Spanish soprano Pilar Lorengar (1928–96) had a big international career including the Met, San Francisco, and Chicago in the US but called the German Opera in Berlin her home. These recordings were all made in Berlin fairly early in her career (1959–1962). The three CDs include operatic arias; songs by Bellini, Mozart, Handel, and Verdi; and a large number of Spanish songs, some by well-known composers like Rodrigo and Granados and others either anonymous or by lesser-known composers. In all the selections, Ms Lorengar sings with the round, bright, full-bodied sound that made her an international star. She does not resort to a lot of dynamic changes but sings the entire recital with generous amounts of rich, creamy soprano sound.

The first disc contains 11 arias, mostly very familiar. ‘Casta Diva’ from Norma is taken at the slowest tempo I have ever heard. We can’t know if the tempo is the fault of the conductor or the soprano, but the chorus singing behind her sounds as if they may fall asleep. But the tempo picks up in the cabaletta, and she is up to the coloratura demands. Liu’s ‘Signore, Ascolta’ comes off very well, though the soprano ignores the customary pianissimo on the final note. Her singing of ‘Un Bel Di’ and Mimi’s first aria are lovely, with the gleaming top notes Puccini requires. She includes ‘Non Mi Dir’ from Don Giovanni, perhaps the least effective selection here. She finds the coloratura rough going. Perhaps this tells us why she usually sang Donna Elvira instead of Donna Anna. Her account of Pamina’s ‘Ach, ich fühl’s’ is gorgeous, and she does well with Violetta’s Act I scena, except for a little unidiomatic Italian pronunciation in the fast final section.

The second disc is devoted to songs by Spanish composers of the late 19th and 20th centuries as well as a group of songs by Verdi. The Spanish songs (by Rodrigo, Nin, Leoz, Guridi, Granados, and Toldra) are unfailingly pleasant, melodic, and entertaining. The Rodrigo is played by an orchestra; the rest are accompanied by piano. Ms Lorengar is of course at home in the Spanish language and sings very well. In the Verdi songs one can hear hints of his operas.

The last disc, with guitar accompaniment, includes a few songs by Bellini, Mozart, and Handel as well as 20 Spanish songs, some by Renaissance composers and some collected by Federico Garcia Lorca. Again, all are tuneful and well sung. Some of the Lorca collection, Flamenco songs, are among the most enjoyable.

The collection comes with a booklet with the names and times of the songs, but no texts. The booklet gives a web site where the lyrics can be found, but I would much prefer having the texts with the recording.

Formée à l'école de la zarzuela, Pilar Lorengar aurait pu y rester cantonnée si très tôt elle n'avait inscrit à son répertoire quelques lieder de Mozart et de Schubert sans pourtant parler un mot d'allemand. Affinités électives que Carl Ebert nota et qui lui valurent sa première Pa mina en 1956 à Glyndebourne. Le chef la confia aux bons soins d'Herta Klust, ange gardien du jeune Fischer-Dieskau, mentor absolu des Liedersanger, lui ficela un double contrat l'attachant à Glyndebourne – elle y sera une mémorable Comtesse – et au Stadtische Oper de Berlin, sa maison durant trente ans, alors que le Met et l'Opéra de Vienne lui ouvraient les portes d'une carrière internationale partagée entre les héroïnes blondes de Wagner, et sur le versant italien Fiordiligi, la Comtesse mais aussi les amoureuses pucciniennes.

En trois CD, Audite révèle les bandes berlinoises de ses premières années au Städtische. Herta KIust est au piano pour un bouquet espagnol incroyable de tenue, élégant jusque dans le plus populaire, mais aussi pour de rares mélodies de Verdi. La guitare de Siegfried Behrens s'invite dans quelques Kanzonen de Mozart, des Canciones antiguas où Lorengar captive autant que Los Angeles, se montre aussi plus simple, comme dans des Lorca subtilement calligraphiés.

Côté opéra, le portrait est quasi complet – manquent Elsa et Eva, abordées plus tard. Une esquisse de Traviata, un flamboyant «Ernani Involami» laissent deviner ses grands Verdi, et même si elle n'a pas le caractère d'une Norma son «Casta diva» célèbre une lune inquiétante. On admirera des premiers Puccini frémissants – sa Mimi restera inoubliable. Et celle qui fut toujours sur scène Elvira, chante ici «Crudel! Non mi dir»: pureté de la ligne jusque dans l'affliction. Quelle Donna Anna elle eût été!

In an era full of superb lyric sopranos, Spain's Pilar Lorengar (1928-1996) stood out. She was special not only for the breadth of her repertoire, radiant beauty and gracious stage presence but also her unerring musicality and, above all, her unmistakable, utterly personal sound.

Depending on what recordings you listen to, your response to Lorengar depends to a great extent on your feelings regarding the degree of vibrato in a voice. It was, in fact, what put me off much of what Lorengar recorded in many of her best-known discs. Happily, though, in Audite's set (performances dating from 1959-62 by a singer still in her early thirties, after only a few years of stardom), not one of the 60 tracks is compromised by excessive vibrato. In these recordings, Lorengar's sound is not merely clear – it gleams (especially at the top, always Lorengar's greatest strength). Her singing invariably accentuates sincerity and femininity, with no reaching for effect. One warms to Lorengar's expressiveness immediately, and her appeal throughout the set remains irresistible.

Some surprises occur in the operatic material, which includes a few arias from roles not associated with Lorengar. One of those is Norma, whose 'Casta diva' begins the set. The RIAS Kammerchor sounds unexpectedly amateurish, and the Berlin Radio Symphony is conducted funereally by Arthur Rother. Lorengar, however, rises above all that, with fresh, shining sound, always sensitively used. The arias proceed with splendid performances of more suitable repertoire: Liu's 'Signore, ascolta!', with the Puccini style instinctively right and the characterization most touching; and Cleopatra's 'Piangero la sorte mia', where the thick, heavy orchestral contribution does not hinder emotion communicated through eloquent directness of address.

Excepting a cabaletta-Iess 'Ernani, involami' (another odd choice, lacking the necessary expansiveness), the other arias are treasurable. Among them are 'Un bel di' (perfection on the opening soft attack, missing only a bit more interpretative detail later); 'Mi chiamano Mimi' (utterly natural in delivery, with elegant portamento); 'Le Violette' from Scarlatti's Pirro e Demetrio (the essence of charm); and 'Ach, ich fühl's' (Pamina's misery emerges through expert control of the leaps and long phrases). Lorengar was a Donna Elvira, not a Donna Anna, but the latter's 'Non mi dir', although not as magisterial as some, shows no fear in the awkward tessitura of the first section or the tricky coloratura of the second. Violetta's scena has all the heart one could desire and absolute security throughout. Best of all is 'La Maja y el Ruisenor' from Granados's Goyescas; even if Montserrat Caballé's unearthly pianissimo and Victoria de los Angeles's plum-luscious richness don't figure in Lorengar's performance, she lets go gloriously above the stave when needed, and one can appreciate the unaffected sweetness that was entirely her own.

The other two discs recall a time not very long ago when a generation of Spanish divas – Lorengar, Caballé and Teresa Berganza – all felt a passionate compulsion to follow the example of their immediate predecessor, de los Angeles, by excelling in their native song literature. One cannot choose between these four singers, for all have something unforgettable to offer. Lorengar, like the others, thoroughly understands the value of simplicity of expression, and she haunts the listener with an innate sense of melancholy.

Rodrigo's four 'amorous madrigals' – sung here with orchestra – are beautifully done, with Lorengar's gaiety in the third of these being particularly delectable. She also responds strongly to the quintessentially Spanish rhythms and melisma of the final song of this group. Two Nin pieces (with Hertha Klust, one of the singer's early mentors, giving firm support at the piano) are done with Lorengar's usual charm.

The discs then move into material by lesser-known twentieth-century Spanish composers, Leoz and Guridi. The final three of the latter's Seis Canciones castellanas reveal a richness in the middle range seldom heard from Lorengar, and the sheer buoyancy of the third song makes it one of the gems of Audite's set. Few can match Caballé in Granados's Tonadillas, but Lorengar has a special way with these wonderful pieces, three of which are heard here. One especially relishes the knowingness of 'El Majo discreto', while another jewel of a song, 'El tra la la y el punteado', bursts with the confidence of the girl who knows that a certain young man will soon be hers. Three of Toldrà's Seis Canciones are finely done, with the warmth of 'Después que te conoci' making an especially fine impression.

Singing 11 Renaissance songs (with Siegfried Behrend's skilful guitar accompaniment aptly substituting for a vihuela), Lorengar is plaintive and intimate where required. She proves even more bewitching with the sunnier numbers – for example, 'De los álamos vengo', where the light voice seems to belong to a girl barely a day over 15.

The second disc ends with five Verdi songs. Lorengar is the ebullient gypsy to the life in 'La zingara', aptly soulful in 'Ad una stella' (decidedly second-drawer Verdi), delightful as the pert lover in Stornello and the liveliest of chimney-sweeps in 'Lo spazzacamino'. Greater variety of colour and dynamic is needed in 'Perduta ho la pace', Verdi's setting of the text we know better as 'Gretchen am Spinnrade'.

On the third disc Lorengar is rather too closely recorded for Bellini's Dolente immagine di Figlia mia, but this lament – again with Behrend's guitar finds her entirely comfortable in what is, in effect, mezzosoprano tessitura. Her purity of tone enhances four Mozart songs, of which the finest is a ravishing Ridente la calma. A real rarity, Handel's cantata of 1707 Nò se emendará jamás, with Richard Klemm's viola da gamba joining Lorengar and Behrend, gives one further evidence (following the Giulio Cesare aria on the first disc) for regret that this composer did not figure more prominently in Lorengar's career.

The set ends with nine of the Old Spanish Songs and Romances collected by Federico Garcia Lorca (Behrend is once again a strong partner). Like the Renaissance material, they are best listened to a few at a time – I'd say the same thing of anyone singing them but individually they can be savoured for Lorengar's superb breath control. In several of these songs more smoulderingly seductive tone can be heard from the marvellous Berganza, but Lorengar is often even more vivid in her textual delivery. Her infectious joy in singing gives immense pleasure in 'Las reyes de la baraja', one of the set's major highlights.

Audite's booklet offers an essay providing not only details of Lorengar's career but also much-needed information on some of the more obscure material heard here. Texts are available on Audite's website.

Given the significant gaps in Lorengar's commercial discography, this set can be warmly welcomed by all who cherish the memory of this captivating artist, still greatly missed.

Sie verkörperte sowohl jugendliche Heldinnen wie Mozarts Pamina, Fiordiligi oder Donna Elvira als auch jugendlich dramatische Heroinen bei Verdi und Puccini wie Traviata, Desdemona oder Madame Butterfly und tragische Frauengestalten bei Tschaikowsky oder Janáček: Pilar Lorengar war eine der vielseitigsten Sopranistinnen ihrer Zeit.

Die 1928 in Saragossa geborene Spanierin wirkte viele Jahrzehnte als festes Ensemblemitglied an der Deutschen Oper Berlin und sang dort zahllose höchst unterschiedliche Rollen. Ihr warmes, unverkennbares Timbre und die große Leuchtkraft ihrer Stimme prädestinierten sie für diese Partien. Diese Sendung stellt die 1996 verstorbene Sopranistin Pilar Lorengar jedoch nicht allein in ausgewählten Paraderollen vor, sondern präsentiert in neu veröffentlichten Aufnahmen auch weniger Typisches wie Arien von Bellini und Händel sowie aus dem spanischen Repertoire.

Zu den umschwärmtesten Publikumslieblingen im West-Berlin mindestens der 60er bis 80er Jahre gehörte die spanische Sopranistin Pilar Lorengar (1928 – 1996) – besonders als Mozart- und Puccini-Sängerin, aber auch mit Verdi und zuletzt in Meyerbeers „Hugenotten“.

Eine Entdeckung

In ihren frühen, jetzt erstmals auf CD erscheinenden und allesamt in Berlin entstandenen Aufnahmen der späten 50er und frühen 60er Jahre stellt man indes betroffen fest, dass es sich bei Lorengar bei weitem nicht nur um das Berliner Lokalgewächs handelte, als welches sie von der Schallplattenindustrie vielfach ignoriert wurde. Sondern – besonders in diesen frühen Aufnahmen – um eine der schönsten Stimmen auf Schallplatte überhaupt.

Dass ihr die Gratwanderung zwischen Lyrik und Dramatik, Verletzlichkeit und Emphase so unvergleichlich gelang, lag gewiss auch an dem spanischen Temperament, welchem im Klang nicht der geringste Anflug von Bittermandeln eigen war. Die Stimme flutete vielmehr überirdisch und scheinbar grenzenlos. Was sich live noch lange Jahre bestätigen ließ. (Lorengar verabschiedete sich an der Deutschen Oper erst 1991.)

Hinreißend

In Arien und Liedern von Bellini, Puccini, Händel, Granados, Verdi, Leoz, Scarlatti, Mozart, Guridi, Nin, Rodrigo, Toldrà u.a. lässt sich jetzt die gesamte Bandbreite dieser hinreißenden Sängerin nacherleben. Grund zum Schwärmen hat man nach diesen Aufnahmen mehr denn je.