Arias & Songs at Music Hills.com

Music CD 1

Wie Ein Gr?ssen, Op.18 - Ernestine Schumann-Heink, Mehrkens, Adolf
Leggero Invisible (Bolero) - Ernestine Schumann-Heink, Verdi, Giuseppe
Der Tod und das M?dchen, D531 - Ernestine Schumann-Heink, Arditi, Luigi
Weiche, Wotan - Ernestine Schumann-Heink,
O pr?tes de Baal - Ernestine Schumann-Heink,
Il va venir - Ernestine Schumann-Heink,
Il va venir - Ernestine Schumann-Heink,
Gerechter Gott! - Ernestine Schumann-Heink,
I und mei Bua (Yodel Song) - Ernestine Schumann-Heink,
Um stets heiter und gl?ckliche zu leben - Ernestine Schumann-Heink,
Parto, parto ma tu ben mio - Ernestine Schumann-Heink,
O ma lyre immortelle - Ernestine Schumann-Heink,
Liederkreis Op.39, No.5, Mondnacht - Ernestine Schumann-Heink, Donizetti, Gaetano
Barbchen - Ernestine Schumann-Heink, Puccini, Giacomo
Songs Op.53, No.3, Schlafliedchen - Ernestine Schumann-Heink, Mozart, Wolfgang Am
Wie in der L?fte - Ernestine Schumann-Heink,
Ah, mon fils - Ernestine Schumann-Heink,
Sei Still - Ernestine Schumann-Heink, Hermann,
Gedichte Wesendonck Lieder, No.5, Tra?me - Ernestine Schumann-Heink, Hermann, Hans
Die Sonne, sie lachte - Ernestine Schumann-Heink,
No.2, Down in the Forest - Ernestine Schumann-Heink,
Songs Op.48, No.5, Wanderers Nachlied - Ernestine Schumann-Heink, Raff, Joachim
Good Morning, Sue (Bonjour, Suzon) - Ernestine Schumann-Heink, Wagner, Richard
Op.60, No.2, The Mother Sings (Moderen Synger) - Ernestine Schumann-Heink, Saint-Saens, Camill

Music CD 2

Op.60, No.3, Im Kahne (In the Boat) - Ernestine Schumann-Heink, Grieg, Edvard
Op.94, No.4, Sapphische Ode - Ernestine Schumann-Heink, Brahms, Johannes
Op.94, No.4, Sapphische Ode - Ernestine Schumann-Heink, Brahms, Johannes
Op.49, No.4, Wiegenlied - Ernestine Schumann-Heink, Brahms, Johannes
Op.65, No.2, Das Erkennen - Ernestine Schumann-Heink, Loewe, Carl
Old Black Joe - Ernestine Schumann-Heink, Foster, Stephen
Op.29, No.1, Traum Durch Die D?mmerung - Ernestine Schumann-Heink, Strauss, Richard
Shepherd's Love - Ernestine Schumann-Heink, Monahan,
Pirate Dreams - Ernestine Schumann-Heink, Hueter, Charles
Stille Nacht, Heilige Nacht - Ernestine Schumann-Heink, Gruber, Franz Xaver
Weihnachten - Ernestine Schumann-Heink, Humperdinck, Engelb
Land of Hope and Glory (Coronation Ode), Op.44 - Ernestine Schumann-Heink, Elgar, Edward
The Home Road - Ernestine Schumann-Heink, Carpenter, John Ald
Star-Spangled Banner, For Orchestra & Voice/Chorus - Ernestine Schumann-Heink, Key, Francis Scott
Die Forelle, D550 - Ernestine Schumann-Heink, Schubert, Franz
Danny Boy - Ernestine Schumann-Heink, Weatherly, Frederic
Op.19, No.5, Der Lenz - Ernestine Schumann-Heink, Hildach, Eugen
Weiche, Wotan - Ernestine Schumann-Heink,
H?re mit Sinn - Ernestine Schumann-Heink,
Der Erlk?nig, D328 - Ernestine Schumann-Heink, Schubert, Franz
The Rosary - Ernestine Schumann-Heink, Nevin, Ethelbert
There Is No Death - Ernestine Schumann-Heink, O'Hara, Geoffrey
No.13, And he journeyed...But the Lord is Mindful of His Own - Ernestine Schumann-Heink,
Taps - Ernestine Schumann-Heink, Anonymous

Music reviews of Arias & Songs

Music Review: Excellent representation
Rating: 5 Stars

Schumann-Heink was a large woman, and because of that fact, many stories have ciculated, even in respectable musical writings, about her inability to stop eating, of knocking down orchestral players to get through because she was so wide. Even seeing her photos of her career, one never sees anyone of that magnitude of obesity. Research has proven the stories false.

When one studies her life, one is awarded with the real struggle this woman went through to become the "Great Schumann-Heink" she would become (and her struggles weren't all musical; imagine having sons fighting on opposite sides during WWI). Her apprenticeship was LONG, and she did sing many bel canto roles for a lot of years (and a lot of other "Fluff") until she really took off. Of course, we know her now mostly for her Wagnerian interpretations. Even though she was a very large woman, she could act, and well. Few commentators commented much on that aspect of her performances; it was usually her voice, and the richness of it, the fullness of the sound, the power of it, and the depth of emotional intensity it conveyed.

For those of us who have come to understand past singers only through the written word, it is so nice to have recordings of one to see just what everyone was talking about. This collection really does give us a good picture of what Schumann-Heink was capable of doing. Of course, the sound quality, though exceptional for remasterings of this sort of recording, is horrible. One must listen through hisses, scratches, and all that. Yet, in spite of everything the old recording technology did to rob us of a real impression of this singer, the qualities she brought to music come through, like a ghost from a distant land informing us of some great thing from a forgotten age.

Unlike many reissuings of old recordings, this one comes with a wonderfully informative booklet, translations, and well, everything we would expect. We are not left in the dark at all. That is very helpful, especially for those who are buying such reissues out of curiosity and not a long detailed study of the life of the singer. You get the chance to really get to know about this singer, her time frame in the history of music, and the music she is singing without having to spend years going over dusty old books and newspaper clippings to learn this or that small detail. I think the booklet is really first rate, and is a great help to those who are just coming to these old recordings out of a desire to just hear what it was all about.

As for collectors, well, this is definitely something you should be adding to your collection. It is a wonderful documentary in sound of a wonderful career of a completely fascinating woman, and a woman who in a sense was the "great mother" of all Americans, especially at Christmas time when her singing of "Silent Night" was considered an American Institution.