Icon: Hans Hotter, the Great Bass-Baritone [Box Set] [Box set]

Helmut Graml (Performer), Karl Schmitt-Walter (Performer), Johann Sebastian Bach (Composer), Johannes Brahms (Composer), Franz [Vienna] Schubert (Composer), Edvard Grieg (Composer), Robert Schumann (Composer), Carl Loewe (Composer), Richard [1] Strauss (Composer), Hans Pfitzner (Composer), Hugo [Composer] Wolf (Composer), Carl Orff (Composer), Richard [Classical] Wagner (Composer), Anthony Bernard (Conductor), Herbert von Karajan (Conductor), Wolfgang Sawallisch (Conductor), Meinhard von Zallinger (Conductor), Leopold Ludwig (Conductor), Philharmonia Orchestra of London (Orchestra), Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra (Orchestra) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Performer: Helmut Graml, Karl Schmitt-Walter
• Orchestra: Philharmonia Orchestra of London, Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra
• Conductor: Anthony Bernard, Herbert von Karajan, Wolfgang Sawallisch, Meinhard von Zallinger, Leopold Ludwig
• Composer: Johann Sebastian Bach, Johannes Brahms, Franz [Vienna] Schubert, Edvard Grieg, Robert Schumann, et al.
• Audio CD (April 21, 2009)
• SPARS Code: ADD
• Number of Discs: 6
• Format: Box set
• Note on Boxed Sets: During shipping, discs in boxed sets occasionally become dislodged without damage. Please examine and play these discs. If you are not completely satisfied, we'll refund or replace your purchase.
• Label: EMI Classics
• ASIN: B001QEJQYA
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #45,245 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #68 in Music > Classical > Historical Periods > Early Music > Forms & Genres > Requiems
  • #80 in Music > Classical > Historical Periods > Early Music > Sacred & Religious
  • #81 in Music > Classical > Opera & Vocal > Historical Periods > Modern & 20th Century

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Absolutely essential performances, August 12, 2009

By 

LJM (Earth) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Icon: Hans Hotter, the Great Bass-Baritone [Box Set] (Audio CD)

Hans Hotter (1909-2003) is perhaps best known for his Wagner performances in Bayreuth, where he incarnated one of the most memorable Wotans in history with his very special bass-baritone voice. We have many of these performances on disc. One of the most interesting is Keilberth's 1955 Ring (Wagner: Der Ring des Nibelungen [Box Set]).

This Wagner aspect of Hotter is also evident in this excellent collection of 6 CDs: the final scene of Die Walküre, together with Birgit Nilsson. Leopold Ludwig conducts. This must be one of the best final Walküre scenes ever recorded. Both Hotter and Nilsson are better than ever here, in this 1957 recording.

But the main focus in this collection is Hotter's lieder performances of Schubert (the cycles Winterreise and Schwanengesang, and other Schubert songs). Hotter's 1954 Winterreise is his very best, and it is one of the best recordings of this work as well. The same holds for his 1954 Schwanengesang. Two wonderful cycles with Gerald Moore at the piano. A set of 1949 Schubert performances, including An die Musik, shows Hotter in an earlier, brighter voice. Essential recordings, many of them of course available in other editions but it is good to have them collected here.

The Brahms and Schumann lieder collected here are equally rewarding, in particular Brahm's agnostic "Vier ernste Gesänge", Op. 121. This is also the case of Hotter's Hugo Wolf lieder, the latter generally considered as immortal classics. As far as I know, the Wolf lieder recital are otherwise only available in a very expensive Testament edition (Hans Hotter Wolf Lieder Recital), so it's a real bargain to have them in this cheap box.

Finally, the first CD incarnates yet another Hotter classic: Bach's cantata BWV82, "Ich habe genug". An ideal work for Hotter - considering his tragic Schubert and Wagner repertoire. A very anti-modern (non-autheticist) performance from 1950, but superb nonetheless.

In addition, this box also collects excerpts from Orff and Strauss operas, some other Wagner stuff, an excerpt from a 1947 performance of Deutches Requiem with Karajan ("Herr, lehre doch mich"), and various lieders by Loewe, Strauss, Pfitzner, and Grieg.

In sum, this is a superb bargain, featuring one of the greatest bass-baritone voices in human history in his very best performances - most of them in mono sound but in fine remasterings. A good booklet text too, but - unfortunately, no libretti and lieder texts are included (but this is perhaps a minor quibble). Warmly recommended.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Classics back on CD at a low price, November 16, 2010

By 

Donald L. Kass "Voice from the past" (Queens, NY USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Icon: Hans Hotter, the Great Bass-Baritone [Box Set] (Audio CD)

It is good to have these recordings back --and at a low price.
The Hotter Schubert from the 50s was incomparable -- FD can't
come close. The Brahms is also terrific. And as a great
bonus there is the Wagner recital with Nilsson --on the last CD.

2 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Hans Hotter CD collection, September 23, 2009

By 

Roger G. Horn (clarion, PA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Icon: Hans Hotter, the Great Bass-Baritone [Box Set] (Audio CD)

A very good compilation of selected Hotter recordings. There are excerpts from various EMI recordings and though not enough and not the best were selected from Orff's "Der Mond", that is the only displeasing thing I found about it.