News of Elisabeth Soderstrom's passing brought back memories of two particular performances that have remained especially dear to me as the years have passed by. Reg Wilson's photo of the soprano, above.
One was a magnificent performances of ROSENKAVALIER by the Met on tour in Boston. Despite a persistent audience disturbance, this remains my most memorable of the many performances of the Strauss masterpiece I have seen and heard over the years. A simple look at the cast will tell you why:
Writing in my diary the morning after:
"Elisabeth Soderstrom was a priceless Marschallin and I truly enjoyed watching this lovely lady unfold the character in a unique way. Not taking the impending loss of her lover lightly, Soderstrom brings out the anger, bitterness and edgy temper of the Princess both vocally and in her acting. She used the voice, now a rather delicate egg-shell instrument (but what chest!) to fascinating dramatic ends, detailing the emotion without ever sounding calculated. Alone, in her monolog, she was not afraid to strut and mimic "die alte Frau"; at "Heut oder morgen..." she seized Octavian (von Stade) by the shoulders violently, shaking him as if her point must be made by physical means. A glorious final picture of Act I as Soderstrom sat fingering the yellow rose...not gazing into the mirror.
In Act III Soderstrom's Marschallin at first masks her confusion and despair with an animated conversation with the Police Commissioner (a former love?)...the trio was almost heroic in her acceptance of the situation. I watched Soderstrom closely here and while the vocal line caused her considerable effort she managed to control it just as she controlled herself. With a sustained "In gottes namen!" she departed, returning for an exasperated, ill-tempered "Ja, ja..." I think this Marschallin went home and sobbed her heart out. I also wonder if, somewhere down the line, Octavian might not find his way back into her boudoir.
Soderstrom's voice and acting are all of a piece; she sang the music with a silvery lightness but also with sudden, almost Tosca-like flashes of bitter chest voice. Truly a wonderful, absorbing portrayal..."
In October 1983 I was fortunate enough to be present at the Met's 100th Anniversary Gala where Soderstrom, Battle and von Stade sang the ROSENKAVALIER trio - a highlight in an afternoon of memorable performances and one of the last great gatherings of the Last Golden Age.
At a recital Soderstrom gave with James Levine in 1985, the singer gave me what was probably the most fascinating rendering of a lied that I ever experienced.
Her singing of the Schubert Gretchen am Spinnrade was not only the highlight of this wonderful afternoon of music-making from Ms. Soderstrom and James Levine but also an interpretation which has remained in my mind as the epitome of what expressive singing can be.
It is said that for a professional singer it is nearly impossible to weep and sing at the same time. Yet this was exactly the illusion Soderstrom created. I have heard many, many poignantly sung expressions of grief, loneliness and heartbreak over the years but somehow Soderstrom conveyed not just the depths of romantic despair but the vocal illusion of a woman who has been crying for hours upon hours: red-eyed, trembling, exhausted...pale and inconsolable.
"My peace is gone,
My heart is heavy...,
I will find it never.
Nevermore.
When I am not with him
It is like the grave...
The whole world
Is bitter to me.
My poor head
Has gone mad,
My poor mind
Is torn apart.
For him only, I look
Out from my window.
Only for him do I go
Out of the house.
His graceful walk,
His noble figure,
His smiling lips,
His powerful eyes.
And his mouth's
Magic flow,
His handclasp...
and ah! His kiss!
My peace is gone,
My heart is heavy...
My soul draws itself
toward him.
Ah, that I might grasp
And hold him!
And kiss him
As I would wish...
And in his kisses
That I might die!"
My other Soderstrom memories include her Ellen Orford in PETER GRIMES opposite the inimitable Jon Vickers and one of her last Met performances as the Old Countess in PIQUE-DAME.
Elisabeth Soderstrom sings Rachmaninov's "Sleep" here.
I got to see her live only once as the Old Countess in Tchaikovsky's "Pique Dame." She had actually retired from performing a number of years earlier and came out of retirement to sing these performances. I thought her portrayal was very moving and I'm sorry I didn't get to see her in her prime.
I think Soderstrom is one of the few sopranos who had sung all 3 female leads in "Der Rosenkavalier" throughout her career.
A friend, who was a stage manager at the Metropolitan at one point, once told me that the year Soderstrom was singing her last Marschallins at the Met she always came down and sat next to him just off stage for the entire second act of the opera. When he asked her what she was doing there she told him that she simply loved this music and didn't want to miss a moment of it.
Posted by: Dmitry | November 24, 2009 at 10:55 PM