Mathilde Wolff

When Stephen Hough’s disc of Hummel piano concertos came out in the early 1990s, it was a revelation. Here was a much neglected composer whose music responded to Hough’s treatment and made us realise that there was rather more to this man than we might have thought. Having not come across any of Hummel’s fifteen operas on disc before, I had high hopes of this recording. – Robert Hugill, MusicWeb International

Mathilde von Guise was one of Hummel’s best known operas, partly because the composer actually issued a printed piano score which was published in Leipzig in 1823. It was written for Vienna where it was premiered, in German, at the Kartnertortheater. As was the case with all German lyric drama at the time, it was in the form of a singspiel: with spoken dialogue. Hummel decided to perform the work again in 1821 at the Court Theatre in Weimar where he was working and made some minor revisions to the piece, along with changing the overture.

This set features the complete known recordings of French mezzo-soprano Blanche Marchesi (1863–1940), the daughter and pupil of legendary vocal instructor Mathilde (née Graumann) Marchesi (1821–1913). Mathilde was born in Frankfurt, Germany, and after a short, unsuccessful career as a performer, she transitioned to teaching voice in 1849, and never looked back. Her teaching career took her from Cologne to Vienna, and ultimately to Paris, where in 1881 she established her own school and enjoyed a long and illustrious career as vocal instructor to many of the greatest singers of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Some of her most famous pupils include Nellie Melba, Emma Calvé, Frances Alda, Selma Kurz, and Emma Eames. In addition to the complete Blanche Marchesi, this two-CD set features other rare recordings of pupils of Mathilde Marchesi, most being released here for the first time. Included are performances by American sopranos Elizabeth Parkina, Esther Palliser, and Frances Saville, Australian contralto Ada Crossley, and American lyric coloratura soprano Suzanne Adams.