By the way, in the same interview, she denies that she is a lesbian. She doesn’t deny female lovers, but she rejects the label with some evidence of anger.

Has she done any autobiographical writing? Her story is riveting. Like when her family took refuge in Dresden just in time to experience the fire storms. She was, as a child, repeatedly a refugee. There was a long series of harrowing experiences beyond belief.

In addition to her riveting Brangane and Charlotte, I particularly cherish Fassbaender’s recording of Weill’s Sieben Todsünden; her muscular voice and attention to text make the work come alive in the most (satisfyingly) ghastly way. It’s a definitive performance of that unique work.

(But then, I must be wrong to think her a goddes of the lyric art since, thank god, we have jatm2063 above to set us straight about her, since he/she clearly knows so much more about singing than a mere Brigitte Fassbaender. Yes, dear jatm2063, she probably is, as you say, an “acquired taste” — like almost everything really fine.)

And while operetta might seem an unusual choice, I think that this clip is a perfect example of that quality:

In yet another Kleiber-Fassbaender collaboration, both singer and conductor simply rip through this aria with such incredible enthusiasm and the utmost panache. Almost every other version I have heard in its wake just feels so listless.

the only time i heard her in the flesh was after she retired from singing when she did schoenberg’s pierrot lunaire at wigmore hall. pretty it wasn’t but utterly fascinating!

luckily due to the german ‘record’ company orfeo we have vivid mementos of her singing outside the german repertoire, a completely spellbinding charlotte in werther and also a commanding amneris (both from munich and both with domingo). of course she sometimes appears fearless with her use of chestvoice, but why not flaunt it if you got it. it is exciting!

I shouldn’t overstate this though, because she was perfectly capable of some absolutely sublime, hugely technically accomplished singing, and I think the voice itself had a lot of intrinsic beauty and complexity. This Octavian is wonderful, and I love her Brangane on Kleiber’s Tristan – one of the few interpretations I’ve heard where the character doesn’t sound weak and annoying, she is a major asset to the recording. I like her in Verdi and French rep but it is true that it is pretty far removed from what most people expect in those roles. I’d like to hear more of her Mozart because I bet it was wonderful, in its way.

I feel that because of her sincerity as a performer and the ease with which she lays her soul bare when she sings, there is a way in which you feel let in, as if you really know her somehow. And if that happens in one piece and you decide you like her, you’ll like her in anything. I’ll stop now because I’m beginning to sound like a nutter and I haven’t even had a drink yet today.

I heard her on the same tour, in a hall that seats 350 people. Much better, apparently.

Stage presence surely die Janowitz did *not* have, handsome though she may have been.

I, however, was never a big Freni or Pav fan and found their singing unmoving.

Thanks to everyone for the condolences

Die Götter Griechenlands, the same story. That song can be heard on an Orfeo recital from Salzburg that also includes a wonderful selection of songs by Anselm Hüttenbrenner. When you listen to those, you almost believe he is a great composer.