By JH121626
24-Jun-2012

The Knight of the High D  

Roswaenge's voice is an instrument of exceptional quality. Warm and ringing throughout his range, the voice culminated at a gigantic high D natural, which is displayed in Mes amis escoutez l'histoire. It is a note of unbelievable squillo, found only in Lauri-Volpi, Filippeschi, Soler and perhaps a few others. Usually Italian music sung in German is displeasing to me, but the glory of his voice is such compensation that I was not bothered.

His singing in the scene from Fidelio is magisterial, and I highly recommend it. I do not really appreciate Fidelio. Once I attempted to listen to a Jon Vickers recording, which left me never wanting to hear any German music again. However I have come to respect it (thanks to Roswaenge). He has a certain way with the music, a feeling for the legato, that removes the Germanic ugliness for me. Perhaps this is because of origin in Denmark, where the language is much more conducive to good vocalism.

His singing of the Prize Song was also pleasing to me by virtue of his total ease in the tessitura of the piece, and again, the glory of his shining instrument.

The Prima Voce marque produces the best and most natural transfers (thanks to their process of re-cording, not re-mastering, the records). They are a pleasure to listen to, and I highly recommended this album and the entire Prima Voce series.
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