Parnassus Records presents its latest release in the “Black Swans” series, returning to international availability a pioneering recording of Schubert’s best-known song cycles, Die schöne Mullein and Winterreise, sung by American soprano Inez Matthews accompanied by Lowell Farr. The recordings were briefly available as a two-LP-plus-EP set in the mid-1950s and are one of only a few recordings made by Matthews and had become one of the most elusive vocal collectors’ items of the early LP era. The recordings, newly restored and remastered, reveal an artist with an exceptionally beautiful voice and stunning diction, bringing vitality and insight to Schubert’s dramatic and demanding songs.
“Recording these works today has become a rite of passage for singers aspiring to being accepted as mature interpreters, also true for violinists with the Bach Unaccompanied Sonatas and for cellists, with the same composer’s unaccompanied Suites. It was not always so. When Ms. Matthews taped her reading of these songs about 1953-4, there had been only a few 78 sets of each and another few on LP. These recordings differ from many others since they are usually performed by men as the protagonists are male. They are sung here by mezzo soprano Inez Matthews. Of women singers only soprano Lotte Lehmann had recorded them before her.”
