CD 1*
HUGO WOLF
Mignon I–IV (Goethe-Lieder)
Auch kleine Dinge
Mausfallen-Sprüchlein
Epiphanias
ROBERT SCHUMANN
Frauenliebe und -leben, Op. 42
Fünf Gedichte von Mary Stuart, Op. 135
Er ist’s, Op. 79 No. 23
Marienwürmchen, Op. 79 No. 13
Frühlingsnacht, Op. 39 No. 12
Der Sandmann, Op. 79 No. 12
Widmung, Op. 25, No. 1
CD 2
FRANZ SCHUBERT
Ständchen, D.892
Elizabethan Singers
Viola Tunnard, piano
Louis Halsey
JOHANNES BRAHMS
Mädchenlied, Op. 107 No. 5*
Des Liebsten Schwur, Op. 69 No. 4*
Der Schmied, Op. 19 No. 4*
Ständchen, Op. 14 No. 7*
Zwei Gesänge mit Viola, Op. 91 (with Cecil Aronowitz, viola)
Geoffrey Parsons, piano
Alto Rhapdsody, Op. 53
Les Chœur de la Radio Suisse Romande et Pro Arte de Lausanne L’Orchestre de la Suisse Romande
Ernest Ansermet
Helen Watts, contralto
*FIRST INTERNATIONAL CD RELEASE ON DECCA
Recording Producers: unidentified (Brahms, Schumann: Lieder); Michael Bremner (Schubert); John Mordler (Brahms: Alto Rhapsody)
Balance Engineers: unidentified (Brahms: Lieder, Schumann); Kenneth Wilkinson (Schubert); James Lock, David Frost (Brahms: Alto Rhapsody)
Recording Locations: London, UK, 8–9 February 1963 (Brahms, Schumann: Lieder); Conway Hall, London, 18–19 September 1965 (Wolf, Schumann: Frauenliebe); Victoria Hall, Geneva, Switzerland, 31 October 1965 (Brahms: Alto Rhapsody); Kingsway Hall, London, UK, October 1966 (Schubert)
Original LP Releases: L’Oiseau-Lyre SOL 268 (Brahms, Schumann: Lieder); L’Oiseau-Lyre SOL 293 (Wolf, Schumann: Frauenliebe); Argo ZRG 527 (Schubert); Decca SET 333-34 (Brahms: Alto Rhapsody)
‘Gestillte Sehnsucht shows off her velvety low notes to perfection … She sings Mary’s prayer on the birth of her son with deep devotion … [Geoffrey Parsons] is a perfect partner in this most successful recital … Helen Watts must give us some Wolf.’ Gramophone, May 1964
‘The Mignon songs, so complex in texture but needing to be performed with great clarity and simplicity, call for the notable gifts of interpretation Miss Watts possesses.’ Gramophone, October 1966 (Wolf)