Before 2000, anyone wanting to hear the great German bass baritone
Hans Hotter on CD either needed to locate him in a collection, an opera set in which he appeared, or in releases on poor-quality Italian labels. Since then, the Testament label, which devotes itself largely to reissuing recordings from EMI's vaults from artists of little commercial value to the company, has released two high-quality compact discs of
Hotter's singing. Supplementary to this project comes another from the German label Preiser in its series Dokumente Einer Sängerkarriere, Hans Hotter Singt. These selections also originated with EMI, recorded at the tail end of the 78 era between 1949 and 1951. As
Hotter remade several of the pieces for use on LP, many reissue projects tend to pass over these older performances. Nonetheless,
Hotter was at the peak of his powers around 1950, whereas he struggles somewhat with his voice in recordings made in the later 1950s, where Testament has concentrated much of its efforts. Hans Hotter Singt features prime
Hotter in generally excellent transfers, mostly in recordings that are otherwise unavailable.
The three
Handel arias and
Brahms' Mit vierzig Jahren duplicate their appearance on a Testament release, Hans Hotter: The Early EMI Recordings. Among unduplicated selections on Hans Hotter Singt, there is a highly interesting 1950 recording of
Johann Sebastian Bach's Cantata No. 82, "Ich habe genug."
Hotter is backed by the Philharmonia Orchestra arranged in a slightly bigger band than is the current fashion for
Bach's music; the tempos are a tad sluggish and the style of instrumental performance rather stodgy. None of this seems to effect
Hotter, though, who floats weightlessly through this music and has a chance to display his strong and confident top notes in
Bach's unusually high-lying writing for bass voice. The lieder, which brings
Hotter together with incomparable accompanist
Gerald Moore, is better; the 1949
Schubert Wandrers Nachtlied ("Über allen Gipfeln ist Ruh") almost seems to suspend time as
Hotter's gentle voice and
Moore's careful pacing draw the piece to its conclusion with nary a ripple on its smooth, undisturbed surface. It is a splendid and deeply moving rendering, and there are many such moments found here. Hans Hotter Singt will doubtless appeal to
Hotter's fans, but for those who are unacquainted with his voice, it will also serve as a satisfactory introduction to
Hotter's unique and very special gifts.