A Song Recital

This album marks the centenary of the birth of Mattiwilda Dobbs, the coloratura soprano who was one of the first Afro-descendants to triumph on the great American stages (as well as in other prestigious venues such as La Scala, Covent Garden and the Glyndebourne Festival). She died in 2015 in relative anonymity, largely due to her limited discography, despite the success she enjoyed in the 1950s thanks to her astonishing vocal ease and incomparable stage presence. In addition to the opera recital conducted by Alceo Galliera, she has left a superb record of her art of lieder, accompanied by Gerald Moore. A great tragedienne, Mattiwilda Dobbs showed that she also excelled in the song format, particularly French (her months of training with Pierre Bernac no doubt had something to do with it). Here she can be heard singing Schubert, Brahms, Wolf, Hahn, Fauré and Chausson.