Brahms: Alto Rhapsody

[Jose Echenique]

I know a lot of people like La Stutzman, but I have to say that she is one of the most disappointing singers I have heard live, and not once, one can always forgive an off night, but several times singing everything from a Mozart concert with the Hanover Band, to a Mahler 3 with symphony orchestra, to a Brahms Lieder recital with piano. Very often she was inaudible, and I am not losing my hearing. Of course it's no surprise that her star has somewhat faded with the arrival of truly outstanding altos like Sara Mingardo, Sonia Prina and Romina Basso, all of them far more active in recordings than Stutzman lately.