An incredible CD! Hitherto at home in the German Zwischenfach, this soprano singer now presents us with a taste of her victorious thrust into the truly big and highly dramatic Fach – with a special twist: Her voice has retained its graceful  tone of youthful exaltation which so clearly also befits Elektra, Ariadne, Leonore, Isolde and Brünnhilde. These, in principle, are youthful heroines – yet one rarely hears them as such. This interpretation of the Atrides‘ daughter gains our full sympathy as early as during Agamemnon’s monologue when her voice expresses compassion towards her murdered father and the deep desire to resolve the family’s unbearable situation. Elisabeth-Maria Wachutka possesses the long breath that is indispensable for these musical dimensions yet even her most powerful notes still sound human. Ariadne sounds young and desirable. The heights and depths of the realm of the dead which she alleges are fully there, it is „all pure“, and even the theatrics required of the deserted demigoddess can be discerned. Of course, the singer is especially well equipped to play Beethoven’s Leonore whose love is so steadfast; one is pleased to hear the vocal altitudes, reached so effortlessly, of the female warrior and lover, certain of her victory. Conscious of having now achieved all she has wished for in life, Isolde approaches her Liebestod, her love death, deliberately, leading it to its climax with an enormous intensity of feeling. It is almost possible to see Tristan resurrected against one’s very eyes! One gets the feeling that, with her vehement emotional exertion, it is she, Isolde, who is guiding the orchestra where she wants it. She savors every word, every syllable, and each note in order to fully appreciate all the marvels which Wagner puts at her disposal. And thus, loving unendingly, she enters another world.

According to reports, Ms. Wachutka has been studying Isolde – and one can only encourage directors and conductors not to miss out on her first stage performance! She has become known already as an impressive Brünnhilde in „Siegfried“ at Erl, and, when one listens now to this final song from the „Götterdämmerung“, one understands that there is much more to come. Here’s an artist – whose voice is in top shape – trying to act out the entire emotional range of this colossal character on the vocal as well as the verbal level. Simply wonderful!

She is optimally supported by the WÜRTTEMBERGISCHE PHILHARMONIE REUTLINGEN, led by conductor ROBERTO PATERNOSTRO, who has a rich experience with Wagner and Strauss and who moves along with the entire generous scope, embedding the singing voice into the well-organized overall sound. The prelude to „Tristan“ enables the body of sound to favorably present itself with a solo part.