In the past, such editions were made with deep recording knowledge and respect for the artist. Now we can no longer trust. So, when plowing this Jessye Norman box set upon receipt, we fall from a very high place. After the Beethoven concerto split from the Grumiaux box set and the 2 defective CDs from the Ansermet box set, Decca “surpasses itself”. For this artist who has given her so much, Universal allows itself shabby reproductions of the covers, like bad photocopies. The Unreleased Masters (March 2023), while the text of the notice claims the opposite and 90-minute symphonies add up, barely ten of which are sung by Norman (two Third by Mahler). These “Studio Recitals”, which contain numerous concerts, in fact constitute a non-operatic legacy (but what then Erwartung by Schoenberg here?). The icing on the cake, the CD no 10, “Jessye Norman Live”, begins with a gap of 1 minute 30. In addition, the sequencing is incorrect and the last piece is cut right in the middle. No but, frankly…
To watch on video