When listening to this record, I advise putting all preconceived ideas about the interpretation of these works out of mind. Indeed, I list comparative versions with some trepidation as Baltsa's readings are incomparable in the sense that they cannot be compared with others. Baltsa's highly individual, resinous tone has its own peculiar resonances—erotic, compelling, with a plebeian touch that takes both cycles almost out of the world of the art-song. In the Berlioz all sorts of feelings about their darker side are here exposed, most of all in ''Au cimetiere'' and ''Sur les lagunes'', where her dark-hued tone is at its most heady. In the Wagner, she probes the subconscious thoughts in the poetry as well as the Ur-romantic sense of the music. In sum, I wouldn't want this to be my only version of either work but at the same time I wouldn't want to be without them. In any case, you won't find the works coupled thus elsewhere, though Baltsa makes out a case for their togetherness.
Once away from their spell, criticisms have to be made and other recordings eventually taken into consideration. Baltsa's command of both French and German is far from idiomatic, and her German vowels, as with her Octavian on DG, are definitely suspect. Then, in the Berlioz, I find that she and Tate err throughout on the slow side: ''Spectre de la rose'' drags unconscionably though that is in Baltsa's cause of drawing out all its sensuality. Nor do I find the orchestra basks sufficiently in the sheer sensuousness of sound created by Berlioz. In all these respects the three versions listed above (the Crespin, still top recommendation on Decca) are superior.
In the Wagner, I suggest you try the start of ''Im Treibhaus''. If you can take Baltsa's slurring together of notes and phrase, and her marginal flatness, you will be able to take anything else she does. However, in this cycle the tempos seem admirably judged and finely related, with both singer and conductor also attentive to dynamic markings. But the reissue this month on CD of Flagstad's version (see page 608) does show what Baltsa misses interpretatively and vocally in this cycle, and the two other mezzos listed above (both on HMV) offer strong competition still and are more sensibly coupled, while Jessye Norman's versions with both orchestra (Philips—LP and CD) and piano (HMV SXLP30556, 1/83) take some beating. But, as I say, on its own, and on its own terms, the Baltsa is most seductive. The CD arrived as we went to press. Predictably the sound is fuller and more immediate which only emphasizes Baltsa's slightly strange pronunciation.AB