ORFEO International – Reviews

Important Releases Briefly Introduced

October 2006

Sena Jurinac

Although it is now twenty-four years since Sena Jurinac – an honorary member of the Vienna State Opera – bade farewell to the stage, memories of her great performances remain as fresh as ever: first as Octavian and then as the Marschallin in Der Rosenkavalier, and as both Cherubino and the Countess in Le nozze di Figaro – a list of all Sena Jurinac’s roles in Vienna would go on for pages.
Sena Jurinac (ORFEO CD 684 062 I)A selection of them is now released on two CDs to mark the singer’s 85th birthday on 24 October 2006. Featuring recordings from the years between 1950 and 1972, it attests to her artistry and to her ability to bring operatic characters to life through the medium of music theatre. In addition to the afore-mentioned parts, which demonstrate Sena Jurinac’s effortless ability to switch from trouser roles to the great lyric soprano repertory, she may also be heard in the title roles in Madama Butterfly, Tosca and Jenufa, all of which mark her out as a tragic actress of the very first order. At the same time, this compilation reflects the high standards that were regularly to be found in Vienna during the 1960s and 1970s not only on first nights but also at ordinary repertory performances, when Sena Jurinac’s partners onstage and in the pit included artists of the stature of Christa Ludwig, Plácido Domingo, Carlo Cossutta, Silvio Varviso and André Cluytens. Together, these musicians provided innumerable great evenings in the theatre. Sena Jurinac is an artist who can truly be described as a living legend.