~The "Glass Shatterers!" series focuses on sopranos who sustain High F, or sing higher.
J. Strauss II - Voices of Spring waltz, circa 1950, High F
THE SONGBIRD: Milada Šubrtová (1924 - 2011) was a Czech soprano who had a long career at the National Theatre in Prague, from 1948 to 1991. Born in Lhota, Šubrtová moved to Prague and studied singing while working as a secretary. She made her professional operatic debut in 1946 as Giulietta in "The Tales of Hoffmann," and became a principal artist at the Prague National Theatre in 1948. Subrtova excelled in portraying roles from Czech operas by Smetana, Dvořák, and Janáček. She essentially owned the role of Rusalka, which she sang regularly and recorded commercially. Her vast repertory included more than 80 roles across a wide range from florid to lyric to dramatic. She sang Konstanze, Gilda, Violetta, Donna Anna, Fiordiligi, Pamina, Agathe and Ännchen, Mimi and Musetta, Tosca, Turandot, Lady Macbeth, Abigaile, Leonora, Santuzza, Louise, Marguerite, Micaëla, Elsa, Sieglinde, Tatyana, and Lyudmila. Operettas by Strauss, Lehár, Zeller, and Offenbach were also part of her repertoire. This Strauss waltz is a rarity that I recorded off a Šubrtová tribute broadcast several years ago -- no date is given and I can't find any mention of it online. I assume it was made very early in her career.
THE MUSIC: Johann Strauss II wrote "Frühlingsstimmen" (Voices of Spring) in 1882 for German soprano Bertha Schwartz (aka Bianca Bianchi); she premiered this concert piece at a charity performance in Vienna. The German lyrics about the sounds of nature and warbling birds are by Richard Genée. Strauss came from a family of Viennese composers in the 19th century who specialized in sophisticated waltzes and light music, but Johann II's music was (and remains) the most popular. He was known as "The Waltz King" in his time and most of the Viennese waltzes we hum now were composed by him -- not to mention his enormously successful and genre-defining operettas such as "Die Fledermaus."