Germain Lubin - Complete Recordings [2CD]

The French dramatic soprano, Germaine Lubin (1890-1979) will be remembered for her stunning Wagnerian portrayals, her striking beauty, and the accusations of Nazi sympathies that shaped her later life and career. Lubin received her initial training at the Paris Conservatory; debuted at the Opéra-Comique as Antonia in Les contes d’Hoffmann; studied with Felia Litvinne; sang Isolde at Covent Garden under Thomas Beecham, to Lauritz Melchior’s Tristan (1939); appeared in Berlin singing Kundry, Sieglinde and Strauss’s Ariadne with the composer conducting (1939); and depicted Sieglinde to Flagstad’s Brünnhilde under Furtwaengler (1939). This two-CD set features Lubin's complete recorded output and includes two important essays that provide insight into the woman whose life was inextricably woven with her art: an essay by the French scholar Vincent Giroud on her life and career and a personal memoir by André Tebeuf. To complete this two-CD set, Marston has included recordings by Marcelle Bunlet and Lucienne de Méo whose first name has sometimes been incorrectly listed as Cléontine.