Verve The Complete Recordings on American Decca

In Russell Oberlin we may marvel at probably one of the greatest vocal wonders of the 20th century. In terms of beauty of sound, virtuosity, expressiveness and naturalness of vocalization, the American singer can undoubtedly be considered the father of all modern countertenors - and this despite the fact that, or precisely because, unlike almost all male tweeters, he did not have to resort to the fragile head voice. He was able to lead his natural tenor voice easily and effortlessly over two octaves into the alto range, making his singing sound powerful, masculine, and homogeneous and intonationally secure across all registers. His repertoire ranged from medieval chants to English lute songs, choral music of classical vocal polyphony, baroque opera arias and German piano songs to hits from musicals and films. What other singer would have such a wide vocal range... But this box set is also a reencounter with a pioneering ensemble of historical performance practice: New York Pro Musica, founded by Noah Greenberg in 1952, just one year before Harnoncourt's Concentus Musicus. In addition to four first releases, a large number of the recordings are available for the first time on CD and outside the English-speaking world thanks to this edition. They have been carefully remastered from the original tapes for this edition. A knowledgeable essay by Pierre Ruhe, Publications Director of Early Music America, and numerous rare visuals complete the edition.