"The Very Best of Lucia Popp"

I often wonder how is it that someone with working-class background and without any previous exposure to classical music in childhood I grew up to be almost connoisseur (in my own,clumsy way)?

After all,my parents would change TV channel when classical music came on,radio played only pop songs and even my mother complained that she never understood where is the beauty of piano music that she disliked so much (to her it sounded like banging on kitchen pots). And here am I,enjoying classical music concerts,reading literature about it and collecting some celebrated recordings - it helps that today we have the whole industry about music literature,but it also helps to have some direction ("Gramophone" magazine helped me a lot,they always have interesting articles and recommendations).

I read somewhere that current czech mezzo soprano Magdalena Kožená (whom I liked) sounds like late Lucia Popp and not really knowing Popp,I have mentioned this to the guy in my favorite CD shop (Amsterdam's wonderful "Concerto") and he smirked dismissively - in his opinion Popp was a real thing and to illustrate this,he immediately filled the shop with luscious sound of Lucia Popp singing Dvořák's famous "Song to the moon" (from "Rusalka"). I actually got water-eyed from a sheer beauty of this voice and bought the CD immediately. Oh joy,when I found out the rest of the Cd is filled with one beauty after the other - Popp was equally brilliant in many completely different pieces like gentle "Solveig's song" ("Peer Gynt"), "In Trutina" ("Carmina Burana"), "Vier letzte lieder" by Richard Strauss or cheerful selection by Mozart. Apparently this lady was eccentric virtuoso and eclectic talent - throw anything at her and she would respond with natural grace,be it dramatic ballad or "Die Forelle" or Queen of the Night. At the very end of second CD we have what must be the highlight of this collection, 1986 recording of "Klänge der Heimat" from "Die Fledermaus" which completely blew me away with coloratura that would make even Tetrazzini proud.

Simply a wonderful,wonderful artist.