Sena Jurinac
Soprano Sena Jurinac (pronounced Sehn-ya Yoo-ree-nahts) was among that extraordinary ensemble of Mozart singers to have emerged from the Vienna Staatsoper immediately after the end of WW II. Even in the company of Schwarzkopf, Seefried, Höngen, Kunz, Schöffler, and others, the young artist with the glowing voice and assured stage manner proved herself a unique singer, making her mark with definitive interpretations of Cherubino and Octavian, Dorabella and Donna Elvira (the latter second only to Schwarzkopf's magnificent portrayal). She later undertook more dramatic roles, interpreting them expertly, if sometimes sounding out of her depth vocally. Nonetheless, she was one of the world's most treasured artists in the third quarter of the twentieth century and many of her greatest roles are preserved on disc.
The daughter of a Croatian doctor, Jurinac began her musical training early. While in the primary and secondary schools of Zagreb, she pursued music at the Zagreb Musical Academy. After studying with Milka Kostrencic and less than a week before her 21st birthday, she made her operatic debut with the Zagreb Opera in the role of Mimì. Her success led to further leading roles in Le nozze di Figaro and Faust as well as secondary, but critical, roles in Parsifal and Das Rheingold. On the first of May 1945, Jurinac made her debut with the Vienna Staatsoper in one of her signature roles, Cherubino in Figaro. Her full lyric soprano made her valuable for both soprano and mezzo roles and she was assigned numerous parts done equally well by either voice category. Not surprisingly, she was engaged by Salzburg in 1947 and again in 1948 and was well received on both occasions. Her La Scala debut as Cherubino also took place in 1948. The next year brought triumphs at the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino and at the Edinburgh Festival.
In 1949, she also began an affiliation with England's Glyndebourne Festival, endearing herself to the English public and giving them several of her most enchanting Mozart interpretations. Three recordings resulted from her Glyndebourne association, recordings which still merit strong recommendations.
During the early '50s, Jurinac began to gravitate toward roles less equivocal in placement, adding the Countess to her endearing Cherubino, moving from Dorabella to Fiordiligi and later replacing her Octavian with a poised and reflective Marschallin. She moved from Marzelline in Fidelio to Leonore, a considerably greater leap in terms of vocal depth. The former role was captured effectively on disc in 1953 with Furtwängler leading the Vienna Philharmonic, while her Leonore was recorded in the late 1950s under the direction of Hans Knappertsbusch. Likewise, Jurinac moved from Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni to Donna Anna, where her short top register was sorely taxed. Still, the voice remained uniquely beautiful even as recorded under Fricsay.
Jurinac's relationship with America was less than fortunate. Intended by Samuel Barber for the title role in his opera Vanessa, she began study of the music, but did not proceed and was replaced by Eleanor Steber. Although Steber was highly creditable in the assignment, the thought of Jurinac's stillborn performance lingers as a tantalizing might-have-been. In San Francisco, she made her debut as Butterfly in 1959 and returned not often enough, finally giving the audience there her mature, well-conceived Marschallin. Chicago heard Jurinac in only one role, Desdemona in a 1963 production of Otello.
© TiVo
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Mozart: Don Giovanni (Stereo Version)
Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Sena Jurinac, Berlin Deutsches Symphony Orchestra, Ferenc Fricsay
Klassik - Erschienen bei BNF Collection am 01.07.1959
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Strauss: Ariadne auf Naxos (Mono Version)
Wiener Philharmonic Orchestra, Erich Leinsdorf, Leonie Rysanek, Sena Jurinac
Verschiedenes - Erschienen bei BNF Collection am 01.01.2013
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Schumann: Frauenliebe; Liederkreis / Respighi: Il tramonto
Sena Jurinac, Franz Holetschek, Barylli Quartet
Klassik - Erschienen bei Westminster am 01.01.2002
Qobuz’ Schallplattensammlung16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Schumann : L'amour et la vie d'une femme & Liederkreis Op. 39 - Mozart, Verdi & Tchaïkovsky : Airs d'opéras (Diapason n°578)
Vokalmusik (weltlich und geistlich) - Erschienen bei Les Indispensables de Diapason am 28.05.2009
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Strauss, R.: Der Rosenkavalier
Maria Reining, Sena Jurinac, Hilde Güden, Ludwig Weber, Wiener Philharmonic Orchestra, Erich Kleiber
Klassik - Erschienen bei Decca Music Group Ltd. am 01.01.1954
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mozart: Idomeneo, re di Creta, Extracts (Mono Version)
Sena Jurinac, Alexander Young, Glyndebourne Festival Orchestra, Fritz Busch
Klassik - Erschienen bei BNF Collection am 01.01.1962
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven: Fidelio Op. 72 (Hans Knappertsbusch - The Opera Edition: Volume 1)
Jan Peerce, Sena Jurinac, Dezsö Ernster, Chor der Bayerischen Staatsoper München, Bayerisches Staatsorchester , Hans Knappertsbusch
Klassik - Erschienen bei Universal Music Australia Pty. Ltd. am 01.01.1961
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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Schumann: Liederkreis, Op. 39 & Frauenliebe und -Leben, Op. 42
Sena Jurinac, Franz Holetschek
Klassik - Erschienen bei Profil am 04.08.2017
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Don Giovanni, K. 527 (1958), Volume 1
Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Sena Jurinac, Karl Christian Kohn
Oper - Erschienen bei Classical Moments am 01.07.1959
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Gluck: Orfeo ed Euridice (Live)
Sena Jurinac, Graziella Sciutti, Giulietta Simionato, Wiener Philharmonic Orchestra, Herbert von Karajan, Wiener Staatsopernchor
Klassik - Erschienen bei Deutsche Grammophon (DG) am 01.01.1993
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Richard Strauss: Der Rosenkavalier (Wien 1955)
Wiener Staatsopernchor, Wiener Philharmonic Orchestra, Hans Knappertsbusch, Sena Jurinac
Oper - Erschienen bei OperaPrima am 01.01.1955
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mozart · Don Giovanni
Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Sena Jurinac, Ferenc Fricsay, RIAS Berlin Symphonie Orchester
Klassik - Erschienen bei G.O.P. am 30.10.2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Gluck: Orpheus und Eurydike
Michael Gielen, Grosses Wiener Runfunkorchester, Hilde Rössel-Majdan, Emmy Loose, Sena Jurinac
Oper - Erschienen bei OperaPrima am 01.01.2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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Strauss: Le chevalier à la rose, extraits (Mono Version)
Maria Reining, Sena Jurinac, Wiener Philharmonic Orchestra, Erich Kleiber
Verschiedenes - Erschienen bei BNF Collection am 01.01.1959
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Cimarosa · Giannina e Bernardone
Sena Jurinac, Sesto Bruscantini, Nino Sanzogno, Orchestra Di Milano Della Rai
Klassik - Erschienen bei G.O.P. am 23.12.2022
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mozart: Idomeneo
Sena Jurinac, Richard Lewis, Alexander Young, Glyndebourne Festival Chorus And Orchestra
Klassik - Erschienen bei Past Classics am 02.01.2011
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mozart: Don Giovanni (Mono Version)
Wiener Symphoniker, Rudolf Moralt, George London, Sena Jurinac
Klassik - Erschienen bei BNF Collection am 01.01.2013
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Mozart: Don Giovanni, Extracts (Mono Version)
Radio Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Ferenc Fricsay, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Sena Jurinac
Klassik - Erschienen bei BNF Collection am 01.07.1959
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Mozart: Don Giovanni, Extracts (Mono Version)
Radio-Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Ferenc Fricsay, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Sena Jurinac
Klassik - Erschienen bei BNF Collection am 01.01.1960
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo