One of the great and fascinating singers of her day was the “black Venus” of Bayreuth, Grace Bumbry, who demonstrated her exceptionally wide range at the Salzburg Festival with a gripping Lady Macbeth by the Wagner antipode Verdi (Orfeo C 843112) as well as with the impressive Lieder recital on this recording, exclusively devoted to the Wagner antipode Brahms – from an age that was more friendly towards Lieder recitals than today, yet still one full decade before Jessye Norman.