I heard Brigitte Fassbaender live only twice—in 1985, as Octavian in a San Francisco Opera Der Rosenkavalier, and in 1994, at her recital of Wolf’s Mörike Lieder at Alice Tully Hall. But more than a decade earlier, through recordings, I’d already fallen in love with her voice and artistry…

(To read the full review, go to Parterre Box.)