Of course Rothenberger being the “strangest” voice, I had to start with her first. Her ending consonants are very pronounced compared to the other two. The pattern I have noticed with German diction ending consonants is how important and yet simultaneously unimportant they are. Some of her oo vowels seem more much more oo than the other two. Another strange vowel I notice is the öffne mir” which almost sounds like a schwa vowel instead of an umlaut sound.
Schawrzkopf:
The original link was dead, so I listened to this recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Bp9OqKX108 finding a video for this woman singing this song was extremely easy, and after listening it’s very easy to understand why. Her interpretation is extremely musical. Though I’m sure that her mouth isn’t making gigantic words and diction, though I can almost imagine her singing this song with a coyness and a litheness similar to that of a ballet dancer. Beyond her just being a fantastic singer, what I hear is her using the ending consonants lightly, instead of really spending time on them. Sometimes her ending d’s [t] are softer than other times.
Christa Ludwig
She is really theatrical in this performance, especially on the “Öffne mir” parts, she really digs into the darkness of the ö sound. Even though she seems to scoop a little on some of the pitches, it does seem very intentional. In general, her voice sounds a lot darker. Her vowels especially seem dark compared to the lightness of Schwarzkopf.
It’s interesting that you mentioned turning pages for this woman. The two times I’ve turned pages in my life have been for Dr. Peter Marshall, the very first time was for none other than Jamie Barton.
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