"We all envied her, because all that we had to struggle so hard to achieve seemed so natural and self-evident to her because she knew how to sing from the heart," said Elisabeth Schwarzkopf of her colleague Irmgard Seefried.

Collected here are Seefried's complete recital recordings for Deutsche Grammophon as well as highlights from her recordings of opera and sacred music for the label and includes material both unpublished and new to CD.

Irmgard Seefried was a revered artist among lovers of natural singing, wrote the critic Alan Blyth. "The emotions, grave or gay, are expressed directly, unfussily, genuinely, in that peculiarly outgoing manner that was this artist's supreme gift." This gift illuminates song repertoire from Bach to Bartok and beyond in a newly compiled and remastered set of her recital albums recorded by Deutsche Grammophon in the 1950s and 60s.

"If I were condemned to hear only one voice for the remainder of my life I think it might well be hers," wrote Blyth on another occasion (a reissue of the 1953 "Liederabend" anthology of concert performances). "If I wanted to be charmed, to laugh or to cry I would find her the perfect companion."

The core of the set is formed by several albums of Romantic Lieder by Schubert, Schumann, Brahms and Wolf. As well as an imaginative collection of Goethe settings, there is an album of Heine and Schumann, poetry and song, in which the recited portions are reissued on CD for the first time. The set includes two appendices, both also new to CD: Seefried's contribution to the DG audio documentary series "Erzähltes Leben", and "Erik Werba Accompanies You", in which the soprano's regular recital partner plays the piano part for famous Lieder (with the idea that the listener at home will take the sung line for themselves).

Seefried also made several opera recordings as well as sacred music for Deutsche Grammophon. Generous excerpts from these - often including entire scenes, not just arias - are included as newly-compiled anthologies across five CDs.

Seefried's greatness transferred to modern song repertoire, too: not only the opulent romanticism of Respighi's Il tramonto but Werner Egk's German-Mediterranean Quattro canzoni, and a selection of sacred solo motets by Paul Hindemith that surprised and delighted many critics on its first issue.

All the material in this Original Covers collection has been newly remastered, and the set is richly illustrated and accompanied by a new essay on Seefried's art by Tully Potter as well as an English translation of Ein Selbstporträt by Fer van Campen.

"Desert island recordings ... a portrait of an exceptional artist at the height of her powers. If it's not already in your collection, it should be." - Fanfare , March 2015 (Mozart, "Liederabend")

"If you can resist the sixth waltz as sung on this disc, you have a heart of stone and something should be done about it." - Gramophone, August 1963 (Brahms: Liebeslieder-Walzer)

"One of Irmgard Seefried's very best records, especially the Cornelius side ... tenderly beautiful, and sung in clear, fresh beautiful tones." - Gramophone, August 1957 (Brahms/Cornelius)

"I have never heard Seefried so consistently in beautiful voice ... Since these are recordings made at concert performances, the whole personality comes over very vividly." - Gramophone, March 1957 ("Liederabend")

Contents:

Mozart - 9 Lieder

Schumann - Frauenliebe und Leben

Schubert - Lieder

Schubert, Schumann, Brahms - Lieder

Schumann - Lied und Dichtung

Brahms - Liebeslieder-Walzer

Brahms, R Strauss, Cornelius - Lieder

Schubert, Brahms, R Strauss, Reger - Lieder

Hindemith - 3 Geistliche Motetten

Egk - Quattro canzoni

Wolf - Nimmersatte Liebe, Italienisches Liederbuch (excerpts)

Wolf - Spanisches Liederbuch

Wolf - Italienisches Liederbuch

Lieder nach Gedichten von Goethe: Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Schumann, Wolf

Liederabend Irmgard Seefried: Schubert, Brahms, Mussorgsky, Bartók, Wolf, R Strauss

J.S. Bach - Wedding Cantata, BWV202

Respighi - Il tramonto

Mozart - Divertimento, K138

Mozart - Così fan tutte (arias - sung in German)

Irmgard Seefried sings Handel & Mozart: Arias and scenes from Giulio Cesare & Così fan tutte

Irmgard Seefried sings Mozart: Arias and scenes from Il re pastore, Don Giovanni & Le nozze di Figaro

Romantic Heroines: Arias and scenes from Carmen (Bizet), Mignon (Thomas), Der Wildschütz (Lortzing) & Der Freischütz (Weber)

Irmgard Seefried sings Beethoven & R Strauss: Scenes from Fidelio, Ariadne auf Naxos (1954 recording) & Der Rosenkavalier

Irmgard Seefried sings Sacred Music: Arias and Duets from St Matthew Passion (J.S. Bach), Die Schöpfung (Haydn) & Messe solennelle de Ste. Cécile (Gounod))

Erik Werba begleitet Sie (Erik Werba Accompanies You)

Irmgard Seefried: Ein Selbstporträt (Irmgard Seefried in Person)