Landmark performances of Schwanengesang on record

Started by Mandryka, March 10, 2024, 12:29:30 AM

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Mandryka

Tom Krause - heroic tenor non plus ultra - came my way and I am completely knocked out by it.



In case anyone wants to buy the transfer, it's here

https://www.amazon.de/Schubert-Schwanengesang-Tom-Krause/dp/B0000268CC
Wovon man nicht sprechen kann, darüber muss man schweigen

LKB

Quote from: Mandryka on March 10, 2024, 12:29:30 AMTom Krause - heroic tenor non plus ultra - came my way and I am completely knocked out by it.



In case anyone wants to buy the transfer, it's here

https://www.amazon.de/Schubert-Schwanengesang-Tom-Krause/dp/B0000268CC

Actually, Tom Krause was a bass- baritone:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Krause

I saw him perform in San Francisco, very late in his career. I can easily believe that his Schubert would be worthwhile, thanks for the link.  8)

Here's another lower-voice Schwanengesang:

https://www.amazon.com/Schubert-Schwanengesang-10-favourite-Lieder/dp/B000001HPG/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?crid=3UCIFNNHEG5RA&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.nIHXCe4-mmnvzPte_o2YlHuk2Km5wy5AFo2g8wyM4SjSLZ48McC4MbAWZRjGjYVg2eleTl-JoOPEMzHcBXV45yeGvuBonLpWpoJdUHzoMLCEGh5JBqVKRO7PJdkUsWBCcvRIC6zgP_mpQ2a-fBS2PjtWWzJvdEnls6LFXIVqZBCC-G7ri-mGSM7wzfB2M3-3.Mh56LGMqBVVnptI9gWNKKKcHPImnfC_meierVDjNPKA&dib_tag=se&keywords=Shirley-Quirk+Schubert+CD&qid=1710068228&sprefix=shirley-quirk+schubert+cd%2Caps%2C177&sr=8-1

Geez, long link... anyway, Shirley-Quirk 's Schubert is an acquired taste, but it's a good recording to have.
Mit Flügeln, die ich mir errungen...

(poco) Sforzando

My absolute favorite was recorded in the 1950s on Westminster mono by the Romanian tenor Petre Munteanu. His control over phrasing and dynamics is exquisite. Fortunately it's been transferred to CD, along with somewhat less satisfactory other work by Schubert and Schumann (a disappointing Dichterliebe).
"I don't know what sforzando means, though it clearly means something."

Mandryka

#3


Lots of speech-song from Thomas Bauer, and Immerseel's fortepiano is quiet. The effect is pretty remarkable I think, haunting. Well worth a listen unless you insist on cantabile!

Thanks to @(poco) Sforzando and @LKB for suggestions.

One thing I have definitely noticed in this little private Schubert festival I've been having is how many singers resort to some sort of sprechgesang - Max von Ergmond is another example. It's like Wotan singing Schubert! Whether it's a result of their singing ability failing or a deliberate choice I don't know, but the results are interesting.
Wovon man nicht sprechen kann, darüber muss man schweigen

Jo498

Tout le malheur des hommes vient d'une seule chose, qui est de ne savoir pas demeurer en repos, dans une chambre.
- Blaise Pascal

Mandryka

#5



Amazing diction. Florian Boesch can make the words sound like meaningful poetry. Really good judgements about the balance between restraint and expressiveness. He is singing to himself. He creates a beautiful moving vocality, a magic combination of story telling and declamatatory speech song. I like his style a lot.
Wovon man nicht sprechen kann, darüber muss man schweigen

Mandryka

#6


Lyrical, colourful, great sensitivity to the poems, nuance, dramatic, authoritative and confident - everything feels natural, easy. Operatic, but that seems a perfectly valid approach in these songs. Not overdone and not underdone - just right, as Goldilocks would have said! This is a top tier Schwanengesang from Håkan Hagegård, he's an irresistible force in these songs . And Emanuel Ax is not bad either!


It is really well recorded - and loud!
Wovon man nicht sprechen kann, darüber muss man schweigen

Mandryka

#7


Pensive, melancholy lyrical singing from Goerne, and lots of sensitive fresh ideas from Brendel. Top tier Schwanengesang. This is a recording which brings something new I think, and I think the pervasive brooding desolate sadness and the scrupulous avoidance of melodramatic showmanship really works for the good here. Even in Die  Taubenpost there's a sense of world weariness here I think. Schwanengesang as sequel to Winterreise - we need a Schoene Mullerin which makes it a prequel, which it probably isn't, but let's not let that get in the way!

They have two live recordings of Schubert cycles from Wigmore Hall, this and a Winterreise. Both major contributions I think - this somehow comes across as more spontaneous, less studied, but I could be doing an injustice to their Winterreise.
Wovon man nicht sprechen kann, darüber muss man schweigen

Mandryka

#8
Quote from: LKB on March 10, 2024, 03:00:18 AMGeez, long link... anyway, Shirley-Quirk 's Schubert is an acquired taste, but it's a good recording to have.

I have it now. JSQ has such a characterful voice. I found an interview where he says that the high point of his career was a Schwanengesang concert with Pears and Britten at Alderburgh, and I could well imagine that their voices work beautifully together.

Have you heard JSQ's Italienisches Liederbuch with Janet Baker? I'm tempted to order it. (Too late. Just took the leap in the dark.)
Wovon man nicht sprechen kann, darüber muss man schweigen

LKB

Quote from: Mandryka on March 17, 2024, 01:51:24 AMI have it now. JSQ has such a characterful voice. I found an interview where he says that the high point of his career was a Schwanengesang concert with Pears and Britten at Alderburgh, and I could well imagine that their voices work beautifully together.

Have you heard JSQ's Italienisches Liederbuch with Janet Baker? I'm tempted to order it. (Too late. Just took the leap in the dark.)

I haven't heard that recording of the Wolf. Indeed, l didn't even know it existed until your post above- thanks for the tip. 😎
Mit Flügeln, die ich mir errungen...

Mandryka

#10
Quote from: LKB on March 17, 2024, 02:59:15 AMI haven't heard that recording of the Wolf. Indeed, l didn't even know it existed until your post above- thanks for the tip. 😎

Well worth hearing, though it's divisive - a friend of mine thinks it's terrible. But music's like that! I even enjoyed Steuart Bedford's rather polite contribution. If I were there that night at Alderburgh, I would have definitely not have regretted the cost and trouble, on the contrary, I'd have been on my feet shouting bravo at the end.
Wovon man nicht sprechen kann, darüber muss man schweigen

Mandryka

#11


Stephan Genz has a smooth and seductive voice, a voice of chocolate and purple velvet. I'm tempted to use a word which could be considered pejorative - I think he's a crooner. It's as if there's something self conscious about the way he sings, showy-offy about his lovely timbre and his "deep" reading. Voluptuous.


Still, for all that you can't help but like it!
Wovon man nicht sprechen kann, darüber muss man schweigen

Mandryka

#12
 

What a pleasant surprise - I like both of Holzmair's Schwanengesang recordings very much. Light barytone, both very nuanced and expressive, the second one (2014) is more "vocal" - the effect is of a suave and velvety vocal timbre and a lyrical style. The second also takes more time due, I would say, to tasteful and expressive suspensions.


Top tier Schwanengesænge.
Wovon man nicht sprechen kann, darüber muss man schweigen

Mandryka



Unbelievable and admirable sensitivity and complexity, on both Pappano's and Bostridge's part. They have both assimilated the music and poetry, all their ideas (and there are loads of them) have ripened, matured. Top tortured Brit style Schwanengesang.
Wovon man nicht sprechen kann, darüber muss man schweigen