In Jedem Klaren Bach
Manolo says, if you were to compile the list of things that make the Manolo exceedingly happy… Fritz Wunderlich singing Schubert’s Die schöne Müllerin would be very near the top.
One of the great tenor voices, so filled with robust vitality, singing one of the most beautiful songs ever written.
And Wilhelm Müller’s poem is heartfelt simplicity itself.
Ich hört ein Bächlein rauschen
Wohl aus dem Felsenquell,
Hinab zum Tale rauschen
So frisch und wunderhell.Ich weiß nicht, wie mir wurde,
Nicht, wer den Rat mir gab,
Ich mußte auch hinunter
Mit meinem Wanderstab.Hinunter und immer weiter
Und immer dem Bache nach,
Und immer frischer rauschte
Und immer heller der Bach.Ist das denn meine Straße?
O Bächlein, sprich, wohin?
Du hast mit deinem Rauschen
Mir ganz berauscht den Sinn.Was sag ich denn vom Rauschen?
Das kann kein Rauschen sein:
Es singen wohl die Nixen
Tief unten ihren Reihn.Laß singen, Gesell, laß rauschen
Und wandre fröhlich nach!
Es gehn ja Mühlenräder
In jedem klaren Bach.
And Schubert’s music is so good here, that it is even enough to make the Manolo look fondly on…
…Peter Pears singing.
Perhaps not as sublime or as convincing as Fritz Wunderlich, but very enjoyable none the less.
The Manolo even enjoys the latter half of the Lieder cycle when Müller’s poem become depressive, morbid, and German-y…
Ach Bächlein, liebes Bächlein,
Du meinst es so gut:
Ach Bächlein, aber weißt du,
Wie Liebe tut?Ach unten, da unten
Die kühle Ruh!
Ach Bächlein, liebes Bächlein,
So singe nur zu.
But the music is so beautiful, and Wunderlich’s voice so full of life, that the Manolo forgets that he is supposed to be drowning himself.
0
Comments
sfmike 14 years ago
I used to have that Wunderlich recording and loved it, even though I’m not much of a German lieder fan. And don’t you dis Sir Peter Pears. It was a weird voice but his lover Benjy Britten wrote for it brilliantly and the guy really knew how to sing words so you could understand them even when you didn’t know the language.
MaryD 14 years ago
Thank you. I have avoided Schubert”s lieder and now I don’t know why. I appreciate the Manolo when he shares bits from his broad artistic interests.
Nancy 14 years ago
I like to think that “Winterreise” is the sequel to “Die Schoene Mullerin”. He didn’t drown himself … he just went wandering off again.
Annette 14 years ago
C. K. Dexter Haven, you show unsuspected depth!
Manolo the Shoeblogger 14 years ago
@sfmike Rather than the outright dissing of the Peter Pears, the Manolo would characterize that as the “backhanded compliment”. On the one of the hands, Peter Pears does have the odd voice. But, on the other of the hands, because he and Britten were careful about the choice of music, Sir Peter can often be very entertaining. Although, to acknowledge this is to suggest that Peter Pears is more of the pop singer than the opera singer, has more in common with Bob Dylan than Fritz Wunderlich, something the Manolo is happy to do.
@MaryD You are indeed most welcome!
@Nancy Thank you! That is one perfect solution the Manolo has not considered, and shall now pretend is his own.
@Annette The Manolo blushes!
SDM 14 years ago
Whoever you are, you have excellent taste in music!! I have wished that Wunderlich had recorded “Wintereisse” in his short 35 year life but the “Mullerin” is indeed exquisite as are virtually all his German lied. Best male German lieder singer ever IMO, for all people rave about Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau whose emoting has never struck me as being as sincere and “humble” as Wunderlichs. Those who haven’t should hear his “Annchen Von Tharau,” “An die musik,” and his complete “Dichterliebe.”
In fact, anything by him! lol
Nancy 14 years ago
@SDM: I do love Wunderlich, but “Winterreise” was written for a baritone and truly sounds better there — don’t you think? For a hair-raising (not beautiful) performance, I suggest Quasthoff’s recording.
Re. unusual voices (and composers’ intent): Last night I heard Michael Maniacci, one of the few natural male sopranos, sing Sesto’s rondo from “Clemenza di Tito” (“Deh, per uno instante solo”). Said the conductor: You are hearing this sung as close to the way Mozart intended as is possible today. It was beyond thrilling to see and hear this aria, always sung by a woman in the opera house, performed by a manly man.
Vicki 14 years ago
Why do the Germans hold their hands like that when performing? They do it in the Sound of Music too.