Day 274: Songs IV

BeethovenCD79The incomparable Peter Schreier is back on Songs IV.

And he sounds wonderful, easily one of the best tenors I’ve ever heard in my life.

Even when he’s singing a slow, emotional song (“Auf dem Hugel sitz ich, spahend” – the first movement of An Die Ferne Geliebte Op. 98) – in German (which to me sounds absolutely hilarious), he’s still amazing.

But, boy, what a voice he has.

He could probably sing the white pages of a phone book (do they still make those?) and it would sound compelling.

And, by the way, “An die ferne Geliebte” means “To the distant beloved.” So, I was right. It is an emotional song. The song has its own Wiki entry:

An die ferne Geliebte (To the distant beloved), Op. 98, is a composition by Ludwig van Beethoven written in April 1816. It is considered to be the first example of a song cycle by a major composer.

Beethoven’s only song cycle was the precursor of a series of followers, including those of Franz Schubert, Robert Schumann and Carl Loewe. The setting is for a man’s voice (usually tenor) with piano. The title page of the original edition (S. A. Steiner, Vienna) bore a dedication with permission to Fürst Joseph von Lobkowitz, Duke of Raudnitz, a leading Austrian musical patron, in whose palace the Eroica Symphony was first performed in 1804; Beethoven also dedicated the six string quartets, Op. 18, the Eroica Symphony, Op. 55, the Triple Concerto, Op. 56, the C minor Symphony, Op. 67, the Pastoral Symphony, Op. 68, and the String Quartet, Op. 74 to him.

The text was written by a physician named Alois Isidor Jeitteles, probably at Beethoven’s request. Then aged 22, Jeitteles published several short poems, economic in style, in Viennese magazines or almanacks, particularly ‘Selam’ and ‘Aglaja’, and was making his name by it. He was an active, selfless young man who later distinguished himself by working tirelessly for his patients during a dreadful cholera epidemic and mortality in Brno. Beethoven had already explored inward feelings of longing in his setting of Matthisson’s Adelaïde, but in these poems the distance from the beloved is greater, the longing is more intense and stormier, and is no longer satisfied with merely the sound of her name, but is preoccupied with the clawing pain of separation which colours the whole surrounding landscape.

Somewhere along the way, I must have Googled Peter Schreier. But I think it’s time to do so again.

Here’s what his bio on Wikipedia tells us:

Peter Schreier (born 29 July 1935) is a German tenor and conductor.

Schreier was 16 years old when his voice broke, and he became a tenor, as he had passionately wished, because of the several Evangelists – all tenors – in J.S. Bach’s Passions and in his Christmas Oratorio. After he had decided to become a professional singer he took lessons, at first privately, then later on at the Dresden Academy of Music. He had enough time to also study choral and orchestral conducting.

Peter Schreier made his professional debut in August 1959, playing the role of the First Prisoner in Fidelio by Beethoven. In the years that followed he was successful as Belmonte in Die Entführung aus dem Serail (Abduction from the Seraglio) and somewhat later as Tamino in Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute), both operas by Mozart.

In June 2000, Schreier left the opera stage. His last role was Prince Tamino in Die Zauberflöte; he argued that he could no longer act as if he were still a young prince. He ended his singing career on December 22, 2005, combining the roles of evangelist and conductor in a performance of Bach’s Christmas Oratorio in Prague.

A very long, noteworthy career. That’s wonderful.

This particular recording, according to the CD sleeve of the Brilliant Classics edition, was made during 1968-1970. Schreier was in his early to mid thirties. A young man at the height of his powers.

And I can hear it in these recordings.

Well, someone on YouTube uploaded the exact song cycle I heard this morning, with Peter Schreier singing and Walter Olbertz playing piano:

Beautiful, isn’t it?

Schreier’s voice is powerful. If you didn’t hear it in that famous song cycle, you need to listen to Track 4 (“Der Kuss Op. 128”). Der Kuss means “The Kiss” and this delightful song was written in 1822. Beethoven was 52.

Someone uploaded Der Kuss to YouTube, too.

Listen to that voice! Wow. Stunning.

If you’d like to see Peter Schreier performing, here’s a clip of him singing Schubert’s Standchen (“Serenade”). It has nothing to do with my Beethoven listening, other than it’s the same singer performing on today’s Beethoven CD. I just thought you’d like to see him sing. His voice is amazing.

Here’s another clip that has nothing to do with Beethoven. But it is Peter Schreier, and it demonstrates how remarkable his voice is:

In spite of the fact that this CD is Songs IV (vocal performances), I can’t help but designate this as a Favorite. I could listen to this again.

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