The spring is coming, a time for renewal and awakening. Poets throughout history have penned many a wonderful expression of man's sentiments relating to the seasons, to nature and the world in which we inhabit however briefly. German Lied or art song has many fine examples of such expression. With the current market so depressed, we need some faith in our future and our society. I do find one lied that expresses the faith in spring, the upcoming spring. It is Fruhlingsglaube (Spring Faith) by Franz Schubert, a very lovely song, the more you listen to it, the more you will like it. The text was written by Johann Ludwig Uhland (1787-1862):Die linden Lüfte sind erwacht,
Sie säuseln und wehen Tag und Nacht,
Sie schaffen an allen Enden.
O frischer Duft, o neuer Klang!
Nun, armes Herze, sei nicht bang!
Nun muß sich alles, alles wenden.
Die Welt wird schöner mit jedem Tag,
Man weiß nicht, was noch werden mag,
Das Blühen will nicht enden;
Es blüht das fernste, tiefste Tal:
Nun, armes Herz, vergiß der Qual!
Nun muß sich alles, alles wenden.
The English Translation:
The mild breezes are awakened,
They whisper and move day and night,
And are at work everywhere.
O fresh scent, o new sound!
Now, poor heart, don't be afraid.
Now all, all must change.
The world is more beautiful with every day,
One knows not what yet may be,
The flowering will not end.
Even the deepest, most distant valley blooms.
Now, poor heart, forget your torment.
Now all, all must change.
You can listen to the lied sung by Christa Ludwig (born in 1928) in the following link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B0sRELvcdmM
Christa Ludwig is a German retired mezzo-soprano, famous for her performances of opera & Lieder.
PS: 春天 has many names: Spring in English, Fruhling in German, Printemps in French, Primavera in Italian & Spanish.
3 comments:
Thanks for the selection, Mark. Schubert's songs are pure, and Christa Ludwig is probably the most versatile living female singer. Her longivity at the Met can hardly be equalled.
Spring is just a week away, yet here we still have a long way to go to say good bye to freezing temperature. However, you can feel the excitement of anticipation all around.
Sometime we may have a little trouble following the lyrics when listen to a song. The reason is that some phrases may be repeated once or twice. The following link is a good place to understand this song Fruhlingsglaube verse by verse. Here the baritone is the world famous Deitrich Fischer-Dieskau (Wei's favorite), the pianist is Gerald Moore & the video is artistically done.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E_WMgEu63FA&feature=related
ps1: Gerald Moore retired in 1967. His farewell concert ended with his solo playing: An die Musik by Schubert. How appropriate it can be.
ps2: Wei, is Deitrich Fischer-Dieskau a good painter? This title painting looks very nice.
Gerald Moore was a great accompanist who made the accompanist at almost the same stature as the soloist. He was like a good caddie in golf. A good caddie always ends up with teaming with great golfers; and a good accompanist always teams up with great soloists. I have a few albums by Fishcer-Dieskau and Moore, all of them Schubert's lieder. Again, Fischer-Dieskau is the best among those in YouTube who sang this song "Fruhlingsglaube". I think the subtlety in his singing was obviously superb, in my opinion. I don't know if Fischer-Dieskau is a painter, but he certainly has modertae success in conducting symphony orchestras. I mentioned that he is probably the most acclaimed Schubert lieder singer, and he certainly has sung very well in German operas; but I really don't think he has done well in Italian operas. In my opinion, his refrained singing doesn't suit the Italian all-out singing too well. I have the Grammophon recording of Verdi's Rigoletto which critics said was one of the best; but I respectfully disagree. Of course he was Rigoletto, with Renata Scotto as Gilda(who sang Mimi with Pavarotti in La Boheme at the Met long ago), Carlo Bergonzi as the Duke (I have his Pagliacci - great), and La Scala orchestra conducted by Rafael Kubelik. I personally think the American Sherrill Milnes was far better as Rigoletto.
Great talents often overreached. We have one example in Taiwan that was the previous head of the Central Research Institute. He is a great scientist in Chemistry, but he tried to be a diplomat, a politician, an educator and a linguist; for heaven's sake.
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