Prague Lieder Evening

A big man, who would be hired on sight as a bouncer by any club, walks on to the stage. He stands in front of the piano, melts into a pile of jelly then rises out of this as a poet ready to sing some wonderful lieder.

For those of us who enjoy the performances of the great Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, who gazes with a half smile into the middle distance as he sings, Matthias Goerne may come as a bit of a shock. This big man as poet shows feeling not only with his voice but also with his body. I suppose it is a contemporary trend for performances to move as they play or sing but it must be done well. And Matthias Goerne did it well this evening. Having seen videos of Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau singing these works, I must admit that I prefer this evening’s performance. That is really saying something!

As a start I must admit that these days I am potty about lieder. I love almost all music but lieder seems to present a form of music which is stripped of much of the decorative and developmental craft and mechanics of other music. Some of the poetry is hyper-romantic crazy stuff which is transformed into magic by composers such as Schubert and Schumann. So it takes some skill to take an audience into this world convincingly. But, when this happens, you must excuse my over enthusiastic response!

Looking at some of the videos of Matthias Goerne singing some of Schubert’s orchestrated songs, you can see some problems. He takes some time to get into the mood of the song these days but, when he begins, his body seems perfectly relaxed; at least it was in the Dvorak Hall this evening. He has a lower tessitura than most baritones but this seems to add character to those high sections. He gave us dreamy pianissimos and I seemed to get a good 90 dBA in my seat in those loud sections.

The first work on the programme consisted of Beethoven’s “An die ferne Geliebte”. I hate the fact that people regard this as the first song cycle. Couldn’t they leave one musical form for Schubert and Schumann to initiate? I love these songs and this performance brought out everything I love about them. I can still see him now taking us through the songs expressing feelings that I find elsewhere in Beethoven but, in this series of songs, are exposed to maximum effect.

Schubert’s “Schwanengesang” is simply a group of songs written just before Schubert died. Many of them were written in sequence but even some consecutive songs have different musical feelings. As usual, Goerne threw himself body and soul into every one of them. I lived through each poem in absolute pleasure with this very demonstrative performer. I’ve given a few examples of his work below then bits of the Beethoven and Schubert later.

Schubert, Franz – Ständchen D 757 – Matthias Goerne
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UlSBpcC_YMQ
Schubert, Franz – Im Abendrot D 799 – Matthias Goerne
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j6TM8ybtNaw
Schubert, Franz – Memnon D 541 – Matthias Goerne
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dPs13j_pGqQ
Schubert, Franz – Gruppe aus dem Tartarus D 583 – Matthias Goerne
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9dPJ4Vrk-gs
Schubert, Franz – Der Wegweiser D 911 – Matthias Goerne
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6PnXVO7M6ig&feature=PlayList&p=C96B82C89CCC5EC9&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=73
Matthias Goerne – Liederkeis, Op. 39 “In der Fremde ”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FyL8n900RPk&feature=PlayList&p=688880D9F5E8CE38&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=17
Schubert – Thränenregen D 795 – Matthias Goerne
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EUv81Lssy3U
Mendelssohn Elias Matthias Goerne · Seiji Ozawa · Berliner Philharmoniker (what a combination – Ozawa and Goerne!!)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_7CxWPM9ohc
Schubert Winterreise Matthias Goerne – Baritone Alfred Brendel (plays through)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6nHon4IATjg&feature=PlayList&p=687168AC6B88B63B&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=26
Schubert, Franz – Der Wegweiser D 911 – Matthias Goerne
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6PnXVO7M6ig
Schubert – Erlkönig D 328 – Matthias Goerne
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MmSk6YUjmqk
Franz Schubert – Du bist die Ruh (Matthias Goerne)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YUvfkWxsxZY
Matthias Goerne – Liederkeis, Op. 39 “In der Fremde ”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FyL8n900RPk
J. S. Bach – BWV 82 – I – Matthias Goerne
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2QuNZHTG-tM
J. S. Bach – BWV 82 – II – Matthias Goerne
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=21R5akRNR4g&feature=related
J. S. Bach – BWV 82 – III – Matthias Goerne
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ShJNvxDmyKw&feature=related
J. S. Bach – BWV 82 – IV – Matthias Goerne
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJlJ3kv__78
J. S. Bach – BWV 82 – V – Matthias Goerne
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YkaybN8UCtk&feature=related
BBC Proms 2009: Mahler Kindertotenlieder Matthias Goerne
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dt1q2Z1s5p8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_UuRV3Yrrg0&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eTlaxjDwtns&feature=related
Matthias Goerne – Alexander Schmalcz – Wanderers Nachtlied Schubert – Goethe
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5gl4hV5b1U0

L. v. Beethoven – An die ferne Geliebte, Op. 98 DFD & GM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZdC67cf-k9c&feature=PlayList&p=08B18179DC9DC438&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=3
Beethoven “Auf dem Hügel sitz ich spähend” Fritz Wunderlic
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J4ixEAyo6xc
DFD & AB: An die ferne Geliebte: Nimm sie hin denn diese Lieder
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pxgFFWr3E5c

Keith of Ninewells