The Art of Hans Hotter
View record and artist detailsRecord and Artist Details
Composer or Director: George Frideric Handel, Franz Schubert, Hugo (Filipp Jakob) Wolf, Johannes Brahms, Johann Sebastian Bach, Robert Schumann, Richard Wagner
Label: Treasury
Magazine Review Date: 2/1988
Media Format: Vinyl
Media Runtime: 0
Mastering:
Mono
Catalogue Number: EX291321-3
Tracks:
| Composition | Artist Credit |
|---|---|
| Cantata No. 82, 'Ich habe genug' |
Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer
Anthony Bernard, Conductor Hans Hotter, Bass-baritone Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer Philharmonia Orchestra |
| Giulio Cesare, 'Julius Caesar' |
George Frideric Handel, Composer
George Frideric Handel, Composer |
| Joshua, Movement: Shall I in Mamre's fertile plain |
George Frideric Handel, Composer
George Frideric Handel, Composer George Weldon, Conductor Hans Hotter, Bass-baritone Philharmonia Orchestra |
| Samson, Movement: How willing my paternal love |
George Frideric Handel, Composer
George Frideric Handel, Composer George Weldon, Conductor Hans Hotter, Bass-baritone Philharmonia Orchestra |
| An die Musik |
Franz Schubert, Composer
Franz Schubert, Composer Gerald Moore, Piano Hans Hotter, Bass-baritone |
| Schwanengesang, 'Swan Song', Movement: No. 1, Liebesbotschaft |
Franz Schubert, Composer
Franz Schubert, Composer Gerald Moore, Piano Hans Hotter, Bass-baritone |
| Schwanengesang, 'Swan Song', Movement: No. 8, Der Atlas |
Franz Schubert, Composer
Franz Schubert, Composer Gerald Moore, Piano Hans Hotter, Bass-baritone |
| Schwanengesang, 'Swan Song', Movement: No. 12, Am Meer |
Franz Schubert, Composer
Franz Schubert, Composer Gerald Moore, Piano Hans Hotter, Bass-baritone |
| Schwanengesang, 'Swan Song', Movement: No. 11, Die Stadt |
Franz Schubert, Composer
Franz Schubert, Composer Gerald Moore, Piano Hans Hotter, Bass-baritone |
| Schwanengesang, 'Swan Song', Movement: No. 13, Der Doppelgänger |
Franz Schubert, Composer
Franz Schubert, Composer Hans Hotter, Bass-baritone Hermann von Nordberg, Piano |
| Meeres Stille (second version) |
Franz Schubert, Composer
Franz Schubert, Composer Gerald Moore, Piano Hans Hotter, Bass-baritone |
| (Der) Wanderer |
Franz Schubert, Composer
Franz Schubert, Composer Hans Hotter, Bass-baritone Hermann von Nordberg, Piano |
| (12) Gedichte, Movement: No. 11, Wer machte dich so krank? |
Robert Schumann, Composer
Hans Hotter, Bass-baritone Hermann von Nordberg, Piano Robert Schumann, Composer |
| (12) Gedichte, Movement: No. 12, Alte Laute |
Robert Schumann, Composer
Hans Hotter, Bass-baritone Hermann von Nordberg, Piano Robert Schumann, Composer |
| Romanzen und Balladen II, Movement: No. 1, Die beiden Grenadiere (wds. Heine) |
Robert Schumann, Composer
Hans Hotter, Bass-baritone Hermann von Nordberg, Piano Robert Schumann, Composer |
| Mörike Lieder, Movement: Der Tambour |
Hugo (Filipp Jakob) Wolf, Composer
Gerald Moore, Piano Hans Hotter, Bass-baritone Hugo (Filipp Jakob) Wolf, Composer |
| Goethe Lieder, Movement: Ob der Koran von Ewigkeit sei? |
Hugo (Filipp Jakob) Wolf, Composer
Gerald Moore, Piano Hans Hotter, Bass-baritone Hugo (Filipp Jakob) Wolf, Composer |
| Goethe Lieder, Movement: So lang man nüchtern ist |
Hugo (Filipp Jakob) Wolf, Composer
Gerald Moore, Piano Hans Hotter, Bass-baritone Hugo (Filipp Jakob) Wolf, Composer |
| Italienisches Liederbuch, 'Italian Songbook', Movement: Ein Ständchen Euch zu bringen |
Hugo (Filipp Jakob) Wolf, Composer
Gerald Moore, Piano Hans Hotter, Bass-baritone Hugo (Filipp Jakob) Wolf, Composer |
| Italienisches Liederbuch, 'Italian Songbook', Movement: Schon streckt' ich aus |
Hugo (Filipp Jakob) Wolf, Composer
Gerald Moore, Piano Hans Hotter, Bass-baritone Hugo (Filipp Jakob) Wolf, Composer |
| Goethe Lieder, Movement: Anakreons Grab |
Hugo (Filipp Jakob) Wolf, Composer
Gerald Moore, Piano Hans Hotter, Bass-baritone Hugo (Filipp Jakob) Wolf, Composer |
| (6) Lieder, Movement: No. 6, Heimkehr (wds. Uhland) |
Johannes Brahms, Composer
Gerald Moore, Piano Hans Hotter, Bass-baritone Johannes Brahms, Composer |
| (9) Lieder, Movement: No. 9, Wie bist du, meine Königin (wds. Daumer) |
Johannes Brahms, Composer
Gerald Moore, Piano Hans Hotter, Bass-baritone Johannes Brahms, Composer |
| (5) Lieder, Movement: No. 1, Botschaft (wds. Daumer after Hafis) |
Johannes Brahms, Composer
Gerald Moore, Piano Hans Hotter, Bass-baritone Johannes Brahms, Composer |
| (5) Lieder, Movement: No. 3, Sonntag (wds. Uhland) |
Johannes Brahms, Composer
Gerald Moore, Piano Hans Hotter, Bass-baritone Johannes Brahms, Composer |
| (5) Lieder, Movement: No. 5, Minnelied (wds. Hölty) |
Johannes Brahms, Composer
Gerald Moore, Piano Hans Hotter, Bass-baritone Johannes Brahms, Composer |
| (5) Lieder, Movement: No. 4, Auf dem Kirchhofe (wds. Liliencron) |
Johannes Brahms, Composer
Gerald Moore, Piano Hans Hotter, Bass-baritone Johannes Brahms, Composer |
| (5) Lieder, Movement: No. 5, Verrat (wds. Lemcke) |
Johannes Brahms, Composer
Gerald Moore, Piano Hans Hotter, Bass-baritone Johannes Brahms, Composer |
| (5) Lieder, Movement: No. 1, Ständchen (wds. Kugler) |
Johannes Brahms, Composer
Gerald Moore, Piano Hans Hotter, Bass-baritone Johannes Brahms, Composer |
| (Der) Ring des Nibelungen: Part 2, '(Die) Walküre', Movement: Als junger Liebe |
Richard Wagner, Composer
Berlin State Opera Orchestra Bruno Seidler-Winkler, Conductor Hans Hotter, Bass-baritone Marta Fuchs, Soprano Richard Wagner, Composer |
Author: Alan Blyth
It has always seemed extraordinary that a singer who was so renowned as an overwhelmingly powerful Wotan was able to fine down his grand voice to the intimate needs of Lieder. Hotter has always been as adept in achieving the refined mezza voce needed, for instance, by the two Schumann songs Wer machte dich so krank? and Alte Laute, closely related, which are included here, as in projecting the anguish and anger of Wotan's monologue, but then it isn't so surprising when you listen to the inwardness he achieved in that monologue, even in the performance recorded at the outset of his career reissued here, when conveying his subconscious thoughts to his most beloved daughter.
I think it is his ability in projecting at once the warmth and Schmerz of a Wotan or a Lied that is above all his most telling quality as a singer, and he used it in combination with the utmost sensitivity to words without, as has been the case with some successors, upsetting an essential legato. Listen to his account of ''Am Meer'' from his 1954 Schwanengesang and you hear these characteristics perfectly exemplified, as they are, too, in a previously unpublished ''Die Stadt'' from the same 'cycle'. Similarly he can perfectly catch the disturbing quality of stillness in Meeresstille (another unpublished take). But that does not mean that Hotter could not relax and smile: you only need to hear his ''Liebesbotschaft'' or his 1951 account of Wolf's Der Tambour to realize his gifts for conveying lighter emotions.
The bass-baritone of Wotan proportions comes into its own in songs such as ''Der Atlas'' and ''Der Doppelganger'' fromSchwanengesang. Here we have the 1946 version of the latter song, as frighteningly immediate and overwhelming account of that unique piece as I know. His version of Der Wanderer, which I recall so well on the other side of Columbia LX1004 (7/47), is no less compelling. Then there is the unadorned and moving simplicity of An die Musik and Wolf's Anacreons Grab.
These Lieder are on the first three sides following Hotter's unsurpassed account of Bach's solo cantata Ich habe genug, where the long central aria, ''Schlummert ein'' is sung with wonderfully sustained line and Innigkeit. Side 4 is given over to the most telling performances from Hotter's 1956 Brahms recital, a composer for whose autumnal melancholy Hotter's voice was well suited, and the 1938 account of Wotan's monologue (somewhat foreshortened) already referred to. This is unquestionably a younger god than we are accustomed to hearing, and that brings advantages, with Hotter, of a fresher voice and a steadier production than on his later performances of this passage. Already he gives to his portrayal an instinctive authority and understanding, depicting the agony of the god, unequalled even at this stage in his career in the ''Fahre denn hin'' passage. Marta Fuchs is a sympathetic, concerned, keen-voiced Brunnhilde. The recording catches both voices with that extraordinary immediacy and truthfulness that was a mark of 1930s HMV/Electrola methods, and the sound of the orchestra is good for its day. There is no surface noise whatsoever.
My only regret about another invaluable issue in the Treasury series is that nothing is included from Hotter's 1954 Wolf recital, which includes his superbPrometheus, Harfenspieler and Michel-angelo Lieder.'
I think it is his ability in projecting at once the warmth and Schmerz of a Wotan or a Lied that is above all his most telling quality as a singer, and he used it in combination with the utmost sensitivity to words without, as has been the case with some successors, upsetting an essential legato. Listen to his account of ''Am Meer'' from his 1954 Schwanengesang and you hear these characteristics perfectly exemplified, as they are, too, in a previously unpublished ''Die Stadt'' from the same 'cycle'. Similarly he can perfectly catch the disturbing quality of stillness in Meeresstille (another unpublished take). But that does not mean that Hotter could not relax and smile: you only need to hear his ''Liebesbotschaft'' or his 1951 account of Wolf's Der Tambour to realize his gifts for conveying lighter emotions.
The bass-baritone of Wotan proportions comes into its own in songs such as ''Der Atlas'' and ''Der Doppelganger'' from
These Lieder are on the first three sides following Hotter's unsurpassed account of Bach's solo cantata Ich habe genug, where the long central aria, ''Schlummert ein'' is sung with wonderfully sustained line and Innigkeit. Side 4 is given over to the most telling performances from Hotter's 1956 Brahms recital, a composer for whose autumnal melancholy Hotter's voice was well suited, and the 1938 account of Wotan's monologue (somewhat foreshortened) already referred to. This is unquestionably a younger god than we are accustomed to hearing, and that brings advantages, with Hotter, of a fresher voice and a steadier production than on his later performances of this passage. Already he gives to his portrayal an instinctive authority and understanding, depicting the agony of the god, unequalled even at this stage in his career in the ''Fahre denn hin'' passage. Marta Fuchs is a sympathetic, concerned, keen-voiced Brunnhilde. The recording catches both voices with that extraordinary immediacy and truthfulness that was a mark of 1930s HMV/Electrola methods, and the sound of the orchestra is good for its day. There is no surface noise whatsoever.
My only regret about another invaluable issue in the Treasury series is that nothing is included from Hotter's 1954 Wolf recital, which includes his superb
The Art of Hans Hotter
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