Evening Star - German Opera Arias
A thoroughly satisfying, intelligently planned recital of arias from a singer now in his prime
View record and artist detailsRecord and Artist Details
Composer or Director: Richard Wagner, (Gustav) Albert Lortzing, Carl Maria von Weber, Richard Strauss
Genre:
Vocal
Label: Deutsche Grammophon
Magazine Review Date: 7/2002
Media Format: CD or Download
Media Runtime: 67
Mastering:
Stereo
DDD
Catalogue Number: 471 493-2GH

Tracks:
Composition | Artist Credit |
---|---|
Zar und Zimmermann, Movement: O sancta justitia |
(Gustav) Albert Lortzing, Composer
(Gustav) Albert Lortzing, Composer Berlin Deutsche Oper Chorus Berlin Deutsche Oper Orchestra Christian Thielemann, Conductor Thomas Quasthoff, Baritone |
Zar und Zimmermann, Movement: Den hohen Herrscher würdig zu empfangen (Cantata) |
(Gustav) Albert Lortzing, Composer
(Gustav) Albert Lortzing, Composer Berlin Deutsche Oper Chorus Berlin Deutsche Oper Orchestra Christian Thielemann, Conductor Thomas Quasthoff, Baritone |
Zar und Zimmermann, Movement: Sonst spielt ich |
(Gustav) Albert Lortzing, Composer
(Gustav) Albert Lortzing, Composer Berlin Deutsche Oper Chorus Berlin Deutsche Oper Orchestra Christian Thielemann, Conductor Thomas Quasthoff, Baritone |
(Der) Wildschütz, Movement: Lass Er doch hören! |
(Gustav) Albert Lortzing, Composer
(Gustav) Albert Lortzing, Composer Berlin Deutsche Oper Chorus Berlin Deutsche Oper Orchestra Christian Thielemann, Conductor Christiane Oelze, Soprano Thomas Quasthoff, Baritone |
(Der) Wildschütz, Movement: Fünftausend Taler! |
(Gustav) Albert Lortzing, Composer
(Gustav) Albert Lortzing, Composer Berlin Deutsche Oper Chorus Berlin Deutsche Oper Orchestra Christian Thielemann, Conductor Thomas Quasthoff, Baritone |
(Der) Wildschütz, Movement: ~ |
(Gustav) Albert Lortzing, Composer
(Gustav) Albert Lortzing, Composer Berlin Deutsche Oper Chorus Berlin Deutsche Oper Orchestra Christian Thielemann, Conductor Thomas Quasthoff, Baritone |
Euryanthe, Movement: Wo berg'ich mich? |
Carl Maria von Weber, Composer
Berlin Deutsche Oper Chorus Berlin Deutsche Oper Orchestra Carl Maria von Weber, Composer Christian Thielemann, Conductor Thomas Quasthoff, Baritone |
Tannhäuser, Movement: Gar viel und schön (Landgrave's address) |
Richard Wagner, Composer
Berlin Deutsche Oper Chorus Berlin Deutsche Oper Orchestra Christian Thielemann, Conductor Richard Wagner, Composer Thomas Quasthoff, Baritone |
(Die) Schweigsame Frau, '(The) Silent Woman', Movement: Wie schön ist doch die Musik |
Richard Strauss, Composer
Berlin Deutsche Oper Chorus Berlin Deutsche Oper Orchestra Christian Thielemann, Conductor Richard Strauss, Composer Thomas Quasthoff, Baritone |
Author: Alan Blyth
Once more Thomas Quasthoff puts us in his debt with a recital wholly out of the ordinary, executed – with Thielemann’s eager cooperation – confidently in singing of such strength and beauty as to almost silence criticism. Surveying German Romantic opera from the now-neglected Lortzing to Richard Strauss, he ranges easily through roles usually assigned to either a specifically baritone or bass voice.
In the lengthy extracts from Zar und Zimmermann he portrays both the pompous, amusingly portrayed mayor Van Bett and the upright figure of the Tsar, whose Act 3 aria he sings with refined tone and elegiac feeling having by then portrayed Van Bett’s preening in a voice perhaps not quite ‘fat’ enough for the ridiculous fellow. In Der Wildschütz he is funny as the schoolmaster Baculus, a buffo bass figure whose ‘Fünftausend Taler’ used to be a staple of a German bass’s repertory; then he sings Graf Eberbach’s lovely solo in a mellow baritone. It’s good to be reminded in such a positive way of Lortzing’s merits.
In a complete change of mood he then projects all the malevolent ardour of Lysiart’s highly original aria from Euryanthe, a work just revived this summer at Glyndebourne. This is a reading that recalls the style, in compact tone and verbal acuity, of the late, great Hermann Uhde. In the Tannhäuser pieces he projects the address of the benevolent Landgrave with complete authority and then sings Wolfram’s Evening Star aria, from which the CD takes its title, with perfection of tone and line. Finally he catches finely old Morosus’s restored peace after all the disturbing events of Die schweigsame Frau have finally come to an end. Once again, like his bass-baritone predecessor Hans Hotter, he easily encompasses the low range of this solo.
Thielemann, and his Berlin orchestra and chorus, are at one with their soloist throughout, and the recording catches everything in a clear, warm perspective.
In the lengthy extracts from Zar und Zimmermann he portrays both the pompous, amusingly portrayed mayor Van Bett and the upright figure of the Tsar, whose Act 3 aria he sings with refined tone and elegiac feeling having by then portrayed Van Bett’s preening in a voice perhaps not quite ‘fat’ enough for the ridiculous fellow. In Der Wildschütz he is funny as the schoolmaster Baculus, a buffo bass figure whose ‘Fünftausend Taler’ used to be a staple of a German bass’s repertory; then he sings Graf Eberbach’s lovely solo in a mellow baritone. It’s good to be reminded in such a positive way of Lortzing’s merits.
In a complete change of mood he then projects all the malevolent ardour of Lysiart’s highly original aria from Euryanthe, a work just revived this summer at Glyndebourne. This is a reading that recalls the style, in compact tone and verbal acuity, of the late, great Hermann Uhde. In the Tannhäuser pieces he projects the address of the benevolent Landgrave with complete authority and then sings Wolfram’s Evening Star aria, from which the CD takes its title, with perfection of tone and line. Finally he catches finely old Morosus’s restored peace after all the disturbing events of Die schweigsame Frau have finally come to an end. Once again, like his bass-baritone predecessor Hans Hotter, he easily encompasses the low range of this solo.
Thielemann, and his Berlin orchestra and chorus, are at one with their soloist throughout, and the recording catches everything in a clear, warm perspective.
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