Hermann Prey in Lieder
Frank Lekens
Schubert in the shops, but I hardly know anything about this singer at
all. The only thing I know is that for Lieder, Prey rarely ever seems to
be recommended in rmcr. Are Lieder not his strong suit, or is it just an
oversight? Or does the Committee take as dim a view of him as it does of
Kempff?
I have his Winterreise with Sawallisch. The last time I heard it, it
struck me as not especially bad, but not exceptionally good either. A
few songs in particular that he took a little too slowly to my taste.
(I'd have to listen again to be more precise.) Nothing exceptional
enough anyway to make me run to the shops to explore his other
recordings. But maybe I should?
--
Frank Lekens
operamail.com is where it's really @
mt
songs with Leonard Hokanson, available on Capriccio. He was an excellent
lieder singer; don't let anyone tell you otherwise.
Regards,
MrT
Ehrlich606
<kraz...@operamail.invalid> writes:
>
>I have his Winterreise with Sawallisch. The last time I heard it, it
>struck me as not especially bad, but not exceptionally good either. A
>few songs in particular that he took a little too slowly to my taste.
>(I'd have to listen again to be more precise.) Nothing exceptional
>enough anyway to make me run to the shops to explore his other
>recordings. But maybe I should?
If it's inexpensive and you really want to learn lieder you won't go wrong
here. Reactions to singers is a very subjective experience, it has much less
to do with word pointing, etc. etc. than it has to do with whether you can
stand the guy's (or gal's) voice. In this respect I would suggest that
individual reactions to singers is probably the most subjective of all
listening experiences.
For example, I don't have any problem with Fischer Dieskau, Schreier, Prey,
Wunderlich, Janowitz, Mathis or Ludwig. On the other hand, for reasons that
are not always obvious, even to me, I do not like the voices of Theo Adam,
Bernd Weikl, Lucia Popp, Cheryl Studer, and -- most of the time -- Elizabeth
Schwarzkopf. Who knows why? You can tell me all about how perfect their
singing is, but -- I don't want to listen to their voices. Period. If you can
already listen to Hermann Prey without getting agitated, go for it.
benjo maso
"Frank Lekens" <kraz...@operamail.invalid> schreef in bericht
news:MPG.150cc4549...@newszilla.xs4all.nl...
The trouble with Prey as a Lieder singer is that he could be very uneven. He
could be endearlingly simple and stylish, but also horribly sentimental -
often in the same cycle. His Winterreise with Sawaellisch is IMO Prey at his
best, so if you don't like it, it's probably better to leave him alone.
Benjo Maso
The Sanity Inspector
sounds fine to me.
--
bruce
The dignified don't even enter in the game.
--The Jam
Edward A. Cowan
> There are a few inexpensive boxes of Hermann Prey singing Schumann and
> Schubert in the shops, but I hardly know anything about this singer at
> all. The only thing I know is that for Lieder, Prey rarely ever seems to
> be recommended in rmcr. Are Lieder not his strong suit, or is it just an
> oversight? Or does the Committee take as dim a view of him as it does of
> Kempff?
Philips once offered four quite large LP albums of Lieder ("Das deutsche
Lied") with Hermann Prey, covering essentially the history of the genre
from the Middle Ages up to the 20th century. These were as follows:
Philips 6747 058 (five LPs): "Vom Minnesang bis zu Beethoven und Loewe"
Philips 6747 059 (eight LPs): Franz Schubert (incl. the two cycles,
"Schwanengesang," and 49 selected Lieder)
Philips 6747 060 (eight LPs): "Die Romantiker von Schumann bis Wolf"
Philips 6747 061 (six LPs): "Von der Jahrhundertwende bis zur Gegenwart"
The accompanists are various, and the composers, outside the Schubert
volume, are numerous. In the fourth volume, several songs are
accompanied by their respective composers. Also in the fourth volume,
the repertoire of Strauss and Pfitzner (one LP each) contains the items
I heard Prey sing in a recital in Austin many years ago, a program also
offered in Carnegie Hall and at Salzburg. I should very much hope that
this LP series will eventually emerge on CD. (I have the first and
fourth sets in this series.)
My introduction to Prey as a Lieder singer, however, was from a Vox
(EMI) set of Hugo Wolf's Italian Songbook, accompanied by pianist
Günther Weissenborn, the songs shared between Prey and soprano Erna
Berger. The album also contains Brahms' Four Serious Songs with Prey and
pianist Martin Mälzer. I found the singing very expressive and in other
ways very attractive.
--
E.A.C.
tlst...@tpgi.com.au
kraz...@xs4all.nl wrote:
A very good singer indeed. At his best in Brahms, IMHO. Lovely cantabile.
Probably unlucky to be from Berlin (like Fischer-Dieskau), to be a
baritone (like DFD) and to be singing at almost exactly the same time
period as DFD. Never had the marketing that DFD enjoyed. Well worth
investigating.
--
Cheers!
Terry
A. Brain
many recordings.
I had the pleasure of hearing/seeing him as Beckmesser in Meistersinger in
Vienna back in '85. He and Kurt Moll as Pogner were the standouts in that
production. He had a lot of character on stage in this part.
--
A. Brain
Remove "nospam" when replying via email
<tlst...@tpgi.com.au> wrote in message
news:tlsterry-050...@war-56k-124.tpgi.com.au...
Frank Lekens
Benjo...@chello.nl says...
> The trouble with Prey as a Lieder singer is that he could be very uneven. He
> could be endearlingly simple and stylish, but also horribly sentimental -
> often in the same cycle. His Winterreise with Sawaellisch is IMO Prey at his
> best, so if you don't like it, it's probably better to leave him alone.
listen thoroughly enough (sometimes already after having merely played a
cd only as background music).
So if my judgement of Prey/Sawallisch seemed rather negative, it was
formed after no more than the most perfunctory listening (with only half
an ear, most of the time). It was too rash.
I've just listened to a few songs more closely, and I do rather like it,
or at least certain songs and certain aspects of it.
I remember my initial impression was that he took some of the songs too
slowly. This isn't strictly true. But if I listen to Die Post, I think I
see what created this impression. The entire song isn't performed slower
than others perform it, but it *is* less exuberant than some. On the
whole, I'd say that Prey's reading underplays the contrast between the
wilder and the more quiet passages in certain songs. He tends to favour
the more introvert, quiet aspects. To take Die Post again: this works
very well in the second strophe, but the first strophe doesn't sound
quite excited enough.
On the other hand, his Frühlingstraum is rather good: I can't
straightaway think of a recording where the line "es schrien die Raben
vom Dach" is given a more violent reading, for instance.
So yes, maybe I will try out some other Prey recordings.
Ferd Op de Coul
I think he is an intelligent performer, but what I do'nt like is
that characteristic timbre of this voice: I miss substantial
clearness an warmth.
Ferd Op de Coul
William D. Kasimer
David R L Porter <david....@zetnet.co.uk> wrote in message
news:200103101...@zetnet.co.uk...
> I recently bought a used LP set of Prey and Engel in Schumann's
> Dichterliebe, Kerner Lieder, and Liederkreis (Vox SLDL 5562).
(perceptive comments snipped)
> If I saw either of them on reasonably-priced CDs I
> wouldn't hesitate to buy -- the Straus in particular is getting worn
> and and a bit crackly.
Can't help you with the Strauss, but I seem to recall seeing an EMI reissue
of the Schumann items in some Prey box or another.
Bill
--
William D. Kasimer
wk...@mindspring.com
wkas...@quincymc.org
gggg gggg
Also Strauss' "Freundliche Vision": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hZYcHAIgjEA