‘Wie alles war, weiss ich;
wie alles wird, wie alles sein wird, seh’ ich auch’
‘Höre! Höre! Höre! Alles, was ist, endet.’
‘Mein Schlaf ist Träumen.
mein Träumen Sinnen,
mein Sinnen Walten des Wissens.’
From Wagner Rheingold and Siegfried
Erda is the most intriguing and wise woman.
A little homage to Erda and her wisdom at the end of 2018.
Erda Christa Ludwig
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_hR0-qoTay8
Wagner Tristan und Isolde.
Needs no explanation. I played it countless times. Hard work in the LP era. Easier now, when the whole Act 2 is on 1 CD, as this one by Karl Böhm. Birgit Nilsson as Isolde and Wolfgang Windgassen as Tristan.
I don’t remember when I heard Tristan und Isolde for the first time. It must be long ago. The prelude, whole Act 2 and Mild und Leise are the highlights. Actually, Tristan und Isolde is one highlight, from beginning to end.
It is a miracle to me how Wagner could have thought and composed this music. Be it physical or spiritual. The music is magical.
CD:Karl Böhm, Birgit Nilsson, Wolfgang Windgassen, Christa Ludwig, Martti Talvela, Eberhard Waechter, Bayreuther Festspiele 1966. Amazon
CD:Wilhelm Furtwängler, Kirsten Flagstad, Ludwig Suthaus, Blanche Thebom, Josef Greindl, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Chorus of the Royal Opera House, Philharmonia Orchestra. Disadvantage is Act 2 on 2 discs. Amazon
DVD: Not found one yet, that I preferred to the CD’s.
YouTube:Birgit Nilsson Mild und Leise Bayreuth 1966.
I’m always listening to classical music or opera in a certain mood. Or I listen to a composer for days. Always playlists in my head and piles of CD’s next to me. Not the usual playlists. More like Lifelong Love, Nostalgia, Curiosity, and so on. I’ll try to made them public. Starting slowly. With additions and extensions in the course of time. And references to CD’s, DVD’s, Spotify, YouTube, books, even performances from the past. Maybe some explanation, reasons, feelings.
However, be warned. I’m not very disciplined at sitting down and writing. I rather listen to music. If you write, you can’t listen. Instead of 1 hour writing a day, you can listen to about 3000 Lieder, 600 pieces of chamber music, 300 symphonies or 100 operas a year.
I’ll try to show links to CD’s and DVD’s and to Amazon and YouTube.
1.Mozart
The music is enchanting. The story is, well, let’s say, a little burlesque. Above all, Susanna, Figaro, La Contessa and the other characters remind me always of my friends. Mozart’s music is all-
human.
CD: Karl Böhm, Hermann Prey, Edith Mathis, Gundula Janowitz, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Tatiana Troyanos, Chor and Orchester der Deutschen Oper Berlin. Amazon
DVD: Karl Böhm, Hermann Prey, Mirella Freni, Kiri Te Kanawa, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Maria Ewing, Wiener Philharmoniker. Amazon
YouTube:The Jean-Pierre-Ponnelle movie, Karl Böhm, Hermann Prey, Mirella Freni, Kiri Te Kanawa, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Maria Ewing, Wiener Philharmoniker.
Don Juan in Hankey is a novel about an opera company, which is preparing a new production of Don Giovanni, about the acts and the thoughts of all the people involved. It is a wonderful story. The plot you must read yourself.
It reads as a satire, but with serious nuances. There is a lot to laugh about, as always, about the protagonists and about you, if you recognize yourself in one or more of the characters. It was difficult for me to stop reading, because of the many cliffhangers. I was curious each chapter, each page, sometimes each sentence, to the next event.
The description of the acts and the emotions of the characters is especially bright. I had the feeling as if I was there myself.
What makes this novel so special, that are the many levels to discover and enjoy, as in every good novel.
There is the story about the lives of the principal characters.
The story about the opera company, which is creating a new production and trying to overcome all the problems, recalls the difficulties of teamwork.
In the communication between the protagonists, you can hear them thinking, anticipating, preparing their responses to the other members of the Guild. It is a way of communication in our modern times. Be careful for the feelings of others in what you say and be willing to soften you words.
It is also a story about the essence of human life, of the energy of human beings, of getting up after a setback, of optimism.
The ‘colors of the language’, a good story can be like a painting, remind me of the bright colors of modern city life.
The storyline and the way of telling remind me of the opera Don Giovanni, with its many scenes and its lively phrases.
Above all, the ‘music of the language’, language can have a musical quality, is like the music of Mozart and Don Giovanni, lively and bright.
It was a great pleasure to read this musical novel. I think it will be for all members of opera companies, opera singers and opera lovers, and for all lovers of a novel about modern life. Recommended!
No chapter from a novel describes the delight of the opera lover
as beautifully as the above section from Der Zauberberg.
Nobody has written about opera as beautifully as Thomas Mann:
‘Ein international Chor gefeierter Sänger und Sängerinnen setzte, begleitet von diskret zurücktretendem Orchester, die hochgeschulte Gottesgabe seiner Stimmen ein zur Ausführung von Arien, Duetten, ganzen Ensembleszenen aus den verschiedenen Gegenden und Epochen des musikalischen Theaters:der südlichen Schönheitssphäre einer zugleich hoch-und leichtherzigen Hingerissenheit, einer deutsch-volkhaften Welt von Schalkheit und Dämonie, der französischen Grossen und Komischen Oper.’
Der Zauberberg is a ‘Bildungsroman’. The protagonist Hans Castorp, a young engineer, travels to Davos to visit his cousin Joachim, who remains a long period in a sanatorium. Soon Hans forgets to return home. He is intrigued by life in the small community. The following years, he learns much about life, love, friendship, world views and opera.
It is in the chapter about music, Fülle des Wohllauts, that we see Hans Castorp reveling in the most beautiful opera arias. Hans gets access to a beautiful gramophone with the brand name ‘Polyhymnia’.
He makes sure he is alone in the music room and starts listening to famous opera arias for hours.
Below, some of the arias Thomas Mann and his protagonist listened frequently to, with quotations from Fülle des Wohllauts:
Aida:
‘Der unvergleichliche Tenor, der fürstliche Alt mit dem herrlichen Stimmbruch in der Mitte seines Umfanges und der silberne Sopran…’
‘..nun öffne sich der Himmel und ihrem Sehnen erstrahlte das Licht der Ewigkeit.’
Enrico Caruso and Johanna Gadski: O Terra Addio 1909
Aureliano Pertile Dusolina Giannini Carlo Sabajno: O Terra Addio 1928
Carmen:
‘Der Soldat sang von der Blume, die Carmen ihm am Anfang ihrer Bekanntschaft zugeworfen, und die im schweren Arrest, worein er um ihretwillen geraten, sein ein und alles gewesen sei.’
‘Und ewig dir gehör ich an, liess danach die Stimme um zehn Töne sinken und bekannte erschüttert sein Carmen, ich liebe dich.’
Alfred Piccaver: Blumenarie Hier an dem Herzen treu geborgen 1920
Faust:
Hans Castorp feels particularly sympathetic to Valentin, who reminds him of his recently
deceased cousin Joachim, who had served in the army.
‘Jemand trat auf, jemand Erz-Sympatisches, der Valentin hiess, den aber Hans Castorp im Stillen anders nannte…’
Hans Nissen: Da ich nun verlassen soll
Der Lindenbaum:
At the end of the story we find Hans Castorp back in the mud of the battlefields of WWI, singing:
‘Ich schnitt in seiner Rinde so manches liebe Wort …’
‘Und sei-ne Zweige rau-uschten, als rie-fen sie mir zu-‘
Richard Tauber: Der Lindenbaum 1927
Der Zauberberg is one of my favorite novels. I read and re-read it in different stages of my life, or sometimes only out of love for it. It is not only the story, which is holding my attention. It is also the enchanting narrative style.
The best edition is the Grosse Kommentierte Frankfurter Ausgabe from S.Fischer Verlag, from which the quotations are. However, I think each edition will be good.
Many opera lovers will share the feelings of Thomas Mann and his protagonist, and me, for the enchantment of opera. Attending a live performance is beautiful. Listening to records or CDs of the great arias at home has its own delight.
Wikipedia The Magic Mountain
DVD with Christoph Eichhorn as Hans Castorp
Thomas Mann Der Zauberberg Grosse Kommentierte Frankfurter Ausgabe
Recently I listened to Ferruccio Busoni Doktor Faust. The opera was waiting on my recorder. Mezzo.tv broadcasted it nearly 2 years ago. The performance was by Opernhaus Zürich from 2006. Thomas Hampson as Doktor Faust impressed me greatly. I immediately bought the Blu-ray disc. In the past, I have read, re-read and seen several times the play by Goethe. I read the play by Marlowe. I have seen the Faust opera of Gounod. However, never the story of Faust had such an effect on me. I will try to explain.
During the second prologue, Doktor Faust opens a book about black magic. According to the guidelines, he conjures up six spirits and chooses the sixth one Mephistopheles as his servant. He asks him to help him with all his wishes, especially for knowledge. In return, Mephistopheles asks him to serve him after death. First Faust shrinks back. Then he surrenders.
It was at this moment of transition from good to power, that Thomas Hampson as Doktor Faust took me into his mind, his thoughts, his hesitation, his weighing up the pros and cons of having power over other people. I was going with him into the life of Faust, and into my life.
Great art is great because it takes you into your own life, your mind and your thoughts. It gives you another way of thinking about life.
In this performance, the creation of many people is converging: The legend of Faust, the libretto and music of Busoni, and Philipp Jarnach, the co-workers of the Zürich Opernhaus. The cast, the conductor, the orchestra, the direction, all are exceptional, even on a recording, certainly on a Blu-ray disc. The music is beautiful, stirring, impressive, fascinating.
However, it is the opera singer, who can bring these reflections on life into your mind.
Thomas Hampson is Faust for the moment. You can go along with him.
If you are susceptible to this kind of experience, listen to it.
The passage is from Prologue II:
Faust: Töte sie.
Mephistopheles: Es ist geschehn. Möchtet Ihr das Übrige abwarten?
Faust: Kaum! – Ich geb mich dir. Aber jetzt – verlass mich.
Mephistopheles: Nur noch ein Geringes.
Faust: Fort, fort, fort! Ich kann dich nicht ertragen!
Mephistophels: Du musst es lernen.
I will ask Arthaus Musik for uploading a part of this section on YouTube.
Thomas Hampson at the end of the opera, stunning:
Naxos Videos Channel:
Doktor Faust Wikipedia
Doktor Faust Blu-ray Disc
Doktor Faust Libretto Stanford
Wandering in Multi Universes of Mind and Life 