Live On Stage / Fritz Wunderlich

Fritz Wunderlich, Germany's greatest tenor in the 20th century - and one of the greatest tenors of all time - would have celebrated his 80th birthday on September 26, 2010. DG is commemorating the occasion with an exceptional album of arias and scenes, almost all first-time releases, taken from live performances at the Vienna State Opera and the Bavarian State Opera, recorded between 1963 and 1966, the year of Wunderlich's death.

The music is by Mozart (The Magic Flute, The Abduction from the Seraglio, Don Giovanni), Rossini (The Barber of Seville - sung in German!) and Richard Strauss (Capriccio, Der Rosenkavalier, Daphne, Die Schweisame Frau).

The live quality of the recordings - meticulously re-mastered - gives an extra frisson to Wunderlich's calling-card, the portrait aria from Magic Flute, to the high jinks of The Barber, and to the Tenor's Aria from Rosenkavalier.

Also present on the recording: the great Anneliese Rothenberger, who died just recently and Lucia Popp in Strauss's Capriccio. Conductors include Herbert von Karajan, Karl Bohm, Josef Krips and Georges Pretre. Many of the performances are from the premieres of the productions in question.

"The pearl of great price...the Mozart tenor who could sound both elegant and manly...His 'Il mio tesoro' drops not a semiquaver and takes the long phrases with confident ease. At all times he makes his voice an instrument of feeling...he even makes us believe that Don Ottavio is at heart a man of action" Gramophone Magazine, January 2011

"Live performances demand more from a singer than those made in the studio, particularly how their voices strike an accommodation with the auditorium size. We can hear what Wunderlich really sounded like in various theatres and it becomes even more evident what a loss his premature death meant to the operatic world." MusicWeb International, January 2011

"The golden-toned Strauss items - the duet from the famous recording of Daphne with Gueden, the Italian opera singers number from Capriccio and the glorious tenor showpiece from a Kempe-conducted Rosenkavalier - are incomparable." Sunday Times, 12th December 2011 ***

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Works Details

Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus : Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute), K. 620 :: Dies Bildnis ist bezaubernd schön

Performer: Fritz Wunderlich (Tenor)
Conductor: Fritz Rieger
Running Time: 4 min. 37 sec.
Period Time: Classical
Form: Opera/Operetta
Written: 1791

Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus : Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute), K. 620 :: Wie stark ist nicht dein Zauberton

Performer: Fritz Wunderlich (Tenor)
Conductor: Fritz Rieger
Running Time: 3 min. 33 sec.
Period Time: Classical
Form: Opera/Operetta
Written: 1791

Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus : Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute), K. 620 :: Soll ich dich, Teurer, nicht mehr sehn?

Performers: Fritz Wunderlich (Tenor); Anneliese Rothenberger (Soprano); Karl Kohn (Voice)
Conductor: Fritz Rieger
Running Time: 2 min. 47 sec.
Period Time: Classical
Form: Opera/Operetta
Written: 1791

Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus : Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute), K. 620 :: Mich Schreckt kein Tod

Performers: Claude Heater (Tenor); Albrecht Peter (Baritone); Anneliese Rothenberger (Soprano); Fritz Wunderlich (Tenor)
Conductor: Fritz Rieger
Running Time: 2 min. 2 sec.
Period Time: Classical
Form: Opera/Operetta
Written: 1791

Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus : Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute), K. 620 :: Tamino mein! O welch ein Glück! / Wir wandelten durch Feuergluten / Triumph!

Performers: Albrecht Peter (Baritone); Anneliese Rothenberger (Soprano); Claude Heater (Tenor); Fritz Wunderlich (Tenor)
Conductor: Fritz Rieger
Running Time: 8 min. 15 sec.
Period Time: Classical
Form: Opera/Operetta
Written: 1791

Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus : Don Giovanni :: Come mai creder deggio... Dalla sua pace

Performer: Fritz Wunderlich (Tenor)
Conductor: Herbert Karajan
Running Time: 4 min. 40 sec.
Period Time: Classical
Form: Opera/Operetta
Written: 1787

Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus : Don Giovanni :: Amici miei... Il mio tesoro intanto

Performer: Fritz Wunderlich (Tenor)
Conductor: Herbert Karajan
Running Time: 5 min. 19 sec.
Period Time: Classical
Form: Opera/Operetta
Written: 1787

Rossini, Gioachino : Der Barbier von Sevilla :: Sieh schon die Morgenröte

Performer: Fritz Wunderlich (Tenor)
Conductor: Karl Böhm
Running Time: 4 min. 12 sec.
Period Time: Romantic
Form: Opera/Operetta
Written: 1816

Rossini, Gioachino : Der Barbier von Sevilla :: Strahlt auf mich der Blitz des Goldes

Performers: Eberhard Wächter (Baritone); Fritz Wunderlich (Tenor)
Conductor: Karl Böhm
Running Time: 7 min. 37 sec.
Period Time: Romantic
Form: Opera/Operetta
Written: 1816

Strauss, Richard : Capriccio :: Addio, mia vita, addio

Performers: Walter Berry (Bass Baritone); Robert Kerns (Baritone); Fritz Wunderlich (Tenor); Waldemar Kmentt (Tenor); Lucia Popp (Soprano); Lisa Casa (Voice)
Conductor: Georges Prêtre
Notes: Composition written: 1940-41.
Running Time: 4 min. 2 sec.
Period Time: Post Romantic
Form: Opera/Operetta
Written: 1940-1941

Strauss, Richard : Daphne :: Leukippos, du?

Performers: Hilde Güden (Voice); Fritz Wunderlich (Tenor)
Conductor: Karl Böhm
Notes: Vienna, Theater an der Wien (05/21/1964-05/26/1964)
Running Time: 6 min. 14 sec.
Period Time: Post Romantic
Form: Opera/Operetta
Written: 1936-1937

Strauss, Richard : Der Rosenkavalier :: Di rigori armato il seno

Performers: Fritz Wunderlich (Tenor); Josef Knapp (Bass); Kurt Böhme (Voice)
Conductor: Rudolf Kempe
Running Time: 5 min. 2 sec.
Period Time: Post Romantic
Form: Opera/Operetta
Written: 1909-1910

Strauss, Richard : Die schweigsame Frau :: Du süáester Engel

Performers: Ingeborg Hallstein (Voice); Kurt Böhme (Voice); Fritz Wunderlich (Tenor)
Conductor: Heinz Wallberg
Notes: Composition written: 1933-34.
Running Time: 8 min. 5 sec.
Period Time: Post Romantic
Form: Opera/Operetta
Written: 1933-1934

Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus : Die Entführung aus dem Serail (The Abduction from the Seraglio), opera, K. 384 :: Hier soll ich dich denn sehen

Performer: Fritz Wunderlich (Tenor)
Conductor: Josef Krips
Notes: Composition written: 1782.
Running Time: 2 min. 52 sec.
Period Time: Classical
Form: Opera/Operetta
Written: 1782

Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus : Die Entführung aus dem Serail (The Abduction from the Seraglio), opera, K. 384 :: Konstanze, dich wiederzusehen!... O wie ängstlich, o wie feurig

Performer: Fritz Wunderlich (Tenor)
Conductor: Josef Krips
Notes: Composition written: 1782.
Running Time: 5 min. 30 sec.
Period Time: Classical
Form: Opera/Operetta
Written: 1782

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