Fritz Wunderlich Discography: Collections - Vienna Recital / Schmidt 1963

Vienna Recital

Wiener Festwochen production, ORF recording. Rec. at Theater an der Wien, Vienna 1963-05-26.

Alan Blyth about the Philips CD in "Gramophone", 1/1989: "The memory of Fritz Wunderlich's glorious tenor lives on in the heads of all those lucky enough to have heard him in person, but it is 22 years now since he was killed, at the early age of 35, in a household accident, so for many he is no more than a voice on a record. This CD issue will inform those who come fresh to his singing of his sappy tenor and eager, unaffected, articulate way of using it. These attributes are most apparent in the Beethoven cycle for which he had the almost ideal tone. This is the longing, ardent admirer of the distant beloved to the life. Wunderlich phrases this ever-attractive cycle with a secure legato, a keen feeling for the text and a natural buoyancy that produce the right sense of art concealing art. There are one or two moments where note values aren't observed or pitch falters slightly - the performance was a live one, in Vienna; otherwise this is a reading I heartily recommend. The charming Haydn settings of Scottish and Welsh folk-songs are just as admirable, especially Mein süßes Liebchen where the serenader, out in the frost and snow of winter, begs to be let into his lover's chamber: Wunderlich sings it with just the right brio. [...]"

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Complete recording not yet released.

Excerpts on

Philips 420 852-2 (only Haydn and Beethoven, + Strauss: Lieder)
Philips 6520 022 (only Haydn and Beethoven, + Strauss: Lieder)

	Philips 420 852-2 (only Haydn and Beethoven, + Strauss: Lieder)
	Philips 6520 022 (only Haydn and Beethoven, + Strauss: Lieder)