Dichterliebe Project: Songs 1-3!

[chrismaninoff]

Hi everyone!  I'm working on a complete recording of Schumann's Dichterliebe with a tenor friend of mine, and I'm really excited about it so I thought I'd share!  I guess we don't often get non-piano instruments here though, so if this is not allowed, please let me know and I'll remove it. 

Let me know if you have any comments or criticisms!  I'm quite happy with it so I'm curious if anyone has problems with our interpretation and I'd love to discuss. 

[quantum]

Beautiful music!  Great recording sound as well. 

A number of members play other instruments or sing in addition to playing piano.  I like hearing about the other musical activities people here have that extend beyond the solo piano rep. 

[brogers70]

Very beautifully done. Your tenor friend has a beautiful voice, perfect for this music. Congratulations. I hope you'll post the rest of the cycle.

[chrismaninoff]

Beautiful music!  Great recording sound as well. 

A number of members play other instruments or sing in addition to playing piano.  I like hearing about the other musical activities people here have that extend beyond the solo piano rep.

Glad to hear it   And yes, we were lucky to work with someone doing her master's in sound recording!  She needed some voice and piano stuff for her portfolio.

 

Very beautifully done. Your tenor friend has a beautiful voice, perfect for this music. Congratulations. I hope you'll post the rest of the cycle.

I agree!!  His voice is so Schumann-esque!  Don't tell him, but I wish he would give up on opera and be a Lieder specialist

Since this post seems alright, I'll maybe add the rest of the movements in the coming weeks as we finish the videos! 

[brogers70]

I agree!!  His voice is so Schumann-esque!  Don't tell him, but I wish he would give up on opera and be a Lieder specialist

Schubert, too. You should try to get him to sing "Du Bist die Ruh. With his voice, he could make the decrescendo on that final high Ab absolutely spine tingling.

[chrismaninoff]

mmm, that's a good idea!  He would be great on Du Bist die Ruh.  He doesn't crack on high notes like many young tenors do haha.

Also, here is the second song!  Let me know if you have comments.   

[brogers70]

That one's great, too. Keep going!!

For another hauntingly beautiful Schumann, not in Dichterliebe, though, you could try Auf Einer Burg.

[chrismaninoff]

Oh how I adore that song!!  Those sevenths, one after the other... gaaah xD  Yeah Adam could do a good job of that for sure.  And his vibrato is not so wide that the sevenths would be dull, like they are with heavier voices.  I listened (online) to Bryn terfel singing Liederkreis Op. 39 last night, and while it was beautiful, I just... missed my sevenths...

Also, here is the third song:

[brogers70]

That's great. The two of you really get this music. As for those sevenths in Auf Einer Burg....I am mostly an amateur pianist, but my teacher suggested I take singing lessons from her, too, on the grounds that working on shaping phrases vocally would help my piano playing. So I worked on it for several years and turned from a baritone into a tenor (nothing like your tenor, but good enough for a small town). I mostly focus on early music, but my teacher likes accompanying lieder and pushed me to start listening to a bunch of cycles. When I heard those sevenths in Auf Einer Burg I was hooked on Schumann and just had to learn that piece. It is so much fun to sing.

[chrismaninoff]

Ah, I have not yet sung it!!  I must do this. 

Honestly, Schumann is so good.  This Liederkreis is amazing.  Another favourite of mine (which I have in fact sung through) is Frauenliebe und Leben.  So simple yet beautiful! 

The fourth song:

[brogers70]

This one is beautiful, too. It's not easy to sing as softly as he does and keep the tone. Really great. There's a misprint in your title though, the word should be Augen, not Auden.

[chrismaninoff]

Oh no!!  Thanks for catching that... yikes!!  My German has really slipped if I'm using words like "Auden..." xD 

[quantum]

You have got a great thing going here.  The two of you really work well together and are highly attuned to the music. 

[chrismaninoff]

Thanks, quantum!  It's been a long time in coming, actually.  I learned the part myself a few years ago, and I've played songs here and there for various singers since then.  Eventually, I met Adam through an opera festival and we decided to prepare the set together for a concert in spring 2020, and potentially some summer concerts.  But of course covid happened, so we had to cancel all of that.  We finally got the chance to do it for a recording last October, and it was so satisfying to finally get the whole piece on record somewhere!

Here's the fifth part:

(one of my favourites to play!)

[chrismaninoff]

Here's the sixth song.  This one has always been confusing in terms of rhythm... I always want to double-dot, but am unsure whether it sounds good in the end.  I settled on a somewhat quick tempo and snappy "normal" dots. 

[brogers70]

This is one of my favorites because of the harmonic weirdness. If I had anything to criticize, I think that the balance between the two of you was not as good in this one as in the earlier ones; particularly at the beginning where he was in the lower part of his range you somewhat overshadowed him, I think. Still beautiful.

[lelle]

Beautiful playing and singing.

I quite like the tone you are drawing from that instrument, what are you playing on?

[chrismaninoff]

This is one of my favorites because of the harmonic weirdness. If I had anything to criticize, I think that the balance between the two of you was not as good in this one as in the earlier ones; particularly at the beginning where he was in the lower part of his range you somewhat overshadowed him, I think. Still beautiful.

Ah, yes I would have to agree... This one was hard to balance because, like you say, it's often low in his range, BUT it also has to sound forceful in the piano part.  Always a struggle.  I'm working on my quiet forcefulness haha.  Thanks for pointing that out though! It's good to know it wasn't in my own head. 

Beautiful playing and singing.

I quite like the tone you are drawing from that instrument, what are you playing on?

Thank you!  I was fortunate that our recording sessions were in a lovely hall with a Steinway D.    Mind you it's a little old, but still... Steinway D... XD

Here's Ich grolle nicht:

[classical4ever]

Outstanding performance! I am very impressed with the fine piano performance, and particulary the wonderful voice of the singer. It almost reminds me of Fritz Wunderlich. As pointed out by others, the balance between the voice and the piano should be adjusted here and there, but this should be fairly straightforward to accomplish.

I think that should definitely go for Schubert as well (for example his Winterreise and other of his famous songs)

Congratulations with your fine achievements !

[chrismaninoff]

Thanks for saying so!  I would looove to do Winterreise with Adam.  I have learned Winterreise twice, actually, but each time the concert I was preparing for was cancelled   When I finally get to perform it, it will be really familiar at least...

Here's number 8! 

[chrismaninoff]

It's been a while, but I have three more songs to share!  X, XI, and XII.  Also, I can't seem to edit the subject to update the number of songs in the project... does that ability permanently expire after 3 updates, or is it possible that I could still update it somehow and I just can't figure it out?  Anyone know?

Also, Happy Valentines!

[storyseller]

This entire cycle is soo beautiful!!! It makes stand still for a second and feel you're lucky to be alive! Great work!

[chrismaninoff]

I totally agree with you... this cycle is gorgeous!  I think everyone should play it, even if you don't have a singer--it's so beautiful!

Here's song 13--only 3 left!

[brogers70]

Wonderful. His voice is great, and your silences, particularly those right at the end, are brilliant.

Every time I hear a tenor sing the word "weinet," I think of the Evangelist in the St Matthew Passion and Peter's denial, "Petrus ging heraus, und weinet bitterlich." One of the great moments in that piece.

[chrismaninoff]

I don't know this moment in the St. Matthew Passion!  I'll have to scour the piece later today... it's been a while since I've listened to it!

Here's "Allnächtlich" (which is one of my favourite words in German because of the two ichlauts!)

[chrismaninoff]

Well, over the last week I finished the final two songs from Dichterliebe.  Here they are, enjoy!  Thanks for your comments and encouragement over the last couple months