The Art of Hans Hotter
$25.00
Out of Stockadd to cart
WOLF / SCHUBERT / BRAHMS / R. STRAISS / LOEWE
The Art of Hans Hotter
Hans Hotter (bass) Geoffrey Parsons (piano)
[ Australian Decca Eloquence / 2 CD ]
Release Date: Wednesday 20 July 2016
Hans Hotter (1909-2003) was 64 when he recorded two recital LPs for Decca, here coupled as a 2CD set. One of the rare singers to achieve equal eminence in Wagner and in Lieder, the singer's voluminous bass-baritone, at once majestic and profoundly human, was in its autumn. Yet, the sense of detail, of characterization, he brings to these songs, vividly partnered by Geoffrey Parsons, is not only a joy, but an essential lesson for every student of Lied. There is evidence of both warmth and candour as well as a wry sense of humour in the Wolf and Loewe brackets, and he is an absolute natural for Brahms, a composer to whom, even in his younger years he was irresistibly drawn. As a revered teacher, Hotter would tell his students: 'Remember, it is important to try not to be boring'. Throughout these 38 songs, Hotter is, as ever, true to his own precept.
"All' mein Gedanken [is] given new impact and import by sheer force of vocal gravity; in particular the rarely-recorded Gefunden is a splendid find. Best of all are the Brahms songs. Here is the repertory in which Hotter's weight of experience can sound out the depths of feeling to their fullest extent. […] the recording quality is a predictable credit to Decca expertise; and Geoffrey Parsons has the whole range of dynamic and technique well within his grasp. On this showing, it is he who has the art of the Lied at his fingertips. He makes the music sound, as it surely should, like poetry-reading rather than dramatization. In the result, it is not only the followers of Hans Hotter who will derive delight and diversion from this disc. So will admirers of the art of Lieder accompaniment; and they will receive much insight and instruction into the bargain." (Gramophone)
"Though recorded later in his career, when this great artist was 64, he is on magnificent form, and brings a lifetime's insights to some of the greatest songs in the Lied repertoire. Indispensable." (BBC Music)
Tracks:
Schubert:
Gruppe aus dem Tartarus, second version, D583 (Schiller)
Im Frühling, D882
Alinde, D904
An die Entfernte, D765 (Goethe)
Liebesbotschaft, D957 No.1
Die Stadt, D957 No. 11
Der Doppelgänger D957 No. 13
Die Taubenpost, D965A (D957 No. 14)
Wolf, H:
Der Tambour (No. 5 from Mörike-Lieder)
Nimmersatte Liebe (No. 9 from Mörike-Lieder)
Jägerlied (No. 4 from Mörike-Lieder)
Der Mond hat eine schwere Klag' erhoben (No. 7 from Italienisches Liederbuch)
Heb' auf dein blondes Haupt (No. 18 from Italienisches Liederbuch)
Schon streckt' ich aus (No. 27 from Italienisches Liederbuch)
Ein Ständchen Euch zu bringen kam ich her (No. 22 from Italienisches Liederbuch)
Denk es, o Seele! (No. 39 from Mörike-Lieder)
Songs (3) on poems by Michelangelo Buonarroti
Strauss, R:
All mein Gedanken ... Op. 21 No. 1
Nachtgang Op. 29 No. 3
Du meines Herzens Krönelein, Op. 21 No. 2
Gefunden Op. 56 No. 1
Himmelsboten, Op 32 No 5
Ach weh mir unglückhaftem Mann, Op. 21 No. 4
and lieder by Brahms & Loewe
