Wolf song recital, Bayerische Staatsoper, Nationaltheater, Munich 15/07/22

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Christian Gerhaher, Anna Lucia Richter, Pianist Ammiel Bushakevitz: Wolf, Italienische liederbuche.

My planning for this Munich trip was done a long time ago and at one point I wasn’t going to the Sunday performance of Capriccio. Hence I ended up not planning in advance anything to do on the Friday and Saturday evenings. On the spur of the moment I took a cheap seat at the Nationaltheater for another aspect of the Munich Opera Festival, their series of song recitals. Christian Gerhaher, and Anna Lucia Richter were singing Wolf’s Italienische liederbuche.

Wolf has completely passed me by – I have never really listened to his work except a few snippets which I decided 40 years ago I didn’t like. This was the first time I have ever really heard and focused on Wolf’s music. As there were no translations and surtitles for the most part I had no idea what the two singers were singing about, but I was very impressed by a number of the songs – haunting, lyrical, having a quiet beauty that made me want to listen to them again. The two singers sounded wonderful, particularly Gerhaher in the quieter lyrical passages.

This was rather a revelatory evening….! I’m buying a recording – working out whether it is one that Gerhaher made 10 years ago or Janet Baker……

Published by John

I'm a grandfather, parent, churchwarden, traveller, chair of governors and trustee!. I worked for an international cultural and development organisation for 39 years, and lived for extended periods of time in Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Egypt and Ghana. I know a lot about (classical) music, but not as a practitioner, (particularly noisy late Romantics - Wagner, Mahler, Bruckner, Richard Strauss). I am well travelled and interested in different cultures and traditions. Apart from going to concerts and operas, I love reading, walking in the hills, theatre and wine-making. I'm also a practising Christian, though not of the fierce kind. And I'm into green issues and sustainability.

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