GREAT artist. I saw her at Lehman College in the Bronx, singing Schubert. That was before I got married, and my date that night said, “Mrs. Schubert has a nice voice. And she writes nice songs too.” I did not marry that girl.
Last week she was the whole week at the international song festival in Zeist (The Netherlands) giving masterclasses. I was there 3 days to watch her work with young singers an pianists. She is still amazing. With so much knowledge and such an amazing musicality. And a great sense of humour too. What she said to all of them is that it is all about the text, for both the pianist and the singer. If you can’t understand the words you are singing there is no point in it.
I agree and wouldn't it have been nice if along with the 29 cds, there had been a 30th data disc with complete texts and translations? These albums on Philips used to provide inserts with them. Sure, you can run around the house gathering them up hither and yon, or getting them online but that's a real pain. And they are so important.
Couldn't agree more: a singer's singer if ever there was one. She had a pure, limpid, flat-out lovely voice, a rock-solid technique, and an unaffected approach to a dazzlingly wide repertoire, all of which she sang with taste and stylistic integrity, from Bach to Schumann to Faure to Satie (a perfectly charming version of "La Diva de l'Empire"). I first heard her on an LP of Schubert Songs from the 1960s (w/ Jorg Demus on a fortepiano) which featured a performance of "The Shepherd on the Rock" which still strikes me as the way Schubert must have wanted it to sound. Sheer perfection. I finally got a chance to hear her live, late in her career, in an all-Schubert evening ; and while some of the sparkle was gone from the tone, it was still a wonderfully attractive voice and of course her artistry was supreme--hands down, one of the most memorable nights of great music-making in my life. I have most of these recordings already, but I'm still pretty sure I'll spring for this Eloquence box. She deserves it. I deserve it.
Quite like you, David, I am not a big Lieder person - I love them generally while they are on, but do not reach out too often. Schubert is my "go-to" composer for Lieder (really "dig" his epic long ones of 10+ minutes, which allow for settling into the mood!). In the meantime, the couple recital collections in my possession (the Decca 55 Great Vocal Recitals and Sony-Diapason "Voix" box) center around opera mostly. However, I am strongly considering acquiring precisely all of Elly Ameling's recordings, since she struck me as one of the most unique voices to have graced these ears... I feel not competent enough to describe its distinction, but it just flows so naturally and has that elusive note of childlike happiness and innocence, which in any repertoire helps Ms. Ameling to convey maximum-level honesty and persuasiveness. That must be the "it" along with impeccable mastery and facility of singing - a song as joy of life and art, not a virtuoso "workout". There are opera divas, whose voices one instantly recognizes and may grow to like - I was always awed by the likes of Joan Sutherland, Montserrat Caballe (especially in her youth - ohh, there was grace to add to that dome organ of a voice!), and especially Leontyne Price, who seems to have some of the same essential qualities that make a voice not just recognizable, but lovable. However, rarely if ever would one find those ladies recording Lieder (or French Melodies, etc.). In this sub-genre, Elly Ameling is THE ONE. This opinion is subjective, of course, based purely on feeling and, to a lesser degree, a years of attentive, informed listening. But I will be grateful if pointed towards other unique voices in Classical song. We never know what we may be missing, and it may be time to get into Lieder more! :)
Thank you for this important review! Ameling is certainly marvelous. About the stupifying marketing of classical lieder recordings: there is the Fischer-Dieskau "Complete Lieder Recordings on Deutsche Grammophon" on 105 cd's. It's been there for half a year now. There's no marketing, there are no reviews at all. I realise that DFD is an aquired taste but he was reigning the world of classical lieder singing for 40 years or so. What's happening?? Maybe you will give it a try?
@@jimcarlile7238 it's around €230 in Holland and Germany which is reasonable I think. Maybe you are right. But most recent boxed up recordings of any artist are boxed up earlier boxed up recordings. And they are or will be reviewed. Such as Klemp's
Dave, I too am not a 'lieder' person per se, but with age and wisdom, I do believe that is changing. I am streaming the Haydn songs collection as we speak. Thank you as always for another wonderful video. Just ordered my box.
Dear Dave! Thank you very much for showing us the lovely covers of these records.💞👍🙏. And I would also like to thank Madame Ameling for her fantastic singing which make even Mr Hurwitz listnen to Hugo Wolf. I belive that this is the only video where we will see him talk about Wolf's songs at all. Or maybe not? Best wishes Fred from Kristianstad
Oh my, Elly Ameling and Christa Ludwig, my absolute favorites in Schubert’s Der Hirt auf dem Felsen. For my first acquaintance with Schubert I was able to experience 11 and a half minutes of heaven from both.
@Michael Simpson Google her name and that song's title: you'll find a live Ameling/Jansen performance from 1983, w/Karl Leister on clarinet. I thought her recordings of 'Der Hert...' were all as good as it could possibly get...but, no, this live one just blows them away! (Great sound, too.)
I don't know if I'm a lieder guy and I agree that there is a certain sameness to the German tradition and its interpretation. (I'll get back to you re: the French, as I am eagerly awaiting delivery of a 4 CD set of Faure songs, featuring Madame Ameling no less.) That said I happily turn to them for the same experience of being transported to an earlier time; to quite simply see what these composers do with melody; and b/c I know that lieder was one way in which Schubert and the century that followed were able to distinguish themselves from Mozart ad Beethoven (if that makes sense).
Oh, Elly! If anyone should be called a perfect (to be wholly objective, nobody should be) singer, I'd have to choose her. I've never heard even a micro-histrionic from her, so superb was her musicianship and interpretive respect for the music on the page and for the text. Her vocal quality was as pure as a mountain spring. Because of this perfection, I think, she's seldom my choice in a given piece, but she's quite a phenomenon.
Ameling singing Vivaldi is new to me. It was not included in Negri's 10 CD album and all along his star soprano was Margaret Marshall. It really is surprising because this recital was recorded in 1978, the period when Negri recorded the choral works and by the time he got to the solo pieces in the early 90's Marshal was past her prime and she didn't record the same stuff. Anyway it's really nice to listen to despite some apparent difficulties at the end of Nulla in mundo.
The point of the art song is not the music itself but the addition of music to significant poetry so a song is not just a song if the words are a key element with the actual music really secondary. In a true art song, the music serves the words-- by the way if the words are despicable that makes the whole art song despicable. I too cannot tolerate Frauenliebe und Leben despite the nice music attached to the repulsive text.
GREAT artist. I saw her at Lehman College in the Bronx, singing Schubert. That was before I got married, and my date that night said, “Mrs. Schubert has a nice voice. And she writes nice songs too.” I did not marry that girl.
Last week she was the whole week at the international song festival in Zeist (The Netherlands) giving masterclasses. I was there 3 days to watch her work with young singers an pianists. She is still amazing. With so much knowledge and such an amazing musicality. And a great sense of humour too. What she said to all of them is that it is all about the text, for both the pianist and the singer. If you can’t understand the words you are singing there is no point in it.
I agree and wouldn't it have been nice if along with the 29 cds, there had been a 30th data disc with complete texts and translations? These albums on Philips used to provide inserts with them. Sure, you can run around the house gathering them up hither and yon, or getting them online but that's a real pain. And they are so important.
Couldn't agree more: a singer's singer if ever there was one. She had a pure, limpid, flat-out lovely voice, a rock-solid technique, and an unaffected approach to a dazzlingly wide repertoire, all of which she sang with taste and stylistic integrity, from Bach to Schumann to Faure to Satie (a perfectly charming version of "La Diva de l'Empire"). I first heard her on an LP of Schubert Songs from the 1960s (w/ Jorg Demus on a fortepiano) which featured a performance of "The Shepherd on the Rock" which still strikes me as the way Schubert must have wanted it to sound. Sheer perfection. I finally got a chance to hear her live, late in her career, in an all-Schubert evening ; and while some of the sparkle was gone from the tone, it was still a wonderfully attractive voice and of course her artistry was supreme--hands down, one of the most memorable nights of great music-making in my life. I have most of these recordings already, but I'm still pretty sure I'll spring for this Eloquence box. She deserves it. I deserve it.
Quite like you, David, I am not a big Lieder person - I love them generally while they are on, but do not reach out too often. Schubert is my "go-to" composer for Lieder (really "dig" his epic long ones of 10+ minutes, which allow for settling into the mood!). In the meantime, the couple recital collections in my possession (the Decca 55 Great Vocal Recitals and Sony-Diapason "Voix" box) center around opera mostly. However, I am strongly considering acquiring precisely all of Elly Ameling's recordings, since she struck me as one of the most unique voices to have graced these ears... I feel not competent enough to describe its distinction, but it just flows so naturally and has that elusive note of childlike happiness and innocence, which in any repertoire helps Ms. Ameling to convey maximum-level honesty and persuasiveness. That must be the "it" along with impeccable mastery and facility of singing - a song as joy of life and art, not a virtuoso "workout".
There are opera divas, whose voices one instantly recognizes and may grow to like - I was always awed by the likes of Joan Sutherland, Montserrat Caballe (especially in her youth - ohh, there was grace to add to that dome organ of a voice!), and especially Leontyne Price, who seems to have some of the same essential qualities that make a voice not just recognizable, but lovable. However, rarely if ever would one find those ladies recording Lieder (or French Melodies, etc.). In this sub-genre, Elly Ameling is THE ONE.
This opinion is subjective, of course, based purely on feeling and, to a lesser degree, a years of attentive, informed listening. But I will be grateful if pointed towards other unique voices in Classical song. We never know what we may be missing, and it may be time to get into Lieder more! :)
Thank you for this important review! Ameling is certainly marvelous. About the stupifying marketing of classical lieder recordings: there is the Fischer-Dieskau "Complete Lieder Recordings on Deutsche Grammophon" on 105 cd's. It's been there for half a year now. There's no marketing, there are no reviews at all. I realise that DFD is an aquired taste but he was reigning the world of classical lieder singing for 40 years or so. What's happening?? Maybe you will give it a try?
Maybe because it's 500 bucks ?(!) And most of it's been around and around in lots of different forms.
@@jimcarlile7238 it's around €230 in Holland and Germany which is reasonable I think. Maybe you are right. But most recent boxed up recordings of any artist are boxed up earlier boxed up recordings. And they are or will be reviewed. Such as Klemp's
Dave, I too am not a 'lieder' person per se, but with age and wisdom, I do believe that is changing. I am streaming the Haydn songs collection as we speak. Thank you as always for another wonderful video. Just ordered my box.
Dear Dave!
Thank you very much for showing us the lovely covers of these records.💞👍🙏. And I would also like to thank Madame Ameling for her fantastic singing which make even Mr Hurwitz listnen to Hugo Wolf. I belive that this is the only video where we will see him talk about Wolf's songs at all. Or maybe not?
Best wishes Fred from Kristianstad
Hoping for an Anne Sophie von Otter box…another great communicator who frequently makes me cry. looking forward to hearing Ameling 😊
Wonderful review. Most of this stuff I have on record, but I'll be buying the cd's too. Sure thing!
Oh my, Elly Ameling and Christa Ludwig, my absolute favorites in Schubert’s Der Hirt auf dem Felsen. For my first acquaintance with Schubert I was able to experience 11 and a half minutes of heaven from both.
@Michael Simpson Google her name and that song's title: you'll find a live Ameling/Jansen performance from 1983, w/Karl Leister on clarinet. I thought her recordings of 'Der Hert...' were all as good as it could possibly get...but, no, this live one just blows them away! (Great sound, too.)
I don't know if I'm a lieder guy and I agree that there is a certain sameness to the German tradition and its interpretation. (I'll get back to you re: the French, as I am eagerly awaiting delivery of a 4 CD set of Faure songs, featuring Madame Ameling no less.) That said I happily turn to them for the same experience of being transported to an earlier time; to quite simply see what these composers do with melody; and b/c I know that lieder was one way in which Schubert and the century that followed were able to distinguish themselves from Mozart ad Beethoven (if that makes sense).
Oh, Elly! If anyone should be called a perfect (to be wholly objective, nobody should be) singer, I'd have to choose her. I've never heard even a micro-histrionic from her, so superb was her musicianship and interpretive respect for the music on the page and for the text. Her vocal quality was as pure as a mountain spring. Because of this perfection, I think, she's seldom my choice in a given piece, but she's quite a phenomenon.
Btw, David, I find most operas quite banal as well (re. your issue with lieder).
unfortunately fewer and fewer recital discs (and opera) have the texts and translations. They expect us to look them up online.
Great review of a great--really great--singer. However, you may have to subsidize my purchase. It ain't cheap.
Ameling singing Vivaldi is new to me. It was not included in Negri's 10 CD album and all along his star soprano was Margaret Marshall. It really is surprising because this recital was recorded in 1978, the period when Negri recorded the choral works and by the time he got to the solo pieces in the early 90's Marshal was past her prime and she didn't record the same stuff. Anyway it's really nice to listen to despite some apparent difficulties at the end of Nulla in mundo.
Why write off an entire genre? Surely there are good and bad classical songs, just as there are good and bad symphonies, operas, and so forth.
I didn't "write off" anything. You were not paying attention.
@@DavesClassicalGuide "I'm not a lieder guy. I'm not a song person, generally speaking. I like them but songs are kind of all the same, right?"
@@jygordon That is not a "write off." It's a fact.
The point of the art song is not the music itself but the addition of music to significant poetry so a song is not just a song if the words are a key element with the actual music really secondary. In a true art song, the music serves the words-- by the way if the words are despicable that makes the whole art song despicable. I too cannot tolerate Frauenliebe und Leben despite the nice music attached to the repulsive text.
Wonderful box...❤❤