Listening with headphones I'm in tears at Modl'e delivery of the spoken monologue. What an unbelievable actor, such incredible connection to these searing but simple words. Berg is a sublime genius, for me the greatest atonalist. I'm like a broken record I know, but the best ever singing of this scene is Fleming with Levine, her first studio recording back in 1993 - she sings the Lulu suite from the opera which includes LuLu's aria, and this final scene. She is even greater as Marie from Wozzeck in those excerpts. Wish she had done them live.
Even if you don't see her acting, both her singing and speaking voice is so much more than enough. Modl is such a natural actress that it puts a shame to modern opera full of just superficial eye-candies.
I love so much to read comments for Martha because I like so much posting her but it is difficult to post when no one responds (no one would ever comment on my posts of Lajos Kozma as well in my 3 previous channels)
Saw her do this! With Silja as Lulu! Of course the voice was going after hurling it around so recklessly for a decade but she was one of the only singer's I've ever encountered where it didn't matter an iota. She was hypnotic.
Peter Callahan I'm jealous! I only saw Silja once, as the Amme in Die Frau ohne Schatten (NOT one of her best roles), and I've never seen Mödl. You are very lucky!
Ha I saw Silja sing the Amme as well and you are correct, it was not a great fit, though she acted it well enough. Also saw Modl as the Amme and as much as I love her THAT was REALLY not one of her best moments. Silja wasn't really my favorite Lulu either tbh, I only found her effective intermittently in a select group of parts. Of course Modl was always somewhat compromised vocally, but she had a fascinating timbre (which Silja was always lacking IMO) and she was absolutely hypnotic, but not in a naturalistic way. Never saw her during her years as a soprano so the voice was kind of somewhat wrecked by the time I saw her but for the most part it was something I was able to overlook (certain roles like the Amme and Waltraute accepted, where more security and steadiness is needed that she could reasonably provide at that point).
Modl is obviously in vocal decline here.. she wobbles.. but WHO CARES... she has such control over her pianissimi at the end and the COLORS of them.. absolutely shivering.. I very rarely post singers in vocal decline but this here is monumental.. U dont care she was in decline because even with wobble she sustains the vocal line miraculously. Who is the greatest Lulu?
mmm not sure I know. Because the score exists in a couple of different versions and the role itself is so challenging and open to wide variety of interpretations, no two Lulu's are at all the same imo. While Silja was singing the part, Evelyn Lear and Anneliese Rothenberger were her main compteitors in the part (Lear is actually the most significant in that the performances she featured in more or less revived the opera and caused in to be re-classified as standard rep of sorts. That performance exists on video) and they left recordings of the part which are both worth checking out. Of those ladies Rothenberger was probably my favorite and easily the best sung. Lear later sang a very effective Geschwitz at the met, which is also available on video and is musically very good. Stratas sang the premiere of the three act version and I thought it was the best thing she ever did. The premiere cast recorded it in the studio and many consider that to be the definitive one, but imo Stratas isn't really a singer for the studio, and it's clear that the role is a bit of a stretch for her. If you can find the video of the Chereau paris production with Stratas I would go with that instead of the recording. Yvonne Minton is Geschwitz there and she's stunning. I LOVE Christine Schafer in the part. In her brief prime she sang it the most accuratley and very beautifully and her interpretation remains the most fascinating and complicated because she never leans to heavily on making Lulu a victim or a femme fatale. Her motives are ambiguous and she never has to perform any kind of obvious sexuality to get what she wants, she just watches as everyone implodes around her. Her performance is available and dvd and probably would be my recommendation for a "first" Lulu. Everyone around Schafer is pretty great, the production is fairly straightforward without being stuffy and dull, and the conducting is wonderful.
Lohengrin, you consistently turn up the most delicious treasures! Mödl's cries of 'Verfluchtes Leben!' are haunting, as indeed is just about every syllable she ever uttered. My favorite performance of hers is Isolde under Karajan, with Ramon Vinay. I don't suppose you have any of that (hint, hint)? 😊
at the end 5:39: Luuluuuu, mein Eeeengel... she breaks my heart and those pianissimi my God, coming directly from her Heart... unbelievable transfer of emotions. Ofc I have that: th-cam.com/video/vvsuosziagY/w-d-xo.html
Alban Berg’s “Lulu”! You constantly surprise me. Berg is a composer like Haydn (for myself) I am liking/loving more every time I hear their music. Thanks once again, mate!
... let me put it this way: I dont know if I would be posting this if Martha hadn't done a Miracle of Vocal Acting here... it is a very heavy theatrical tragedy that I need to study A LOT more to appreciate musically
Lohengrin O To be honest, I have always preferred Wozzeck to Lulu, by a long way. It seems easier to empathise with Marie and Wozzeck than with Dr Schön or Lulu herself. Geschwitz strikes me as the only sympathetic character in this opera. Also, the music of Wozzeck seems warmer, in general, more human, except for the deliberately grotesque characters like the Captain and the Doctor. And Wozzeck has that supremely eerie yet poignant moment of the Fool saying he smells blood. The music of Lulu seems colder, brilliant but heartless.
Lohengrin O I have been thinking about your reply, and have decided that perhaps I misspoke. It is not so much that the music of Lulu is brilliant, per se, as that that of Wozzeck is so much warmer and accessible by comparison, approaching the feeling(if not the actual sound) of Mahler in places. I think particularly of the scenes involving Marie, a character whom at first glance might appear to be 'cut from the same cloth' as Lulu, but who, upon deeper study, evinces a poignancy and warm humanity that the character of Lulu does not begin to approach. Scenes such as the one of Marie singing a lullaby to her child, or reading the Bible in her room, or strangely enough the one of her murder, elicit from Berg music whose color and depth are astonishing, but at the same time profoundly affecting. I think particularly of the open fifths in the strings that we first hear in the part of the score between the lullaby and Wozzeck's sudden appearance at the window. These fifths appear to function as a kind of 'Marie-leitmotif' throughout the score, even appearing one final time at the line 'Du! Dein Mutter ist tot!', as if Marie's ghost is pensively watching over her child. But the part of the score that is the most affecting, and indeed, heartbreaking, is the last of the orchestral interludes, the one just after Wozzeck's death. The bitterness, dry-eyed mournfulness and regret portrayed in this interlude are staggering, and it is also the only section of the score that ultimately abandons atonality, embracing at last the key of D minor. Search the score of Lulu from top to bottom and you will not find music of comparable emotional intensity. That is really what I meant to convey in my ill-considered remark about the cold brilliance of Lulu's music.
I think they had asked once Dmitri Mitropoulos how on earth he could conduct Wozzeck without looking at the score at all (the first violin asked him in front of all the orchestra) and he asked to bring him a Phone book catalogue. He read the first page for a couple of minutes, tear it up, gave it to the first violin and started citing the numbers and names :D But there is a fantastic opinion expressed by Varnay about conductors who conduct without looking at the score in the interview of the Holly Triad (www.oocities.org/vienna/strasse/7321/mnvdisc.html)
I mean this is the best way possible but I thought a man was speaking at first in the beginning. I thought Rebbecca Caine would be the only Lulu I could bear to listen too.
Listening with headphones I'm in tears at Modl'e delivery of the spoken monologue. What an unbelievable actor, such incredible connection to these searing but simple words. Berg is a sublime genius, for me the greatest atonalist.
I'm like a broken record I know, but the best ever singing of this scene is Fleming with Levine, her first studio recording back in 1993 - she sings the Lulu suite from the opera which includes LuLu's aria, and this final scene. She is even greater as Marie from Wozzeck in those excerpts. Wish she had done them live.
There is an F6 in the score of Lulu :D
And yes she was a tremendous actress, unbelievable dramatism with sincerity and no "american" style sobs and sighs etc
Lohengrin O it's on the assoluta Manque role list.
Sie war eigentlich eine " Über " - Geschwitz !!!
Mehr antike Tragödie als Wedekind …..
❤❤
Even if you don't see her acting, both her singing and speaking voice is so much more than enough. Modl is such a natural actress that it puts a shame to modern opera full of just superficial eye-candies.
5:39 Lulu, mein Engel..
Lohengrin O 1:17 "Verfluchtes Leben!" So beautifully haunting.
I love so much to read comments for Martha because I like so much posting her but it is difficult to post when no one responds (no one would ever comment on my posts of Lajos Kozma as well in my 3 previous channels)
Lohengrin O To be able to sound so glorious even in one's vocal decline.. Martha Modl is such a true artist.
Saw her do this! With Silja as Lulu! Of course the voice was going after hurling it around so recklessly for a decade but she was one of the only singer's I've ever encountered where it didn't matter an iota. She was hypnotic.
Peter Callahan I'm jealous! I only saw Silja once, as the Amme in Die Frau ohne Schatten (NOT one of her best roles), and I've never seen Mödl. You are very lucky!
Ha I saw Silja sing the Amme as well and you are correct, it was not a great fit, though she acted it well enough. Also saw Modl as the Amme and as much as I love her THAT was REALLY not one of her best moments. Silja wasn't really my favorite Lulu either tbh, I only found her effective intermittently in a select group of parts. Of course Modl was always somewhat compromised vocally, but she had a fascinating timbre (which Silja was always lacking IMO) and she was absolutely hypnotic, but not in a naturalistic way. Never saw her during her years as a soprano so the voice was kind of somewhat wrecked by the time I saw her but for the most part it was something I was able to overlook (certain roles like the Amme and Waltraute accepted, where more security and steadiness is needed that she could reasonably provide at that point).
Modl is obviously in vocal decline here.. she wobbles.. but WHO CARES... she has such control over her pianissimi at the end and the COLORS of them.. absolutely shivering.. I very rarely post singers in vocal decline but this here is monumental.. U dont care she was in decline because even with wobble she sustains the vocal line miraculously. Who is the greatest Lulu?
mmm not sure I know. Because the score exists in a couple of different versions and the role itself is so challenging and open to wide variety of interpretations, no two Lulu's are at all the same imo. While Silja was singing the part, Evelyn Lear and Anneliese Rothenberger were her main compteitors in the part (Lear is actually the most significant in that the performances she featured in more or less revived the opera and caused in to be re-classified as standard rep of sorts. That performance exists on video) and they left recordings of the part which are both worth checking out. Of those ladies Rothenberger was probably my favorite and easily the best sung. Lear later sang a very effective Geschwitz at the met, which is also available on video and is musically very good. Stratas sang the premiere of the three act version and I thought it was the best thing she ever did. The premiere cast recorded it in the studio and many consider that to be the definitive one, but imo Stratas isn't really a singer for the studio, and it's clear that the role is a bit of a stretch for her. If you can find the video of the Chereau paris production with Stratas I would go with that instead of the recording. Yvonne Minton is Geschwitz there and she's stunning.
I LOVE Christine Schafer in the part. In her brief prime she sang it the most accuratley and very beautifully and her interpretation remains the most fascinating and complicated because she never leans to heavily on making Lulu a victim or a femme fatale. Her motives are ambiguous and she never has to perform any kind of obvious sexuality to get what she wants, she just watches as everyone implodes around her. Her performance is available and dvd and probably would be my recommendation for a "first" Lulu. Everyone around Schafer is pretty great, the production is fairly straightforward without being stuffy and dull, and the conducting is wonderful.
Rothenberger with that thin tiny voice was a big Lulu?
Lohengrin, you consistently turn up the most delicious treasures! Mödl's cries of 'Verfluchtes Leben!' are haunting, as indeed is just about every syllable she ever uttered. My favorite performance of hers is Isolde under Karajan, with Ramon Vinay. I don't suppose you have any of that (hint, hint)? 😊
at the end 5:39: Luuluuuu, mein Eeeengel... she breaks my heart and those pianissimi my God, coming directly from her Heart... unbelievable transfer of emotions.
Ofc I have that: th-cam.com/video/vvsuosziagY/w-d-xo.html
Lohengrin O Thanks for the Isolde!
The channel Addiodelpasato (or maybe another channel) used to have their love duet on youtube but I thinks its down now.
Mödl is an amazing singer but I don’t like her “opaque “ voice
Alban Berg’s “Lulu”! You constantly surprise me. Berg is a composer like Haydn (for myself) I am liking/loving more every time I hear their music. Thanks once again, mate!
... let me put it this way: I dont know if I would be posting this if Martha hadn't done a Miracle of Vocal Acting here... it is a very heavy theatrical tragedy that I need to study A LOT more to appreciate musically
Lohengrin O To be honest, I have always preferred Wozzeck to Lulu, by a long way. It seems easier to empathise with Marie and Wozzeck than with Dr Schön or Lulu herself. Geschwitz strikes me as the only sympathetic character in this opera. Also, the music of Wozzeck seems warmer, in general, more human, except for the deliberately grotesque characters like the Captain and the Doctor. And Wozzeck has that supremely eerie yet poignant moment of the Fool saying he smells blood. The music of Lulu seems colder, brilliant but heartless.
I havent reached the level of study to call the music of Lulu brilliant..
Lohengrin O I have been thinking about your reply, and have decided that perhaps I misspoke. It is not so much that the music of Lulu is brilliant, per se, as that that of Wozzeck is so much warmer and accessible by comparison, approaching the feeling(if not the actual sound) of Mahler in places. I think particularly of the scenes involving Marie, a character whom at first glance might appear to be 'cut from the same cloth' as Lulu, but who, upon deeper study, evinces a poignancy and warm humanity that the character of Lulu does not begin to approach. Scenes such as the one of Marie singing a lullaby to her child, or reading the Bible in her room, or strangely enough the one of her murder, elicit from Berg music whose color and depth are astonishing, but at the same time profoundly affecting. I think particularly of the open fifths in the strings that we first hear in the part of the score between the lullaby and Wozzeck's sudden appearance at the window. These fifths appear to function as a kind of 'Marie-leitmotif' throughout the score, even appearing one final time at the line 'Du! Dein Mutter ist tot!', as if Marie's ghost is pensively watching over her child. But the part of the score that is the most affecting, and indeed, heartbreaking, is the last of the orchestral interludes, the one just after Wozzeck's death. The bitterness, dry-eyed mournfulness and regret portrayed in this interlude are staggering, and it is also the only section of the score that ultimately abandons atonality, embracing at last the key of D minor. Search the score of Lulu from top to bottom and you will not find music of comparable emotional intensity. That is really what I meant to convey in my ill-considered remark about the cold brilliance of Lulu's music.
I think they had asked once Dmitri Mitropoulos how on earth he could conduct Wozzeck without looking at the score at all (the first violin asked him in front of all the orchestra) and he asked to bring him a Phone book catalogue. He read the first page for a couple of minutes, tear it up, gave it to the first violin and started citing the numbers and names :D But there is a fantastic opinion expressed by Varnay about conductors who conduct without looking at the score in the interview of the Holly Triad (www.oocities.org/vienna/strasse/7321/mnvdisc.html)
I mean this is the best way possible but I thought a man was speaking at first in the beginning. I thought Rebbecca Caine would be the only Lulu I could bear to listen too.
Interesting parallels to Wozzeck in the orchestra here, with her talking about water...