In the great tradition
of opera in the vernacular, here is FW singing Un aura amorosa as Dem Odem
der Liebe. Had he lived longer, he likely would have re-recorded much of his
repertoire in the original languages. But we are fortunate to have so many recordings
from his tragically short life and career.
And influential? I can't
think of a tenor who does not name Fritz Wunderlich as an idol and/or
influence. And there are more than a few basses, baritones, mezzos, and sopranos who also look up
to Fritz as a consummate vocal artist.
I recently watched a documentary about Fritz Wunderlich in which there were small sections of his filmed performances plus interviews with his wife, colleagues, and friends. Despite not being at all familiar with his life or performances, by the end of the documentary I felt really sad that we had lost such an extraordinary person so young. He was clearly very well loved - and what a singer/performer! As you say, we are lucky to have to have his recordings (of which I have a number, now!).
ReplyDeleteI need to find that documentary. I have loved his voice since I first heard him as Tamino. Have you seen his German Barber of Seville? The picture is pretty bad, but he and Hermann Prey are worth sitting through the fuzzy B&W picture and constricted mono sound!
DeleteThanks for your comments. It's great to hear from another Fritz-fan!
I will have to look out for those! The recordings I have are all audio-only. The documentary I watched is a Loopfilm production issued on DVD by Deutsche Grammophon. It looks as though ArkivMusik has it in stock:
Deletehttp://www.arkivmusic.com/classical/album.jsp?album_id=146253