I just love the sensitive, expressive rubati that Elly Ameling offers here . Hers is the perfect , romanticlly styled and slightly wistful version of Schumann's Widmung . What a pity that we now hear so little of her recordings and old broadcasts on the radio. Young singers could learn so much from her . I fear that like many beautiful , unpretentious singers - for example Margaret Price- she is being forgotten by the public. Please share these clips of Ameling's artistry with your music loving friends.
Dalton Baldwin and Elly Ameling perform this lied with excellence. The two of them understand completely one another's musical feelings. This is just wonderful.
Du meine Seele, du mein Herz, Du meine Wonn’, O du mein Schmerz, Du meine Welt, in der ich lebe, Mein Himmel du, darein ich schwebe, O du mein Grab, in das hinab Ich ewig meinen Kummer gab. Du bist die Ruh, du bist der Frieden, Du bist vom Himmel mir beschieden. Daß du mich liebst, macht mich mir wert, Dein Blick hat mich vor mir verklärt, Du hebst mich liebend über mich, Mein guter Geist, mein beßres Ich!
I played this immeditaely after Damrau. What balm! A beautiful voice used with senitivity, musicianship and a strong sense of love for what she is sharing with us. I am sure Baldwin's accompanimet is better than it sounds - a miking problem.
Certainly one of the greatest art song singers of our generation. This live recording is valuable in watching the artist convey her body and facial emotion. I have heard this singer perform several times and had the wonderful experience of working with her in masterclass at the Cleveland Institute of Music and her insights to musical interpretation are glorious. Listen to all you can of this singer both as artist and master of diction, especially French and German among others. Kudos to you diva
Heard her and Dalton Baldwin do a lieder recital in the tent at Aspen in the summer of 1983 whilst a conducting student there. It was memorable, even to this day. Frauenliebe und Leben was the highlight.
Elly Ameling gives here an utterly breathtaking and heart rending interpretation of this beautiful Art song. There is no harshness in her use of the German lyrics in this performance.Thank you for sharing this!
She is THE MASTER.. or mistress! I studied with her many years ago; such a kind, loving teacher. And, she knows everything. She gave me a little chocolate after each session!!
The VHS thing clears up why I can't square this in my mind with the recordings I grew up with and continue to treasure. Still, many, many thanks for this!! I was five years old when this was made
The short motif the pianist plays twice at the end is the opening notes to Schubert's "Ave Maria," which was Clara Schuman's favorite of the Schubert songs.
Dalton Baldwin was Gerard Souzay's regular accompanist, and a very sensitive one - just listen to the recordings they made together. If you're not familiar with Souzay, do yourself a favor and find out! Despite the technical problems, this is my favorite rendition of this song.
Gérard Souzay (who was a friend of mine) was my very favorite singer, and Dalton Baldwin (whom I also know) was his regular and worthy accompanist. Their joint achievement is a wonder. So I find it a bit hard to agree with comments that bash Baldwin's achievements.
The English translation -for those of us with little command of German- combines with the wonderful music to reveal the glory of this magnificent piece....no disrespect to any other language.
Ameling is always exquisite; Baldwin is playing as if he's a soloist, not an accompanist. As another person commented, Gerald Moore's approach would have been appreciated.
The recording does justice to the artistry of neither singer nor pianist. It works best to reduce the volume and use the imagination more: it' s a lovely rendition of Widmung.
One of Schumann´s wonderful melodies! And the low change of key! And the piano playing! Typical for Schumannis the "after-playing" on the piano sometimes after the singhing, and here it is perfect. The after-playing must not be too week. Sometimes I think that the after-playing is the most important bit in Schumann´s songs.
"Postlude" is what is meant here, the closing phrases of the song in which the singer has finished and just the concluding "piano afterthoughts" are heard.@@davidsimmons654
Du meine Seele, du mein Herz, Du meine Wonn’, O du mein Schmerz, Du meine Welt, in der ich lebe, Mein Himmel du, darein ich schwebe, O du mein Grab, in das hinab Ich ewig meinen Kummer gab. Du bist die Ruh, du bist der Frieden, Du bist vom Himmel mir beschieden. Daß du mich liebst, macht mich mir wert, Dein Blick hat mich vor mir verklärt, Du hebst mich liebend über mich, Mein guter Geist, mein beßres Ich! Du meine Seele, du mein Herz, Du meine Wonn’, O du mein Schmerz, Du meine Welt, in der ich lebe, Mein Himmel du, darein ich schwe Mein guter Geist Mein Bess res’ Ich!
It is for the sound engineers to balance matters - even when the soloist is virtually sitting on the piano'. Nevertheless, please hear Percy Kahn's modest account of the accompaniment in the Tauber recording.
That stage is terrifying, truly like a horror film or haunted house. People, do not ever paint interior walls any shade of red, ever, unless in the Far East. The wash from the fluorescent lights over the red is even more terrifying and oppressive.
There's a bit of a conundrum there. Innig and Lebhaft basically translates as inward and lively (vivace). It's almost as if Schumann's duel nature was combined and used as the tempo of this piece lol The piano should not intrude, it should work as a duet with the vocalist. I prefer a slow Widmung, but that seems to be impossible to find on here.
Baldwin could have done with a bit more poetry, but flexibility of flow is beautiful, Ameling is truly remarkable, beautiful voice, total musical control, both intuitive and intelligent at the same time, I love it!
Actually the "ich = isch" thing is not Bavarian pronunciation, it's from the Rheinland (Bundesländer Rheinland-Pfalz and Nordrheinwestfalen, I also know people from Hessen who pronounce it like this). I don't think she's actually singing "isch", which would not be acceptable, it's just that her "Stimmsitz" (= Vocal placement?) is so far forward that it just sounds that way when she voices that consonant.
Very nice sung by Elly Ameling! But it's an annoyance that the pianist obviously has no clue of a subtle accompaniment and misuses the vocal music by forging himself acustically ahead.
Whatever reservations one may have regarding the present performance, Dalton Baldwin proved himself to be an ideal accompanist in the course of his long and wonderfully fruitful collaboration with the great baritone Gérard Souzay.
Great song, but poor recording. Some pianists get it all wrong, too loud, too frenetic, no poetry. The singer must always set all the controls in place, then the voice can reveal all the shades present in the music.
Ok, my comment is probably unjust, because I have read about Baldwin in the meantime, and he seems to be famous for the opposite behaviour. My impression may only be caused by the recording.
