Excuse me but she is a Grandmaster Actress. She is entering those characters as though the very spirit of these people have taken over. Terrifying and she doesn't break character once....amazing. And to think they're in some room with camera people and she's still able to get into character this way..AMAZING.
She was such a queen. I wanted to sing this in school, but my professors said I couldn't because " Y o U ' R e N o T a M a N." I wish I would have known about this performance then. This would have put an end to that conversation. What a powerhouse.
I do not undersand how your teacher could saisd so?But it is extremely hard to sing piece. But madam Norman`s performance was best of the bested. May she never be forgotten. Best voice on Planet Earth. But gone too soon.
That is bizarre. One of the first singers to perform the piece was dramatic soprano Wilhelmine Schröder-Devrient in 1830 - just 3 years after Schubert's death.
It's not even an aria that would have made your professor's refusal reasonable. It's a poetic story-telling, so its interpretation should not only be exclusive for male singers.
Jessye made all characters in this lied- the Narrator, the Father and Child, and the Erlking come alive and be identified clearly. Her Narrator sang urgently and powerfully, her Erlking was evil, malignant and manipulating, her Child plaintive and frightened and her Father strong and comforting. Her performance of this lied is now my standard.
A fifth character here, powerfully acted by the pianist, was the horse being driven hard by his master and, perhaps, by the awareness all animals are said to have of ghostly presences. Still, it was Ms. Jessye whose voice creates the goosebumps. I brought this video up immediately after seeing a response to my comments on Loewe's setting of the same poem: Schubert set this poem seven years before Loewe did, but I don't see why Loewe bothered.
This song may be considered as an opera: one voice, four characters, five if you count the horse, ever-present in the urgent triplets from the piano. Perhaps there are eight if you count the Erlkings daughters as mute roles, though Ms. Norman's expressions at 2:25 leave no doubt as to their presence in the boy's fever.
I hasten to add that the pianist deserves a HUGE share of the credit for this performance. The accompaniment is a killer, with its repeated octaves that rarely let up, but unfortunately I do not see the pianist's name listed in the credits of this performance. This is a grievous omission.
This performance is terrifying and devastating. Norman embodies each of the characters not only in four distinct and perfectly created voices but in their facial and physical gestures. Even Thomas Quasthoff references her interpretation when he is teaching master classes on this piece. Superlative. She is and will all ways be The Queen.
A fifth, and equally important character in this brief opera for one voice is the horse, represented by the frantic triplets from the piano. While the animal is not given lines of text, the accompaniment suggests the urgency and panic of the beast that is being ridden to the breaking end of its endurance. And it can be inferred, based upon the boy's fate, that the father is unlikely to take the time to cool the overheated animal, and those of us who have known people who care for horses, we know that a horse that does not receive proper care after such an effort is likely to develop potentially fatal complications.
Wer reitet so spät durch Nacht und Wind? Es ist der Vater mit seinem Kind; Er hat den Knaben wohl in dem Arm, Er faßt ihn sicher, er hält ihn warm."Mein Sohn, was birgst du so bang dein Gesicht?" "Siehst, Vater, du den Erlkönig nicht? Den Erlenkönig mit Kron und Schweif?" "Mein Sohn, es ist ein Nebelstreif.""Du liebes Kind, komm, geh mit mir! Gar schöne Spiele spiel' ich mit dir; Manch' bunte Blumen sind an dem Strand, Meine Mutter hat manch gülden Gewand.""Mein Vater, mein Vater, und hörest du nicht, Was Erlenkönig mir leise verspricht?" "Sei ruhig, bleib ruhig, mein Kind; In dürren Blättern säuselt der Wind.""Willst, feiner Knabe, du mit mir gehn? Meine Töchter sollen dich warten schön; Meine Töchter führen den nächtlichen Reihn, Und wiegen und tanzen und singen dich ein.""Mein Vater, mein Vater, und siehst du nicht dort Erlkönigs Töchter am düstern Ort?" "Mein Sohn, mein Sohn, ich seh es genau Es scheinen die alten Weiden so grau.""Ich liebe dich, mich reizt deine schöne Gestalt; Und bist du nicht willig, so brauch ich Gewalt." "Mein Vater, mein Vater, jetzt faßt er mich an! Erlkönig hat mir ein Leids getan!"Dem Vater grauset's, er reitet geschwind, Er hält in Armen das ächzende Kind, Erreicht den Hof mit Müh' und Not; In seinen Armen das Kind war tot. Who rides so late through night and wind? It is the father with his child. He has the little one well in the arm He holds him secure, he holds him warm."My son, why hide your face in fear?" "See you not, Father, the Erlking? The Erlking with crown and flowing cloak?" "My son, it is a wisp of fog.""You sweet child, come along with me! Such wonderful games I'll play with you; Many lovely flowers are at the shore, My mother has many golden garments.""My father, my father, and do you not hear, What the Erlking quietly promises to me?" "Be calm, stay calm, my child; The wind is rustling the dry leaves.""Won't you come along with me, my fine boy? My daughters shall attend to you so nicely; My daughters do their nightly dance, And they will rock you and dance you and sing you to sleep.""My father, my father, do you not see there, Erlking's daughters in that dark place?" "My son, my son, I see it definitely It is the willow trees looking so grey.""I love you; I'm charmed by your beautiful shape; And if you are not willing, then I will use force." "My father, my father, now he has taken hold of me! Erlking has hurt me!"The father shudders, he rides swiftly, He holds in arm the groaning child, He reaches the farmhouse with effort and urgency; In his arms, the child was dead.
This is the best possible performance of this. Her control, range, presence, and the depth of characterization they allow are astonishing. It also really brings out how historically incredible this song is and how much of a genius Schubert was. He would be brought to tears to see this song realized like this. I was staring wide-eyed with my mouth open halfway through.
HOLY COW! She genuinely captures each of the characters -- the falsely reassuring father, the child virtually 'and ultimately literally) scared to death, and the alternately enticing, threatening and diabolical Erlkönig. A masterpiece!
Aside from her wonderful singing, Jessye Norman depicts each character to perfection. She captures both the desperation and the pathos of the child. A truly extraordinary performance.
Never realized how Jessye Norman's voice & power could fit Schubert. Wow.... the most powerful and captivating interpretation of all time so far for me.... Wonderful !!!
I love absolutely everything about her performance. The intensity, the characterisation, the technique... I would be the happiest man in the world if my chest voice was as strong as hers. This is right up there with Ian Bostridge's rendition as my favourite Erlkönig.
Quite wonderful. Just in case anybody's interested, her pianist is calmly achieving the impossible: Playing all the notes, playing them faster than anybody else and somehow managing to create an incredible atmosphere as well. I hope Norman realizes how lucky she is...
This is such a vivid interpretation of this song! Jessye is one of the best opera singers in the world. It's such a shame she did not take up acting as well!. Just look at her facial expressions! Just love her interpretation!
Es impresionante el nivel de emoción que le pone jessye a cada voz, interpretando con tristeza el hijo, con felicidad y desesperacion el padre y con ánimos al narrador. Vaya obra es erlkoning!
She is a national treasure. I First found Jessye Norman searching for people singing Amazing Grace, her version is truly amazing. Then I found this video. I do not speak German, and knew nothing about the song. She is so good, I could identify all 3 characters, and I knew the child dies in the end. She made me cry. Now Der Erlkonig is one of my favorite pieces. I can listen to opera version, instrumental, violin (Hilary Hahn), Piano, and hard rock versions are great too. But Jessye Norman made me love it first.
this is UNREAL. it's madness how good this is. this should be broadcasted around all the world, instead of some of our popstars. just crazy good. so good. i'm in awe
This video must be a reference for the next generations of classical singers. The drama she prints on this master piece is not often seen around the corner. Her voice is a "Mansion of Sounds", there is light and pain in her voice. Rest in Peace , thanks to show us how your soul spoke through your voice.
I've watched this clip many times already and I never get tired of admiring her art. The set-up, the way it was filmed in close-up, all add to the effect. One of the very best artistic performances I've seen in my life!
I think her voice is perfect and her expression goes beyond perfect along the story, it is so amazing that she is able to change her face expression so fast, especially the part where she changes from the father voice to the child voice. This woman is awesome!!!
I always get a chill at the ending of this song, but I got chills all through this rendition. I am so thankful to have seen her perform live a few times.
This is like a singing and acting masterclass all in one. Hear all the different tones she gets from her voices, the variety of ways she sings each word. All of her expression. Tremendous.
Holy shit this is the best performance of The Erlking that I’ve seen, everything is fucking perfect from the vocals all the way to her acting, the way her facial expression changed for each character nearly convinced me that she indeed was each character
This is awesome, her singing and expression. My favorite version. I love how low she can sing and then sing the higher parts just as good, it makes it so unique, I just love it so much!
I remember having nightmares after hearing “The Erlking” and mind you, I have little knowledge of the German language. Even without the subtitles, Jessye put on an awesome and convincing performance. She portrayed all four characters-the narrator, the father, the son, and the Erlking (in English, the Elf king) masterfully. I tried learning how to play it on the piano and believe me, you have to start slowly. It’s one of those compositions where the melody is in the left hand and your right hand has to move lightning fast, as if to mimic the sound of a horse running. I didn’t know about Jessye and her artistry until now. She definitely had a very powerful presence. It’s too bad that we’ve lost her but she’s fondly remembered.
Usually, I like the first version of a song I hear. Right now, this is not the case. I first heard this song by a man and loved it, but Jessye Norman captures the meaning and emotions of the song through her voice and actions and she perfectly switches between the tones of the different "speakers" throughout the song.
La conocí hace poco y quede encantado con su voz!! la busqué en internet para saber más de ella y me entero que falleció :( qepd, es mi versión favorita de esta obra.
Wow ... I thought nobody could ever express the three characters of the song as well as Fischer-Dieskau, but the expression here is perfect! Incredible!
This such a marvellous interpretation... this is a very expressive piece, and really extreme by its time's standards. This is not a "standard" classical song, and Jessye Norman absolutely nails it. I'm also amazed by her pronunciation/articulation, you hardly notice she's not a native German speaker. This is no minor feat, very impressive. I'd pay a fortune to hear Schubert's opinion on this one...
Beautiful magnificent performance not only she have very beautiful voice she's also very expressive and passionate I can see the face of worried son reassuring father and the tricky devil by her expression alone truly a beautiful performance
Perfect execution of characters. Ms. Norman is quite skillful and expressive. Always a joy. She has done Schubert justice . . . it is as if she wrote the piece herself.
This is THE superlative, zenith performance of this masterwork. No one else even comes close, except Thomas Quasthoff, but even he defers to Jessye when he teaches this piece in master classes.
The cosmically beautiful Ms. Norman is truly a creature from a parallel world: part primal goddess plugged into the chthonic energies of Earth and Universe, part 22nd century Kabuki-cyberpunk whose superhuman facial expressions and string theory dimensional leap-vocals suck you in like a gravity well. One can only imagine Herr Schubert standing, jaw-dropped, the falling, weeping into the infinite folds of her gown, saying, "Ah! DU verstehst! Und vielleicht NUR du!
Brava Jessye Norman! She demonstrates wonderfully well the expressions of three personages, two of them in the mind of a sick child approaching death, and the enticement of deaths fate and the father, trying to calm his son. A wonderful Schubert classic. It takes great vocal artristic adeptness to bring it off well. Jessye Norman does this.
