Orchestre Philharmonique de Strasbourg and Chorus of the Opera National de Rhin, conducted by Jan Latham-Koenig! From Korngold's "Die tote Stadt": "Mein Sehnen, mein Wähnen".
I'm obsessed with this aria, I saw this opera in Calgary last year, and remembered hearing this beautiful aria once before, wondering what it was. This is gorgeous.
I'm listening to this for the 20th time now. I cannot put in words what this interpretation does to me. Not only Stephan Genz, but the choir as well. I am completely melting away.
Allan Palacios Singing music like this workin indulgence literally makes no sense. It’s some of the most indulgent stuff ever written. The fruit is so ripe and sweet it’s almost rotten.
Why is it so hard to find Stephan Genz on youtube - or anywhere, for that matter. His 'Beethoven Songs' is superb and surpasses any rendering of these songs that I have ever listened to; and this includes Roger Vignoles'tender accompaniment. What is known about him except that he was born in Erfurt and has sung at various venues in Europe?
la mia nostalgia, la mia follia, mi portano i sogni del passato. L'incanto di ciò che era lontano mi accese nell'anima la sete, l'incanto della danza mi sedusse, divenni un commediante. Seguite queste dolcezze soavi, imparate a baciare fra le lacrime. Ebbrezza e dolore, follia e gioia, questo è il destino del pagliaccio. La mia nostalgia, la mia follia, mi portano i sogni del passat
One of the most beautiful arias written, despite being part of an age when experimental music was more celebrated. Genz performance is phenomenal as well - perfect, legato line and expression, without giving it too much. Wishing I was sitting in the house on that day...
Hi! Forgive me for not replying right away...wow, 11 months later, right? Well, hope the aria is going well for you. What I mean is just that...This music is so lush and schmaltzy, that I find a lot of baritones try to add too much. There is no way you can compete with the beauty of Korngold's melody and the harmonies, so just having a sincere intention in thought with the character, and singing a beautiful legato line will do this aria justice. Cool head and warm heart, in other words. :)
La mia nostalgia, la mia follia, mi portano i sogni del passato. Nella danza ho trovato ed ho perso la mia fortuna, nella danza sul Reno, al chiaro di luna, mi confidò l'intimo sguardo d'un occhio azzurro, mi confidò la sua parola implorante: oh, resta, non andare via, tieni la gioia, che ancora fiorisce, della patria,
@rexeterna Simply put, this aria is not built for a typical lyric baritone - the tessitura and range is high enough for a low tenor to blaze through - but it needs the slightly thicker, darker quality that baritones like Genz can give it. Secondly, if you look at the score, the sliding he is doing is purposed; legato in this piece is exacerbated by glissando's decorating the vocal line. Lastly, because he IS a high lyric baritone it is expected to have a soft lower register.
requiemsama I’m a lyric tenor and I sing this in my own particular idiom and love every minute of it. Mostly that’s for personal enjoyment though, my voice would never do this justice in an opera. Give me Arlecchino in Pagiacci any day!
@gloyokim i already have the lyrics, but thanks for the detail. and i also LOVE mr genz´s performing. i´m glad you feel just like me about him. i mean concerning to his singing
@SirChristopher365 So, i feel like Mr. Genz really gets that, and that's what I find so captivating about his performance here...it's very sincere. Does that make sense? LOL. Anyways, best of luck in learning and performing this beautiful aria. :)
@SirChristopher365 What I mean by honesty in performance is that of a committed intention, but not ever interrupting the legato line. the song is already schmaltzy--it's really impossible to compete with Korngold's lush harmonies. so, to play the schmaltz would result in the aria completely flat lining after just a few phrases..I've found that with lush and emotional music such as this, too many people get caught in the character of the music, at the expense of the actual character at hand...
Ah, very fine. Yes Genz's voice is balanced more to the top. But that's works very well for this piece. I've listened to a couple of samples from the 30s, and it was argued by the poster that recent productions lose the intended 'dance' feel by pulling the tempo too slow. It really is a waltz, and Korngold's careful way of extending the voice across bar lines makes this superhuman to sing as written at too slow tempi. Nicholas Ward seems to have a natural range that matches almost perfectly, but those top notes just don't come as freely as they do for Genz. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-bLS0WMiSRn0.html
this is really just about average. not sure why all previous posts think this is perfection... this guy sounds 100% like a tenor, number one. number two his legato is non-existent. number three, he can barely hit the lower register. this is average at best.
