The only Lied I ever knew was “Die lustige Forelle” and even that only because it came in a children’s book somebody gave me when I was really really young. Who’d have guessed that little fish would lead me one day to Britten?? ;-)
I have to thank JK for connecting me, musically speaking, with this genre I was previously so reluctant to believe in. Some of it passed by my ears in the past, but it always felt like over-engineered vocal and linguistic athletics, too perfect or elaborated to feel real.
After hearing JK for the first time live last summer I went looking for CDs of his and discovered that outside full opera performances there was only one: A Strauss Lieder CD! What to do? Was this going to be one of those sad cases where I liked his voice but my musical tastes would totally clash with his? Luckily I like to try new things, especially in music! I find I am almost always doubtful to some degree, but also easily persuaded. Just like somebody who keeps falling into little sins, but does not have the intellectual excuse of not knowing what they are doing :-)
So on went the Strauss lieder on my mp3player and I proceeded to do my homework. Since the first try wasn’t bad at all, I decided I could brave the real thing and attend one of his Liederabend. Easier said than done – these are strange things, die Lieder, they get played in unusual places, at odd times and have just enough following to make it impossible to attend in the better known locations. By the time I missed yet one more date( Prinzregententheater in Munchen) I was intent on not missing another one, so I have been holding on to my “golden” Ticket to Paris for some 6 months already! Just as long as it has been since I last heard JK live in Carmen.
But I have been a busy bee since ;-) If I was going to attend a Liederabend I thought I ought to become a more educated listener. After all, his efforts and dedication to such events deserve more understanding ears than mine were to begin with.
While listening to the Strauss CD I also rediscovered how much I used to like poetry and that I actually spent 12 years in school cherishing the beauty of German. Funny, how good things never come alone. I really thought I would have to listen to the songs with the textbook in hand, but gladly discovered that the Lieder would take me not only to a special musical place but also bring me back to a comfort zone you only have with languages that you understand instinctively. And I am not telling anyone a secret by saying that in Lieder music and text are one, you can’t really enjoy one without the other.
Those of you who happened to stop by here more often, know by now that I enthusiastically went along to more than one Liederabend during these 6 months, spanning Russian, French, Italian, German composers and just as many artists and languages. I don’t really do half measures ;-) 6 months later I am just a little bit wiser and have definitely become an admirer of the genre. JK might have opened the door, but it was the repeated experience of the very diverse forms that songs can take, that appealed to my musical addiction.
So there I was, sitting in my plush seat under Chagall’s roof at Palais Garnier thinking I had it all figured out: I had done it before, I always liked it, I knew hiding behind the program was not the way to do it, I knew the Strauss songs in and out, I knew the program, I knew the singer, I even knew the pianist. And there he comes with his wild locks and crooked smile and from the “Benedetto sia 'l giorno, e 'l mese, e l'anno” you know what??? All that stuff I had figured out…out it went through the window! There is only one certainty where JK is concerned: you know zilch! Yes, you might know what the ingredients are, what the colours in his palette are, but you will never know what the painting will look like until the end of the evening, when his fingers will stop moving the brush on the canvas and when you will have savoured that last delicious bite of the cake he decided to bake today.
I never had an evening go by in such a short flash, it was over before I even had the chance to take a breath. I am incredibly glad he changed his initial intent and decided to go with Britten and Liszt in the first part of the recital because i was so longing to hear both! It was the perfectly balanced programme to display all he can do, with his voice and with every tiny gesture. There is no challenge to a singer’s technique and vocal abilities like this combination of Liszt and Britten. Brave choice, of course but well thought out within what he knows he can expect of himself. And make no mistake about it, it was never meant as a demonstration of anything. They were only paired because they fit well together, because they poetically and musically compliment each other. And Strauss would have been on the public's and his wish-list, so why not be in agreement?
I don’t know what the public expected. I think a few were there to rediscover an already declared admiration for JK and most were there because they were just curious. I believe all were convinced by the voice, its power and brilliance, by the technique and faultless control behind it. I am sure they admired and respected the generous choice in repertoire. But that was not what made them hold their breaths, suppress their coughs, clap their hands red and shout their Bravos with such fervour. It was part of it, like laying the ground to planting roses, like building a house on solid rock. It rooted the public appreciation deep, but what made it blossom and explode was the way he used these instruments to draw us into an intimate world of stories, feelings, laughter and tears. I was enchanted but I didn’t know until the first applause that everyone else there felt exactly like I did.
His voice started soft and almost hypnotic and we followed him in a universe like in “1001 nights”, where we eagerly drank every word from his lips, fascinated by the lives and feelings of the characters he drew.
There was less and less flicking of programs - why would you need a guide, when you had his hands to take you on the sunny paths and through the shady trees, when his voice would whisper near you ear or kiss your cheek? And when he would cry out in longing or anger, your heart would stop too. You’d wish your name was Laura so you could hear it vibrate so tenderly and passionately in the poet’s words, he would make you believe such perfect beauty existed in a “spirto ben nato”, you too would willingly become one more in the “prigion d'un Cavalier armato”.
The most amazing thing that happened for me that night was when I unconsciously stopped hearing the music. I gradually stopped listening to every note, smiling proudly at every soaring crescendo and sighing in awe at every soft and softer piano. I no longer deciphered every word and just lived the stories unfolding from his lips. I can honestly say I can’t even single out one high or low note in the entire second part. But I can tell you every story, I can remember every laugh and smile and even every tear I shed with every poet.
This for me was the absolute magic of the night: music, score, poetry, singer merged into just one - a truly gifted storyteller. He made us look into his eyes, smile at his smiles, ache with his sorrow and hold our breaths in expectation of every single word.
No wonder we couldn’t get enough, no wonder there was heartfelt and enthusiastic cheering, rhythmic clapping and happy thanks when more was generously given. I’ve rarely felt such admiration coming from the public in waves towards the stage. I hope he did feel the collective embrace the public wanted to bestow upon him, and thank God he was a good couple of feet away, or else I fear he wouldn’t have survived the enthusiasm he so innocently elicited in his audience ;-))))
thanks palamede92 for the videoPS. Jonas, Geschenke kommen in den verschiedensten Formen ;-) , dieser Abend war das beste Geburtstagsgeschenk, dass ich mir hatte wunschen konnen.
Und Danke an alle, die dieses Wochenende dabei waren, mit denen ich so viel Spass hatte und mit denen ich dieses Wochenende so oft wie moglich wiederholen will ;-) Nous allons a Paris...or wherever else we can ;-)
Photo from http://www.jonas-kaufmann.info/
