Episode 175. The Young Fritz Wunderlich

Episode 175. The Young Fritz Wunderlich

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I’ve heard and enjoyed many a German lyric tenor, but if there was ever a greater one than Fritz Wunderlich (26 September 1930 – 17 September 1966), I’ve never heard him! What is it about this singer, who first of all, possessed a voice of such matchless visceral beauty, and who conveyed such joy and enthusiasm in the sheer act of singing, that cannot fail to engage us. My beloved “not-boyfriend” refers to Wunderlich’s voice and artistry as possessing more “face” than nearly any other singer in history, and I do think he’s on to something. The very simplicity of his utterance conveys a sort of “Everyman” quality to everything he sang. This, alongside the precision of his delivery of text pulls the listener in and almost compels them to listen. In today’s episode, I offer recordings from the 1950s, when Wunderlich was just beginning his career. His early musical experience centered around popular music of the time, and we hear him in this repertoire, as well as operetta, Lieder, so-called “early music,” as well as the more standard operatic repertoire (Mozart, Puccini, Strauss), the majority of which were recorded before 1960. His partners in song in this episode include names both familiar (Anneliese Rothenberger, Pilar Lorengar, Hilde Güden) as well as those who are less well-remembered (Trude Eipperle, Helmut Krebs, Herbert Brauer, Friederike Sailer) who nevertheless are equally memorable. As a tribute to the season, there are a number of excerpts from Puccini’s La Bohème, the first act of which which is set, of course, on la veille de Noël. If these selections alone do not bring a smile to your face and a tear to your eye, you’d do well to check your pulse! The episode begins with a tribute to the late tenor John Aler (04 October 1949 – 10 December 2022).

Link to Hubert Giesen’s reminiscences of Fritz Wunderlich, from Giesen’s autobiography and translated into English: http://www.andreas-praefcke.de/wunderlich/giesen_e.htm

RECORDINGS HEARD IN THIS EPISODE

John Aler photographed by Christian Steiner

George Frideric Handel, William Congreve: Where’er you walk (Semele). John Aler, John Nelson, English Chamber Orchestra [released 1993]

Giacomo Puccini, Luigi Illica, Giuseppe Giacosa [after Henri Murger; German translation by Hans Swarowsky]: Wer klopft… Entschuldigt… Wie eiskalt ist dies Händchen (La bohème). Fritz Wunderlich, Trude Eipperle, Richard Kraus, Orchester der Städtischen Oper Berlin [1957]

Trude Eipperle as Mimi

Hans May, Roxy [Ernst Neubach, Armin Robinson, Robert Gilbert]: Der Duft, der eine schöne Frau begleitet. Fritz Wunderlich, Willi Stech, das kleine Unterhaltungsorchester des SWF [1953]

Helmut Krebs

Claudio Monteverdi, Alessandro Striggio: Saliam cantando al Cielo (L’Orfeo). Fritz Wunderlich, Helmut Krebs, August Wenzinger, Orchester der Sommerlichen Musiktage Hitzacker [1955]

August Wenzinger

George Frideric Handel, Antonio Marchi (?) after Ludovico Ariosti: Sta nell’Ircana pietrosa tana (Alcina). Fritz Wunderlich, Ferdinand Leitner, Capella Coloniensis [live Köln 09.V.59]

Ferdinand Leitner

Franz Lehár, Ludwig Herzer, Fritz Löhner-Beda: Schön ist die Welt (Schön ist die Welt). Fritz Wunderlich, Alois Melichar, Berliner Symphoniker [1957]

Carl Zeller, Moritz West [né Moritz Nitzelberger], Ludwig Held: Wenn ich auf Gottes Erden (Der Vogelhändler). Fritz Wunderlich, Werner Schmidt-Boelcke, Münchener Rundfunkorchester, Rudolf Lamy Chor [1957]

Johannes Brahms, Ludwig Hölty: Minnelied, Op. 71/5. Fritz Wunderlich, Rolf Reinhardt [1956]

Franz Schubert, Wilhelm Müller: Ungeduld (Die schöne Müllerin, D. 795/7). Fritz Wunderlich, Karl-Heinz Stolze [Köln 12.V.59]

Friederike Sailer

Robert Schumann, Justinus Kerner: Er und Sie, Op. 78/2. Fritz Wunderlich, Friederike Sailer, Rolf Reinhardt [1956]

Rolf Reinhardt

Giacomo Puccini, Luigi Illica, Giuseppe Giacosa, [after John Henry Long, David Belasco, German translation by Alfred Brüggemann]:

Theo Zilliken

Im weiten Weltall (Madame Butterfly). Fritz Wunderlich, Theo Zilliken, Richard Kraus, Orchester der Städtischen Oper Berlin [1956]

Richard Kraus

Leb’ wohl, mein Blütenreich (Madame Butterfly). Fritz Wunderlich, Theo Zilliken, Richard Kraus, Orchester der Städtischen Oper Berlin [1956]

Giacomo Puccini, Luigi Illica, Giuseppe Giacosa [after Henri Murger; German translation by Hans Swarowsky]:

Trude Eipperle

Ist mehr wirklich das Ende? (La bohème). Fritz Wunderlich, Trude Eipperle, Richard Kraus, Orchester der Städtischen Oper Berlin [1957]

Herbert Brauer

In einem Wagen… Ach, Geliebte, nie kehrst du mir wieder (La bohème). Fritz Wunderlich, Herbert Brauer, Richard Kraus, Orchester der Städtischen Oper Berlin [1957]

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Emanuel Schickaneder: Dies Bildnis ist bezaubernd schön (Die Zauberflöte). Fritz Wunderlich, Artur Rother, Orchester der Staatsoper Hamburg [1958]

Hilde Güden as Aminta in Die schweigsame Frau

Richard Strauss, Stefan Zweig: Du süßester Engel (Die schweigsame Frau). Fritz Wunderlich, Hilde Güden, Karl Böhm, Wiener Philharmoniker [live Salzburg, 06.VIII.59]

Fritz with Ingeborg Hallstein as Aminta in a film of excerpts from Die schweigsame Frau
The matchless Pilar Lorengar as Butterfly

Giacomo Puccini, Luigi Illica, Giuseppe Giacosa, [after John Henry Long, David Belasco], unknown German translator: Wollt Ihr mich nun lieben (Madame Butterfly). Fritz Wunderlich, Pilar Lorengar, Berislav Klobučar, Berliner Symphoniker [1961]

Fritz and Pilar in Die verkaufte Braut
Berislav Klobučar
The exquisite Anneliese Rothenberger as Mimi

Giacomo Puccini, Luigi Illica, Giuseppe Giacosa [after Henri Murger; unknown German translator: O du süßestes Mädchen (La bohème). Fritz Wunderlich, Anneliese Rothenberger, Berislav Klobučar, Berliner Symphoniker [1961]

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