Episode 139. Swiss Misses and Misters
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A few months ago, we paid a visit to Zurich. The weather was glorious, we ate well, saw interesting theater, and I found a great used record store that was probably the one inexpensive place in the entire city. I had been thinking of doing an episode on Swiss singers ever since I started the podcast nearly three years ago and this experience provided the needed impetus to put this together. It helps that, to paraphrase the bigot, “Some of my favorite singers are Swiss.” Because of the unique polyglot nature of the country, there are many different stylistic trends to be found in Swiss music and Swiss singers. As with my recent episode on Ukraine, I decided to foreground not just the singers, but also the composers, of the featured country. So not only do we get to experience the singing of such favorites as Lisa Della Casa, Charles Panzéra, Ernst Haefliger, Heinz Rehfuss, Hugues Cuénod, and Eric Tappy (with a special nod to Gloria Davy, Ira Malaniuk, and Maria Stader, all naturalized Swiss citizens), but we hear the music of Ernest Bloch, Othmar Schoeck, Arthur Honegger, Frank Martin, Hermann Suter, and others. This is just a dip of the toe into the pure waters of Swiss music and singers: episodes on individual favorites will no doubt follow in due time!
RECORDINGS HEARD IN THIS EPISODE
Richard Strauss, Hermann Hesse: Frühling (Vier letzte Lieder, AV 150/1). Lisa Della Casa, Karl Böhm, Wiener Philharmoniker [live Salzburg 30.VII.1958]
Hermann Suter, Francis of Assisi: Laudato sia, mio Signore, per sora luna e le stelle (Le Laudi di San Francesco d’Assisi, Op. 25-2). Edith Mathis, Norma Procter, Eric Tappy, Fernando Corena, Hans Münch, Eduard Müller, Orchester der Basler Orchester-Gesellschaft, Basler Gesangsverein [1968]
Charles Gounod, Jules Barbier, Michel Carré: Au bruit des lourds marteaux (Philémon et Baucis). Fernando Corena, James Walker, L’Orchestre de la Suisse Romande [1956]
Claudio Monteverdi, Alessandro Striggio (figlio): Perch’a lo sdegno ed al dolor in preda. Eric Tappy, Louis Quilico, Michel Corboz, Orchestre de l’Opéra de Lyon [1986]; Saliam cantand’ al cielo (L’Orfeo) Eric Tappy, Theo Altmeyer, Michel Corboz, Ensemble Instrumental de Lausanne [1968]
Jules Massenet, Henri Meilhac und Philippe Gille [after Abbé Prevost]: En fermant les yeux (Manon). Libero de Luca, Janine Micheau, Albert Wolff, Orchestre National de l’Opéra-Comique [1951]
Francis Poulenc, Guillaume Apollinaire: Chanson d’Orkenise (Banalités, FP 107/1). Hugues Cuénod, Francis Poulenc [Radio Suisse Romande 09.XII.1953]
Gabriel Fauré, Jean de La Ville de Mirmont: Diane, Séléné (L’horizon chimérique, Op. 118/3). Charles Panzéra, Magdeleine Panzéra-Baillot [1937]
Arthur Honegger, Paul Claudel: Lamento (La danse des morts, H.131/3), Charles Panzéra, Charles Munch, Orchestre de la Société des Concerts du Conservatoire [1941]
Rudolf Kelterborn, Erika Burkart: Was soll ich antworten (Ensemble-Buch I/2). Kurt Widmer, Jörg Wyttenbach, Ensemble der IGNM Basel [1991]
Johannes Brahms, Ludwig Hölty: Die Mainacht, Op. 43/2. Lisa della Casa, Michio Kobayashi [live Tokyo, 05.V.70]
Johannes Brahms, Hermann Lingg: Immer leiser wird mein Schlummer, Op. 105/2. Gloria Davy, Giorgio Favaretto [1957]
Ernest Bloch: Meditation (Avodath Hakodesh [Sacred Service]). Marko Rothmüller, Dorothy Bond, Ernest Bloch, London Philharmonic Orchestra and Choir [1949]
Othmar Schoeck, Carl Spitteler: Das bescheidene Wünschelein, Op. 24a/7. Maria Stader, Karl Engel [1958]
Othmar Schoeck, Eduard Mörike: Peregrina, Op. 17/4. Ernst Haefliger, Karl Grenacher [1967]
Othmar Schoeck, Philipp Otto Runge (after Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm): Final Sequence (Vom Fischer un syner Fru, Op. 43). Ira Malaniuk, Ernst Haefliger, Peter Lagger, Erich Schmid, Radioorchester Beromünster [1964]
Frank Martin: Ave Maria [Gegrüßet seist du] (Maria Triptychon). Jean Fournet, Edith Mathis, Wolfgang Schneiderhan, Schweizerisches Festspielorchester [Luzern 22.VIII.84]
Frank Martin, Hugo von Hofmannsthal: Ach, Gott, wie graust mir vor dem Tod (Sechs Monologe aus Jedermann, No. 2). Heinz Rehfuss, Frank Martin [1956]
Frank Martin: Sentinelle, que dis-tu de la nuit… Mais les ténèbres ne régneront pas toujours (In terra pax). Ernst Haefliger, Jakob Stämpfli, Ursula Buckel, Ernest Ansermet, L’Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, L’Union Chorale de la Tour de Peilz, Choeur des Dames de Lausanne [1963]
Jean Binet, Jean Cuttat: Chanson pour les nuages (Chansons du mal au coeur). Hugues Cuénod, Pierre Aegerter [1984]
Émile Jaques-Dalcroze: Solitude. Pierre Mollet, Jean Lemaire et son orchestra [1957]