Episode 229. Happy Birthday, John Wustman
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Today, Christmas Day 2023, is also the 93rd birthday of my teacher, the great John Wustman. I can think of no better way to conclude Season Four of Countermelody than with a tribute to the man who had the greatest influence on my development as a musician. He’s probably best-known for his work with Luciano Pavarotti and as the accompanist in more than thirty Music Minus One LPs from the early 1960s, as well as for his pioneering teaching of scores of accompanists. He has been called “the dean of American accompanists” and many other things, but to me he is and remains primarily my dear friend and mentor. From the late 1950s through the 1980s and beyond, he appeared with nearly all of the greatest singers on the planet, from Richard Tucker, William Warfield, Eleanor Steber, and Jennie Tourel; to Birgit Nilsson, Carlo Bergonzi, Régine Crespin, Nicolai Gedda, and Renata Scotto. He and Russian mezzo-soprano Irina Arkhipova won the 1973 Gran Prix du Disque for their legendary (and matchless) recording of Mussorgsky’s Songs and Dances of Death, only one of his many commercial recordings. I have been searching the internet for sound documents of his many live recordings and I’m pleased to say that I have found some rare ones to complement my reminiscences of studying with him in the late 1980s. He wrote to me just this past week that he is currently preparing another live performance of Schubert’s Winterreise in early 2024. I am so thrilled to pay tribute to the man who, through his powerful example and influence, forever changed the way I play, sing, talk about, think about, and hear music.
RECORDINGS HEARD IN THIS EPISODE
John Wustman is the pianist in every selection heard in this episode.
Giovanni Bononcini, Apostolo Zeno (after Giovanni Boccaccio): Per la gloria d’adorarvi (Griselda). Luciano Pavarotti [live San Francisco 25.IV.83]
Hugo Wolf: Epiphanias (postlude) [ca. 1963]
Franz Liszt, Francesco Petrarca: Pace non trovo [Sonetto No. 104] (Tre Sonetti di Petrarca, S. 270a/1). Luciano Pavarotti [live Carnegie Hall 01.XI.87]
Johannes Brahms, Georg Friedrich Daumer: Am Donaustrande (Liebeslieder Walzer, Op. 52/9). Norman Mackenzie, Robert Shaw, Robert Shaw Festival Singers [1993]
Carl Loewe, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe: Hochzeitslied, Op. 20/1. Donald Bell [1962]
Alessandro Scarlatti, unknown librettist: Già il sole dal Gange (L’honestà negli amori). Richard Tucker, Columbia Chamber Ensemble [1966]
Modest Mussorgsky, Arseniy Golenishchev-Kutuzov: Serenade [Серенада] (Songs and Dances of Death [Песни и пляски смерти], No. 2). Irina Arkhipova [1970]
Gioacchino Rossini, Carlo Pepoli: La Danza (Soirées Musicales). Carlo Bergonzi [1977]
Franz Schubert, Johann Mayhofer: Auflösung, D. 807. Birgit Nilsson, John Wustman [live New York 12.XII.67]
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Lorenzo da Ponte: E Susanna non vien… Dove sono (Le nozze di Figaro). Renata Scotto [live New York 01.XI.70]
Hugo Wolf, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe: Mignon [Kennst du das Land?]. Régine Crespin [live Carnegie Hall 16.II.69]
Robert Schumann, Joseph von Eichendorff: Waldesgespräch (Liederkreis, Op. 39/3). Mildred Miller [1977]
Hugo Wolf, Traditional Italian, translated Paul Heyse: Ich hab’ in Penna einen Liebsten wohnen (Italienisches Liederbuch, No. 46). Régine Crespin [1967]
Gustav Mahler, traditional German text collected and revised by Clemens Brentano, Achim von Arnim: Des Antonius von Padua Fischpredigt (Des Knaben Wunderhorn). Brigitte Fassbaender [1987]
Richard Strauss, Heinrich Hart: Cäcilie, Op. 27/2. Gwyneth Jones [live Carnegie Hall 16.I.78]
Francis Poulenc, Louise de Vilmorin: Violon (Fiançailles pour rire, FP 101-5). Régine Crespin [live New York 03.II.70]
Franz Schubert, Johann Mayrhofer: Aus Heliopolis II, D. 754. Donald Bell, John Wustman [1962]
Edvard Grieg, Friedrich Martin von Bodenstedt [Norwegian translation by Nordahl Rolfsen]: En Drøm, Op. 48/6. Nicolai Gedda [live New York 10.IV.68]
Pyotr Il’yich Tchaikovsky, Aleksey Tolstoy: Don Juan’s Serenade [Серенада Дон Жуана], Op. 38/1. Nicolai Gedda [live New York 10.IV.68]
Hugo Wolf, Eduard Mörike: Zum neuen Jahr (Mörike-Lieder, No. 27). Susan Dunn, John Wustman [2010]
Richard Strauss, John Henry McKay: Morgen!, Op. 27/4. Gwyneth Jones [live Carnegie Hall 16.I.78]
John went to the same high school that I didin Grand Rapids Michigan. I was privileged to work with him for two summers at the Meadowbrook School of Music. I subsequently performed with a number of his students during my career. A wonderful legacy!
How wonderful to hear from you, Steve! The response to this episode has been wonderful, and it’s great to hear of the impact that JW had on your life as well! So glad you enjoyed the episode.