Episode 109. Thomas Bagwell Introduces Bernard Kruysen
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One of my best and truest friends in the business is the phenomenal pianist, coach, and conductor Thomas Bagwell. Our friendship really developed back in the days when we curated a series of recitals for the Lotte Lehmann Foundation, which Thomas also (brilliantly) accompanied. Since then we are both carving out different lives for ourselves on the other side of the pond, me as your intrepid Berlin-based podcaster, and Thomas as a valued coach and conductor on the music staff of the Royal Danish Opera in Copenhagen. Thomas is no doubt remembered by my listeners for his scintillating commentary on my Marni Nixon tribute episode last season. Years ago there was one a peculiar Facebook questionnaire about what would be the last thing you grabbed as you fled your burning home and Thomas answered, “My Bernard Kruysen records.” At that time, I knew the Dutch singer Bernard Kruysen (1933-2000) by name only but I had no clear idea of who he was as an artist. Because of Thomas’s enthusiasm, however, I began my own collection of Bernard Kruysen recordings, from which followed this episode, first heard in 2021, so it is only appropriate that Thomas should be reintroducing this episode today. Bernard Kruysen’s voice exemplifies that now nearly extinct vocal category, the baryton martin. I discuss just what constitutes a baryton martin and why in his prime Kruysen such was an ideal representative. I also discuss the larger question of the performance of the French art song, the mélodie, and why Kruysen was also exceptional in this regard, using as an example his 1960s recorded performances of three complete song cycles by Claude Debussy, Gabriel Fauré, and Francis Poulenc. I also feature the artist singing art songs by Schumann and Mussorgsky and works by Bach, Quirinus van Blankenburg, and Jan Mul. Thomas’s introduction is prefaced with a live recording from those Lotte Lehmann Foundation concerts back in 2011, this one featuring our phenomenal friend, spinto soprano Tami Petty.
And two important artists who had died the week that this episode was originally posted who are briefly commemorated:
RECORDINGS HEARD IN THIS EPISODE
Joseph Marx, Paul Heyse: Hat dich die Liebe berührt. Tami Petty, Thomas Bagwell [live New York, Lotte Lehmann Foundation Recitals 13.III.2011]
Claude Debussy, Tristan l’Hermite: La grotte (Trois chansons de France, L.115/2). Bernard Kruysen, Francis Poulenc [live, Festival de Monton 1962]
Gabriel Fauré, Paul Verlaine: Cinq mélodies de Venise, Op.58 [Mandoline; En sourdine; Green; À Clymène; C’est l’extase] Bernard Kruysen, Noël Lee [1964]
Claude Debussy: Trois poèmes de Stéphane Mallarmé, F.127 [Soupir; Place futile; Éventail]. Bernard Kruysen, Jean-Charles Richard [1961]
Quirinus van Blankenburg: Je bannis la rêverie (L’Apologie des Femmes). Bernard Kruysen, Sonata da Camera Ensemble [1966]
Jan Mul: Lettre de M. l’Abbé d’Olivet à M. le Président Bouhier [excerpt] Bernard Kruysen, André Rieu, Limburg Symphony Orchestra [live 6 May 1966]
Johann Sebastian Bach: Endlich will mein Joch (Ich will den Kreuzstab gerne tragen, BWV 56/3. Bernard Kruysen, Helmut Winschermann [oboe], Helmut Kahlhöfer, Collegium Instrumentale Wuppertal [1965]
Robert Schumann, Heinrich Heine: Der arme Peter, Op. 53/3 [Der Hans und die Grete tanzen herum; In meiner Brust, da sitzt ein Weh; Der arme Peter wankt vorbei]. Bernard Kruysen, Jean-Charles Richard [1963]
Robert Schumann: Sechs Lieder von Nikolaus Lenau, Op.90/1,2: Lied eines Schmiedes; Meine Rose. Bernard Kruysen, Jean-Charles Richard [1964]
Modest Mussorgsky, Nikolai Ivanovich Grekov: Где ты, звездочка [Where are you, little star?]. Bernard Kruysen, Noël Lee [1966]
Emmanuel Chabrier, Edmond Rostand: Ballade des gros dindons. Bernard Kruysen, Felix de Nobel [concert, Dutch Radio, 1964]
Francis Poulenc, Guillaume Apollinaire: Banalités [Chanson d’Orkenise; Hôtel; Fagnes de Wallonie, Voyage à Paris; Sanglots]. Bernard Kruysen, Jean-Charles Richard [1966]
Francis Poulenc, Charles d’Orléans: Priez pour paix. Bernard Kruysen, Richard Ram [1978]