Episode 314. Yi-Kwei Sze Revisited
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One of the great personal revelations for me in the early years of producing Countermelody was discovering the great Chinese American bass Yi-Kwei Sze (斯義桂). As the first Chinese singer to pursue a career in Western classical music, his historical significance is undisputed. What I hope to demonstrate in this episode is that his importance extends to artistic, vocal, and musical matters as well. When Sze first came to the United States, he studied under the great Ukrainian bass Alexander Kipnis, and over the course of his long career, he bore that mantle proudly. Today’s episode once again explores the hidden corners of Sze’s recorded legacy, which yields enormous treasures, and includes recordings of operatic (and quasi-operatic) excerpts by Verdi, Gounod, Mozart, Berlioz, and Mussorgsky as well as an excerpt of a legendary live performance of Shostakovich’s “Babi Yar” Symphony, one of the first in the West. Also heard are live and studio recordings of Russian songs by Mussorgsky, Dargomizhsky, Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninov, and Balakirev; and song recordings by Poulenc, Schumann, Schubert, Tcherepnin, Xuean Liu, Dvořák, and Brahms.
RECORDINGS HEARD IN THIS EPISODE
Traditional French [from Bourgogne], arr. Maurice Emmanuel: Noël Auxois. Gérard Souzay, Jacqueline Bonneau [1952]
Giuseppe Verdi, Arrigo Boito: Il lacerato spirito (Simon Boccanegra). Yi-Kwei Sze, Karl Kritz, “Army of Stars” Orchestra [1950 studio recording to benefit The Salvation Army]
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Emanuel Schikaneder [English language version by W.H. Auden, Chester Kallman]: O Isis and Osiris (The Magic Flute) [sung in English]. Yi-Kwei Sze, Peter Herman Adler, Symphony of the Air [NBC Opera, first broadcast live15 January 1956]
Charles Gounod, Jules Barbier, Michel Carré [after Carré’s play based on Johann Wolfgang von Goethe]: Vous qui faites l’endormie (Faust). Yi-Kwei Sze, Warwick Braithwaite, National Orchestra of the New Zealand Broadcasting Service [live 05.1953]
Hector Berlioz [after William Shakespeare]: Pauvres enfants que je pleure (Roméo et Juliette). Yi-Kwei Sze, Charles Munch, Boston Symphony Orchestra [1953]
Modest Mussorgsky [after Alexander Pushkin]: Clock Scene (Boris Godunov). Yi-Kwei Sze, Bernard Haitink, Concertgebouw Orchestra [live Amsterdam 1964]
Modest Mussorgsky, Arseny Golenishchev-Kutuzov: Элегия [Elegy] (Без солнца [Sunless], No. 5). Yi-Kwei Sze, Brooks Smith [1965]
Alexander Dargomizhsky, Mikhail Lermontov: Мне грустно, потому что я тебя люблю [I am sad because I love you]. Yi-Kwei Sze, Robert Freeman [live Rochester 31 October 1978]
Pyotr Il’yich Tchaikovsky, Afanasy Afanasyevich Fet: Не отходи от меня [Do Not Leave Me], Op. 27/3. Yi-Kwei Sze, Gérard van Blerk [live Appeldoorn 1971]
Serge Rachmaninov, Nikolai Maksimovich Vilenkin [as Nikolai Minsky]: В моей душе [Within My Soul], Op. 14/10. Yi-Kwei Sze, Gérard van Blerk [live Appeldoorn 1971]
Dmitri Shostakovich, Yevgeny Yevtushenko: Babi Yar [excerpt] (Symphony No. 13 in b-flat minor, Op. 113), Yi-Kwei Sze, Louis Lane, Cleveland Orchestra, Men of the Cleveland Orchestra Chorus [live Cleveland 1971]
Francis Poulenc: Invocation aux Parques (Chansons gaillardes). Yi-Kwei Sze, George van Renesse [live Den Haag 23 October 1961]
Robert Schumann, Heinrich Heine: Dichterliebe, Op. 48, 1-4: Im wunderschönen Monat Mai; Aus meinen Tränen sprießen; Die Rose, die Lilie, die Taube, die Sonne; Wenn ich in deine Augen seh’. Yi-Kwei-Sze, Brooks Smith [1965]
Franz Schubert, Jacob Nicolaus Craigher de Jachelutta: Totengräbers Heimweh, D. 842. Yi-Kwei Sze, George van Renesse [live Den Haag 23 October 1961]
Xuean Liu, Xueqin Cao: Song of the Red Bean. Yi-Kwei Sze, Nancy Lee Sze [1950]
Traditional Chinese: Flower Drum Sung (introduced by Yi-Kwei Sze). Yi-Kwei Sze, George van Renesse [live Den Haag 23 October 1961]
Alexander Tcherepnin: From Chinese Songs, Op. 95. Yi-Kwei Sze, Brooks Smith [1965]
- No. 5. So far away
- No. 2. Love Song of the Wagon Driver
- No. 1. West River Moon
Antonín Dvořák: Gott ist mein Hirte (Biblische Lieder, Op. 99/4). Yi-Kwei Sze, Christoph von Dohnányi, WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln [live Köln 1966]
Johannes Brahms: Wenn ich mit Menschen- und mit Engelszunge redete (Vier ernste Gesänge, Op. 121/4). Yi-Kwei Sze, Gérard van Blerk [live Appeldoorn 1971]; Yi-Kwei Sze, Brooks Smith [1965 studio recording]