Episode 320. Hadley in Wien
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I can think of no better way to end this difficult year than with another episode lauding my late friend, the sublime American lyric tenor Jerry Hadley. I am of the firm belief that Jerry was one of the finest singers this country has ever produced. Everyone has their favorite among his performances, which display an eclecticism rare among opera singers, but I believe that his artistry found its fullest and truest expression in his performances of Viennese operetta. His bright, sunny vocal timbre, his capacity for vocal shading and dynamics, his sense of both humor and pathos, his ringing high notes, as well as of precision and acuity of his German diction make him an ideal interpreter of this music. The majority of the music heard on this episode comes from two albums of operetta arias that Jerry recorded in 1995 under the baton of Richard Bonynge. This is supplemented by two duets with Australian soprano Deborah Riedel from a series of English-language versions of Lehár operettas also conducted by Bonynge, as well as various live performances of Jerry in the music of Johann Strauss II and Erich Korngold. While Lehár is the most prominently featured composer, we also heard excerpts from work by Emmerich Kálmán, Carl Millöcker, Ralph Benatzky, Leo Fall, and that king of operetta tenors himself, Richard Tauber, who was also quite a capable composer. The episode concludes with reminiscences of my close friendship with Jerry, crowned by a magisterial live performance of “Dein ist mein ganzes Herz.”
RECORDINGS HEARD IN THIS EPISODE
Unless otherwise indicated, all selections feature Jerry Hadley with Richard Bonynge conducting the Münchner Rundfunkorchester (recorded 1995).
Johann Strauss II, Ignaz Schnitzer [after Mór Jókai]: Als flotter Geist (Der Zigeunerbaron). Jerry Hadley, Leopold Hager, Müncher Rundfunkorchester, Chor des Bayrischen Rundfunks [live München 22.II.98]
Emmerich Kálmán, Julius Brammer, Alfred Grünwald: Grüß’ mir mein Wien (Gräfin Mariza)
Franz Lehár, Ludwig Herzer, Fritz Löhner-Beda: Schön ist die Welt (Schön ist die Welt)
Eduard Künneke, Paul Knepler, Ignaz Michael Welleminsky: Ich träume mit offenen Augen (Die lockende Flamme). Charles Kullman, Eduard Künneke, Orchester der Theater des Westens Berlin [1937]
Carl Millöcker, Friedrich Zell, Richard Genée [revised Ernst Steffan, Paul Knepler]: Dunkelrote Rosen (Gasparone)
Leo Fall, Julius Brammer, Alfred Grünwald: Ein Walzer muß es sein (Die Rose von Stambul)
Erich Wolfgang Korngold, Oscar Hammerstein II: Sweet Melody of Night (Give Us This Night). Jerry Hadley, Conrad Artmüller [live 1997]
Erich Wolfgang Korngold, Ludwig Herzer: Du bist mein Traum (Das Lied der Liebe)
Franz Lehár, Paul Knepler, Fritz Löhner-Beda [English language version by Adam Carstairs]: Blue as the Summer Sky Above [Schön wie die blaue Sommernacht] (Giuditta). Jerry Hadley, Deborah Riedel, Richard Bonynge, English Chamber Orchestra [1997]
Franz Lehár, Paul Knepler, Fritz Löhner-Beda: Du bist meine Sonne (Giuditta)
Franz Lehár, Victor Léon [né Victor Hirschfeld], Ludwig Herzer, Fritz Löhner-Beda: Von Apfelblüten einen Kranz (Das Land des Lächelns)
Franz Lehár, Ludwig Herzer, Fritz Löhner-Beda: O Mädchen, mein Mädchen (Friederike)
Franz Lehár, Paul Knepler, Bela Jenbach: Gern hab’ ich die Frau’n geküßt (Paganini)
Franz Lehár, Paul Knepler, Bela Jenbach [English language version by Adam Carstairs]: Who Could Love You More Than I [Niemand liebt dich so wie ich] (Paganini). Jerry Hadley, Deborah Riedel, Richard Bonynge, English Chamber Orchestra [1997]
Franz Lehár, Alfred Maria Willner, Heinz Reichert: Hab’ ein blaues Himmelbett (Frasquita)
Richard Tauber, Ernst Marischka: Du bist die Welt für mich (Der singende Traum)
Ralph Benatzky, Robert Blum [after Georges Berr, Louis Verneuil]: Mein Mädel ist nur eine Verkäuferin (Meine Schwester und ich)
Emmerich Kálmán, Julius Brammer, Alfred Grünwald: Das Wiener Lied (Die Herzogin von Chicago)
Emmerich Kálmán, Julius Brammer, Alfred Grünwald: Zwei Märchenaugen (Die Zirkusprinzessin)
Franz Lehár, Heinz Reichert, Bela Jenbach [after Gabriela Zapolska]: Es steht ein Soldat am Wolgastrand [Wolgalied] (Der Zarewitsch)
Johann Strauss II, Karl Haffner, Richard Genée [after Julius Roderich Benedix, adapted by Henri Meilhac, Ludovic Halévy]: Trinke, Liebchen, trinke schnell (Die Fledermaus). Jerry Hadley, Mireille Delunsch, Marc Minkowski, Mozarteum Orchester Salzburg [live Salzburg 2001]
Franz Lehár, Victor Léon [né Victor Hirschfeld], Ludwig Herzer, Fritz Löhner-Beda: Dein ist mein ganzes Herz (Das Land des Lächelns). Jerry Hadley, Donald Runnicles, San Francisco Opera Orchestra [live, Opera in the Park 1992]