Prey’s legendary Schubert song cycle for the first time on BD. Prey, best known as a master of German art song, was a worldwide celebrated baritone with an international career over 45 years at the MET, Bayreuth, Salzburg, Japan, La Scala, etc. “In his finest interpretations Hermann Prey sang Winterreise and Die schöne Müllerin with a captivatingly natural phrasing that flowed organically like a river and as such was the very opposite of the more intellectual approach of his rival, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau.” – DIE ZEIT Online, 1998
Così fan Tutte
Karl Böhm knew that the quality of his opera productions depended heavily on the choice of the right singers for each role. “When I set my mind on doing a certain opera with a certain cast, and it doesn’t work, then I become furious and throw a fit,” he once said. In this “Così” production, Böhm has gathered some of the greatest Mozart specialists of the 20th century: Gundula Janowitz, a warm, lyric soprano whose Munich “Pamina” under Knappertsbusch was one of the high points of her early career, before she went on to sing at all major opera houses as well as the Bayreuth and Salzburg Festivals; Christa Ludwig, who began singing under Karl Böhm at the Vienna State Opera in 1955, and who was later hailed as the best Mozart and Strauss mezzo-soprano of her generation; Luigi Alva, the Peruvian tenor whose light and elegant voice has made him one of the most sought-after lyrical tenors for Rossini and Mozart roles; Hermann Prey, whose rich baritone has captivated not only the opera public the world over but also lovers of the German Lied; Walter Berry, who has sung practically the entire repertoire of great Mozart bass-baritone roles at the Salzburg Festival, the Met, Covent Garden and the Vienna State Opera.
Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg
Wolfgang Wagner’s universally praised Bayreuth Festival production of “Die Meistersinger” most clearly demonstrates the originality of its conception in its treatment of Beckmesser. Refusing to caricature Beckmesser, to represent him simply as a fool or a pedant, Wolfgang Wagner allows the character the status of a genuine poet with a melancholy, almost elegiac quality. The production dispenses with the usual clichés and the excessive pathos which often lend the opera an overly “German” quality, and concentrates on the specifically human aspect of the characters, which other productions have tended to neglect. Hans Sachs is seen not as a solemn patriarch, but as a likable middle-aged man; Stolzing emerges as a sensitive, thoughtful individual drawn towards the bourgeoisie, rather than as an aggressive aristocrat. Wolfgang Wagner has succeeded in liberating “Die Meistersinger” from its aura of Teutonic heaviness and retrieving the light and color of the original: late medieval Nuremberg truly comes to life.
Hänsel und Gretel
Based on a fairy tale by the Brothers Grimm, Engelbert Humperdinck’s beloved opera is traditionally often performed at Christmastime as a treat for children. Humperdinck had originally planned to write a simple work with a spoken text and folksong-like melodies. It turned out to be a full- fledged, Wagnerian-style opera that was premiered in 1893 by no less a conductor than Richard Strauss, who termed the work “a masterpiece of the first rank.” For this lavish production staged and directed by August Everding, a cast of top singers has been put together, including Brigitte Fassbaender, Edita Gruberova, Hermann Prey, Helga Dernesch and Sena Jurinac. Sir Georg Solti conducts the Vienna Philharmonic.
Hermann Prey – The Schubert Song Cycles
“In his finest interpretations Hermann Prey sang Winterreise and Die schöne Müllerin with a captivatingly natural phrasing that flowed organically like a river and as such was the very opposite of the more intellectual approach of his rival, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau.” – DIE ZEIT Online, 1998
“The velvety, silky timbre of his soft-grained and yet distinctively striking baritone voice, his charm, his excellent diction and the naturalness of his delivery spiced with a hint of emotion – it is all this that distinguishes the truly outstanding lieder singer.” – Opernglas, 1998. Progamme includes A0550868, A05504159, A05504158 , A05004949, A05501423, A05504146
Hermann Prey: Stages in a Career – The Last Interview.
Introduction: Schubert, Die schöne Müllerin (The Beautiful Maid of the Mill), D.795
Journey
Born in Bolzano (Bozen, Italy) in 1934, Herbert Rosendorfer is a lawyer who introduced himself as an author in 1966 with his short story “Die Glasglocke.” This was followed by many novels, stage works, scripts and short stories, which revealed him to be an imaginative and multi-faceted author. A socio-critical satirist, he writes with a well-balanced mixture of wit, thought-provoking ideas and absurd-grotesque elements. All this is also found in his novel “Briefe in die chinesische Vergangenheit” (Letters to China’s Past) of 1983, which ranks among his most well-known books. Here the Chinese Kao-Tai travels from the 10th century to the Munich of the 20th century. In addition to his legal activities, Rosendorfer is honorary professor for contemporary Bavarian literature at the University of Munich and obtained the Bavarian Literature Prize in 1999.
Hermann Prey – Portrait
The internationally acclaimed baritone Hermann Prey was born in Berlin in 1929. He made his breakthrough in 1956 as Figaro in the Vienna State Opera’s production of Rossini’s “Barber of Seville”. His resounding success as Figaro in Jean-Pierre Ponnelle’s 1969 staging of Rossini’s “Barber of Seville” at the Salzburg Festival stamped him as the Figaro of that era. Recorded a few years later by Unitel, this production has taken on an almost legendary status. Prey soon became a Mozart singer par excellence, portraying Guglielmo (“Così fan tutte”), Almaviva (“The Marriage of Figaro”), Papageno (“The Magic Flute”) and, of course, Figaro. His unforgettable interpretation of this role in Ponnelle’s production of “The Marriage of Figaro” is preserved for all times by Unitel in a 1976 recording with Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Kiri Te Kanawa and Mirella Freni. Prey also enjoyed great popularity in the United States, appearing in operas in San Francisco, Chicago, Boston, Houston and New York. After his Met debut as Wolfram in “Tannhäuser” in 1960, he regularly sang at that house until 1995. In addition to Mozart and Rossini, Prey’s other favorite composers included Lortzing, Donizetti, Strauss and Wagner. Prey made his Bayreuth debut in 1965. It was there that he transformed the Meistersinger’s Beckmesser into a sympathetic figure, a poet tinged with melancholy, in Wolfgang Wagner’s early 1980s production. This performance is also preserved on film by Unitel. Hermann Prey was never exclusively an opera singer, however. His other specialty was the German song. As a kind of ambassador of the German lied, he filled concert halls all over the world. Prey sang Schubert and Schumann, Brahms and Mahler in a way that always emphasized naturalness and spontaneity over analytical profundity and scholarship. But his inquisitiveness also led him to explore the treasures of the German song from the Middle Ages to the present day. A special fondness for Schubert moved him to set up a Schubert festival in the Austrian town of Hohenems, where he planned to perform all of Schubert’s works. His interpretations of Schubert’s songs have – with those of Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau – set standards for lieder singing in the 20th century. Unitel is proud to offer Prey’s recordings of Schubert’s “Die schöne Müllerin”, “Schwanengesang” and “Die Winterreise” on video, as well as lieder by Robert Schumann and Richard Strauss.