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Home , Christian Gerhaher, Gerold Huber, Schwanengesang

15.1. at 20:00 Ritarihuone GERHAHER & HUBER & SCHUBERT

Christian Gerhaher piano

Franz Schubert: D. 957

Lieder nach Ludwig Rellstab D. 957/1–7 Liebesbotschaft Kriegers Ahnung Frühlingssehnsucht 1 Ständchen Aufenthalt In der Ferne Abschied

Lieder nach D. 957/8–13 Der Atlas Ihr Bild Das Fischermädchen Die Stadt Am Meer Der Doppelgänger

Lieder nach Johann Gabriel Seidl D. 879 an den Mond D. 870 Am Fenster D. 878 Im Freien D. 880 Die Taubenpost D. 965 A

Franz Schubert: Schwanengesang D. 957

The posthumously published Schwanen- he has become reconciled to his fate. gesang by Franz Schubert (1797–1828) is The cunning variation in the verses of not a in the same sense as Die Frühlingssehnsucht emphasises spring’s schöne Müllerin or . It does not vibrant energy. Ständchen is the collec- tell a consecutive story, and nor is there a tion’s best-known song, a melodic love subtext hidden between the lines. Singers call. Aufenthalt could be likened to a tem- can therefore group the songs in different porary breather, but nature does not offer ways. peace. Rhythms collide, generating rebel- Schubert chose his poems for their mu- lion in the singer at both nature’s and his sical potential. When sung, they became own inner turmoil. In der Ferne is the most a new art form. The Schwanengesang son- complex of the Rellstab songs. The disen- gs combine his sovereign handling of his chanted singer has left his homeland, ta- texts with the key and rhythmic shifts king with him only memories and images characteristic of his late works, and he of nature. The minor-key present is made assigns the piano a more important role sweeter by a fleeting escape into nostal- than ever. gia and a major key. 2 The subjects of the songs – waiting, Abschied is again about departing, this longing, departure, journeying, love, fear – time on horseback (the piano). The ca- have become part and parcel of Schubert’s refree cries of “Adé” (Farewell) shake the image. At the time of his death, he was on dust from Rellstab’s Biedermeier landsca- the brink of fame, an artist of vision ready pes, to be replaced by the strange, expres- to tackle new challenges. sive world of Heine. The Heine poems act Seidl was a friend of Schubert’s. In as something of a psychological passion the Schwanengesang settings of poems play in Schwanengesang. by the nationalist-minded anti-Semitic Atlas groans beneath the weight of the Rellstab Schubert underlined the affini- world and its suffering, but reminds him- ty of the love and its absence themes of self that it was he who defied the gods. Beethoven’s An die ferne Geliebte. He cho- His proud heart (stolzes Herz) submits to se six poems from the Buch der Lieder col- his fate, but he has to grin and bear it. lection (1827) by Heinrich Heine. The portrait of the lost beloved (Ihr Bild) The first of the Rellstab songs is is like a knife in a wound. The churchy Liebesbotschaft, in which the piano’s bub- tone of the music calls to mind a funeral bling stream carries the message of love procession. The fisher maiden in Heine’s along. The image of the beloved seems to Das Fischermädchen is seduced, but drown in the rippling flow. The image of Schubert waters it down to playful flirting. the beloved again seems to recede into At the end, the singer proclaims his heart the distance in the ominous forebodings is like the ocean, with pearls that rest in of the warrior keeping watch by the fire the deep. in Kriegers Ahnung. By the time he wishes Soon, the singer is rowing towards a her goodnight (Herzliebste, gute Nacht!), distant town on the horizon (Die Stadt). Ominous piano sounds soon announce tears of a faithful heart. The mood is jol- the dramatic third verse and the place ly, and there are some neat modulations where he lost his beloved – she left him in the music. or died. The piano’s last note leaves the Longing – hope – is a driving force in singer utterly alone. life and art, as simply and admirably de- The singer in Am Meer meets his belo- monstrated by Schubert. Do we know it, ved by the sea. Schubert combines the he asks, and awaits our answer. simplicity of a folk song with anticipato- Programme notes by Antti Häyrynen ry piano tremolos and fine word painting. translated (abridged) by Susan Sinisalo The beloved weeps and the singer tastes her tears, only to find they are poisonous. The most spine-chilling Heine song is possibly Der Doppelgänger, a nocturnal vi- sion of a place where his beloved torment- ed him many times in the past. All that remains is a taunting wraith. The voice and piano parts travel far apart, and the Baroque-like set-up gives the scene a ti- meless air. Schubert views his romantic themes 3 more lightly in the poems by his friend Seidl. Sehnsucht treats longing as a state of mind and a method of composition. Unlike in the later songs, this longing has a happy end: “Sieh nur – da ist ja schon ein !” (Look – it’s a song!). Der Wanderer an den Mond presents the traveller theme familiar from many son- gs, in a steady march to a pace set by the piano. Keeping the wanderer company is the moon. Am Fenster finds him at a win- dow, but enclosed by walls. The first verse speaks of a loneliness that blossoms into friendship in the second verse and the present moment. In Im Freien (In the open) the noctur- nal landscape smiles and the moon shi- nes on the cottage where a dear friend lies sleeping. The bearer of the message in the clo- sing song, Die Taubenpost (Pigeon post), is once again longing, this time carrying the GEROLD HUBER German baritone Christian Gerhaher is Known for his collaboration with Christian one of the finest Lied singers in the wor- Gerhaher, German pianist Gerold Huber ld today. Together with his regular ac- has accompanied many other singers, companist Gerold Huber, he has been de- too (among them , Mojca dicating himself to Lieder for 30 years, Erdmann, Michael Nagy, Maximilian in concerts and recordings. He originally Schmitt and Rolando Villazón) and gi- qualified as a doctor, but while comple- ven solo recitals. He studied in his native ting his medical studies perfected his vo- Munich and in the Lied class of Dietrich cal training in masterclasses with Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau in Berlin, has been Fischer-Dieskau, Professor of Lied accompaniment at the and . He currently teaches occ- Hochschule für Musik in Würzburg since asionally at the Munich Academy of Music 2013 and has held masterclasses at the and Theatre and at the Royal Academy of University of Yale, the Aldeburgh Festival Music in London. and the Schwetzingen Festival. Together Though Schubert, Schumann and with Gerhaher he was awarded the Prix Mahler occupy focal places in Christian International Pro Musicis in 1998. Gerhaher’s repertoire, he has also sung Topping the list of composers in Huber’s 4 works by other composers, oratorio repertoire are Bach, Beethoven, Brahms and opera. A regular soloist with lead- and Schubert, and he has released two ing orchestras, he was the first singer solo discs (Beethoven and Schumann). to be Artist in Residence with the Berlin He performs chamber music, with the Philharmonic Orchestra. Conductors , the Henschel Quartet, with whom he has worked include Reinhold Friedrich (trumpet) and others. Rattle, Harding, Blomstedt, Harnoncourt, Boulez, Barenboim and . Recent operatic roles have been Figaro and the Count in The Marriage of Figaro, the title role in Don Giovanni, Wolfram in Tannhäuser, Eisenstein in Die Fledermaus, Pelléas in Pelléas and Mélisande and the title role in Wozzeck. He also sings mod- ern roles, such as Lenau in Holliger’s opera Lunea, and he is down to sing the title role in Aribert Reimann’s Lear in May. Schubert’s Schwanengesang holds a spe- cial place in the joint career of Gerhaher and Huber, for it was the work that marked their breakthrough at Austria’s Schubertiade in 1998, and it was also their first disc. In addition to Helsinki, they will be performing it this spring in Stockholm, London, Paris, Hong Kong and Tokyo.