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THE LISTENER's GALLERY Gregory Berg 1I THE LISTENER'S GALLERY Gregory Berg 1I Herzen Krbnelein," "Begegnung," "Die If there is anything disappointing Nacht," "Morgen." Bernstein: I Hate about this release, it is the rather Music! A Cycle of Five Kid Songs: underwhelming attention given to Ludwig's operatic career, which spanned nearly fifty years and encom- In his book Opera People, Jacobson passed all of the major companies of called Christa Ludwig "the Earth- the world and most of the century's Mother of all singers," and the moniker most important conductors and was fitting in every possible way. There singers. Unfortunately, the video legacy was the arresting beauty of the sound of Ludwig on the opera stage is ridicu- Gregory Berg itself, from its opulent depths to its lously limited for such a spectacular radiant heights. There was the reas- career, and there is not nearly as much suring strength of her technique, to choose from as one might assume to sing with ease ChristaLudwig: The Birthday Edition. which allowed her or wish. We are treated here to a de- Christa Ludwig, mezzo soprano and cli- and utter security. There was the in- lightful excerpt from Falstaff featuring nician; Stella Grigorian, mezzo soprano; tense expressiveness of her singing, Ludwig's hearty Mistress Quickly op- Valerij Serkin, tenor; Marcus Pelz, bari- wed to a disarming simplicity and di- posite the charismatic Giuseppe Taddei. tone; Charles Spencer, Sophie Raynaud, rectness which set her apart from some The picture may be a bit dim, but these piano. (ArtHaus Musik 102 147/102 of her famous contemporaries. That two veterans make the screen sizzle. 149; 116:00, 111:00) lack of pretentiousness was a hallmark The other operatic excerpt comes not of her offstage personality as well, for from a live performance, but rather Schubert: Die Winterreise: "Gute Nacht," which she was adored by fans and col- from a film of Cosifan tutte, and as a "Die Wetterfahne," "Gefror'ne Thrýnen," leagues alike. In short, Christa Ludwig momento of Ludwig's Dorabella it is "Erstarrung," "Der Lindenbaum," was everything that a professional rather irrelevant. If only we were able "Wasserfluth," "Auf dem Flusse," singer should be, and the fact that she to view complete onstage perform- "RMckblick," "Irrlicht," "Rast," was able to sing for so long with such ances of Ludwig in her greatest roles: "FrOhlingstraum," "Einsamkeit," "Die excellence is perhaps the highest trib- Octavian, the Marschallin, the Dyer's Post," "Der greise Kopf," "Die Krýhe," ute of all. Wife, Dorabella, Kundry, Brangdne, "Letzte Hoffnung," "Im Dorfe," "Der stOr- and more. It may be time to refer to Christa mische Morgen," "T7uschung," "Der Fortunately, ample video survives Ludwig's singing in past tense, but (as Wegweiser," "Das Wirtshaus," "Muth!" of Ludwig's recital work, and the per- of this writing) Christa Ludwig the hu- "Die Nebensonnen," "Der Leiermann." formances recorded for this release man being is still very much with us, "Geheimnis," "ImAbendrot," "Die Forelle," further enhance our appreciation for and this two-disk DVD has been re- "Der Tod und das Mýdchen," her mastery of the art song. She is seen leased in honor of her eightieth birth- "Sehnsucht," "Der Musensohn." Mahler: here in a complete performance of "Ich ging mit Lust," "Rheinlegendchen," day. What a splendid birthday gift this Schubert's Die Winterreise, as well as "Das irdische Leben," "Ich bin der Welt is, for it allows us to enjoy a generous in assorted songs by Mahler, Wolf, abhanden gekommen," "Scheiden und representation of Ludwig's mastery of Strauss, and Bernstein, beautifully ac- Meiden." Wolf: "Anakreons Grab," "Der the art song, two fleeting glimpses of companied at the piano by frequent GArtner," "Bedeckt mich mit Blumen," her performing opera, and most de- collaborator Charles Spencer. One mi- "In dem Schatten meiner Locken," "Mein lightfully of all, at work as a master nor regret is that these lieder recitals Liebster hat zu Tische mich geladen," class clinician. The release is enhanced were not recorded before an audience, "Du meines "Wie lange schon." Strauss: by illuminating program notes which and it contributes to a slightly "canned" include the text of a 2007 interview quality to the proceedings. The cam- journal of Singing, September/October 2008 conducted by journalist Renate era work is fairly undistinguished and Volume 65, No. 1, pp. 119-124 Burtscher that further reveals Ludwig's frustratingly distant too much of the Copyright © 2008 National Association of Teachers of Singing intelligence and grace. time in Die Winterreise,and one also SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2008 119 I1 Gregory Berg wonders whose decision it was to bring To recount the high points is ulti- ing the shifting moods of the woman up crimson lighting in the background mately an exercise in happy frustra- with a playful mix of potency and un- as Ludwig sings Schubert's "Im Abend- tion, for so much of this singing is su- derstatement. Equally impressive is rot." Those concerns aside, this is a perb and in so many ways. More than what Ludwig always has been able to do superb document of Ludwig at the one critic has remarked that if there is with darker, more restrained songs like very end of her singing career. The any way in which Ludwig grew as a "Die Nacht" or "Morgen" by Strauss. voice is rich and still remarkably in- singer from the start of her career to The latter receives a performance that tegrated, and unlike other singers in its conclusion, it was in her capacity may be ever so slightly encumbered their twilight, Ludwig resists the urge to give herself over more completely by the encroachment of age, but what- to slather her performances with in- in the happy songs she sang. Certainly, ever she has lost in breath and even- she is fully persuasive in the exuber- terpretive extremes. She was always ness of tone (which is not much), she ance of Wolf's "Der Gartner" and in a singer who trusted the greatness of has more than gained back in the kind the joyous rising lines of Mahler's "Ich these songs and who approached her of depth of understanding that comes ging mit Lust" There is a smile not only only performing with a touching and all- when one has lived a long, some- on her face and in her sound, but also too-rare sense of humility. "We singers times challenging, and ultimately sat- encompassing her whole being. It is isfying life, artistically and otherwise. must never forget:' she wrote in her difficult to understand, let alone artic- The way in which she sings the word memoirs, "that we are only the ser- ulate, what Ludwig manages to achieve "stumm" over that striking ninth chord vants of the great minds who created here but it is truly remarkable. She is es- in the accompaniment seems to trans- all of the wonderful pieces of music pecially beguiling in Wolf's "In dem port her-and us-to another time and which we enjoy today:' Schatten meiner Locken" by captur- place. As impressive as the aforemen- tioned lieder recital is, many may find her performance of Die Winterreise to be even more impressive. Certainly, it is extremely rare to have a woman perform this song cycle, and the liner notes of the disk suggest that Ludwig may be only the third major female singer-after Lotte Lehmann and Elena Gerhardt-to do so. Some might argue that these texts are meant to be expressed by a male, but Ludwig states in the liner notes that these poems speak of the winter journey of a hu- man soul, and not necessarily that of a man-or of a woman, for that matter. Ludwig goes on to say that a woman is able to bring a certain perspective to matters of life, love, and death that are different from that of a man, and that is why she believes so fervently that this song cycle needs to be em- braced and performed by both men and women. Certainly, those of us who were privileged to see and hear Ludwig perform this song cycle at the Ravinia 120 JOURNAL OF SINGING The Listener's Gallery [I Festival many years ago could not pos- ers this cycle with the same sort of most subtle sort of tweaking and pol- sibly believe that Ludwig was straying straightforward, assured confidence ishing. She is an exacting teacher, and into emotional territory beyond her and skill that has informed her career not reluctant to cut off a singer after abilities. The performance was one of every step of the way. two or three notes to reassert direc- astonishing emotional impact and the What is perhaps most treasurable tion that seems to be followed. This two minutes of silence that followed of all on these disks is the opportunity happens especially when she is after "Der Leiermann" was the equivalent they afford us to see Ludwig in action more legato singing from Ms. Grigorian of a thousand standing ovations. as a clinician in master classes filmed as she renders one of Dorabella's arias The performance captured on this in Vienna in 1999. She works through from Cosifan tutte. Her singing seems disk is powerful and expressive, al- operatic repertoire with three young at first to be perfectly legato, but as though one dearly wishes that an au- singers who were virtually unknown Ludwig works with the young mezzo dience had been present to somehow at the time: mezzo soprano Stella we realize that there are all sorts of mo- give the proceedings more of a sense Grigorian, tenor Valerij Serkin, and ments when in fact the melodic line is of a journey experienced together.
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