This week we're reviewing four recital programmes of the Schubertíada, and they include are many beautiful songs that I would have liked to share with you. But still, the choice was easy: I just had to pick one of the songs from Hugo Wolf's Italienisches Liederbuch. It's a grand piece that's rarely programmed in its entirety, and it's great that we get to enjoy it.
Listening to the Italian Songbook is listening to forty-six passionate, ironic, angry, funny, tender miniatures in just over an hour... a world of love-centered music. I suggest we listen to O wär' dein Haus durchsichtig wie ein Glas [If only your house were transparent like glass], where she (because in this cycle there is she and he) sings how much she wants her beloved's house to be transparent. She does so with tenderness (as Wolf says in the score) and a touch of mischief.
The song is delightful, composed of minimal elements, as is often the case in this cycle. From the first bars, the piano shows us a figure that will be repeated for almost the whole song (pay attention to how it changes when she talks about passing the house, we can hear her go on tiptoes). The vocal line is quiet, both in terms of dynamics and the range in which she moves. This repeated piano motiv tells us about crystal, its lightness and fragility, about light, about rain drops… It's a song that makes us smile.
Our she this week is Anke Vondung, accompanied by Christoph Berner. In Vilabertran, on Friday 18, we will listen to Anna El-Khashem, Johannes Kammler and Imogen Cooper, and I think it may be one of the most memorable nights at the Schubertíada this year.
Two interesting young duos will make their debut before the evening concert, mentored by Christoph Prégardien. Prégardien will perform the previous day, while Konstantin Krimmel will perform the following day.
I leave you with our song and, below, with the four concerts and the very long list of songs included in their programmes that we have heard so far.
O wär dein Haus durchsichtig wie ein Glas,
Mein Holder, wenn ich mich vorüberstehle!
Dann säh ich drinnen dich ohn Unterlaß,
Wie blick ich dann nach dir mit ganzer Seele!
Wie viele Blicke schickte mir dein Herz,
Mehr als da Tropfen hat der Fluß im März!
Wie viele Blicke schickt ich dir entgegen,
Mehr als da Tropfen niedersprühn im Regen!
Please use this link if you need an English translation.
This is the original Italian rispetto translated into German by Paul Heyse:
Bellin, quando ci passo per la via;
Tu fossi dentro ed io lí ti vedesse,
Quanti risguardi il cuor mio ti daría.
Quanto risguardi ti daría il cuor mio
Non son gocciole d'acqua giú pel rio,
Quanti risguardi ti daría il mio cuore
Non son gocciole d'acqua quando piove.
Thursday 17 August: Christoph Prégardien and Daniel Heide
Friday 18 August: Katja Maderer and Amadeus Wiesensee; Jonas Müller and Anna Gebhardt
Friday 18 August: Anna El-Khashem, Johannes Kammler and Imogen Cooper
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