Have you ever wondered how Schubert died? We know that he suffered from syphilis, but, was it the cause of his death? According to some witnesses, Schubert’s death was unexpected. We know that on October 31st, 1828 he wasn't feeling well and was fasting because food didn't sit well with him, but it seems that he soon was quite recovered. On November 3rd, he attended a concert and the following day a class, he wanted to study again because he thought he didn't know enough about fugue and counterpoint. That weekend (November, 8th or 9th) he had diner at Baron Schönstein's home, who said he looked fine, relaxed and cheerful. A few days later, the 11th, Schubert had to bed rest; he didn't feel any pain, he just was extremely tired. He was up and about from time to time; he revised a brief work for choir and the edition of the second part of Winterreise; he felt [...]

 

Vivan le femmine, viva il buon vino! Sostegno e gloria d'umanità! It's always a good time to remember Mozart's Don Giovanni, and now it's quite relevant because I’ll talk about a song cycle that the dissoluto could have sung after his dinner if the Commendatore hadn’t arrived and interrupted him. There is sex, wine and irreverence in those songs, and a much more explicit language than the censorship would have allowed to Lorenzo da Ponte. I 'm talking about the Chansons Gaillardes by Francis Poulenc, that I jotted down in my notebook for today because they're programmed in Simon Keenlyside's recital at the Liceu; it's a good reason to introduce this cycle.

 

Antonio José Martínez Palacios, who signed his works as Antonio José, was a composer born in Burgos (Spain) in 1902, who was murdered at the beginning of the Spanish Civil War. This year, we're commemorating the eightieth anniversary of his death (in fact, he was executed a few weeks after Federico García Lorca) and several projects have been launched to recall him; among them: a documentary, some concerts and the video that we're introducing today. Or rather, the video that soprano Adriana Viñuela and pianist Elisa Rapado are introducing; they've been so kind as to write this post. They wrote the Spanish version and I did my best to produce an English version as accurate as possible... Thanks a lot, Adriana and Elisa!

 

Some time ago, a pianist who I had just met asked my opinion about Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau. When I answered, she said, surprised: "I thought that was only said in a small group". Then it was me who got surprised, it was a pretty interesting conversation. Thinking about it, I realized that she was right, we tend to be careful when talking about such great figures as Fischer-Dieskau...

My most observant readers would probably guess what I said, if they’ve already realized that most of the recordings by Fischer-Dieskau that I've shared are from his first times, the 1950s. I find sensational those performances; it's hard to believe such maturity in a young man in his 20s. His Lieder eines fahrenden [...]

 

One of the more often mentioned people on Liederabend is not a composer, a poet, a singer or a pianist. In fact, I don't ever mention his name but I do use his surname initial, D, followed by some numbers. Today, it is the very first time I write his full name, Otto Erich Deutsch. We owe Deutsch the first comprehensive compilation of Franz Schubert's works, a catalogue taken as a reference. Like all the people who systematised information at that time (not long ago) when computers didn't exist, Otto Deutsch deserves my admiration and respect. I might even feel a little envious, I'd love to know his working method and his sorting system, I guess he used index cards. Order and beauty, do you remember? Otto Deutsch and his colleagues dedicated themselves to bring order to beauty.