- Details
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.
- Details
According to weathermen, when this article sees the light of day, Autumn will have arrived at Barcelona. Or rather, Autumn will finally have arrived at Barcelona. So long sandals, strap T-shirts and shorts! Welcome jackets, neck scarves and quilt on our beds. Just thinking about it makes me happy and puts me in the mood for Autumn, so I chose a song to celebrate it. Do you remember that a long, long time ago, we listened to a song called The Singer? With that beautiful image of melodies becoming coloured bubbles? That was almost four and a half years ago and since then, Peter Warlock hasn’t come back to Liederabend; The more I listen to him, the more I like him, and today we're listening to one of his songs, inspired by the Autumn.
- Details
This week's post is dedicated to two kind readers, Bernat and Jordi, and their requests. Bernat asked me a Liederabend's account on Spotify; I'm glad to say it's ready. In fact, as I told him, I created the account some time ago and I shared our sad, happy and buggy's songs. However, I didn't add anything else and the account remained forgotten. Among my new season's resolutions, there is the 2016-2017 list, that will grow every week; So far, I completed the 2015-2016 list and I will be adding my previous seasons. When possible, I added the same versions that I posted; on a few occasions, I wasn't able to find the song...
- Details
I resume the Liederabend's alphabet with a new season's resolution: writing about a new letter every month. E is for "Espectadors" in Catalan, that's to say, for "members of the audience". This post should have been just navel-gazing but some weeks ago an incident at a song recital altered the expected calmness; I'll talk about it later. Art song lovers tend to consider ourselves an exquisite, polite, silent audience... the perfect one! But... are we so perfect? It's true that we are silent, we need a high level of concentration; we could miss a whole song if we get distracted for a couple of minutes. In addition, our hands are busy with the program, so we can't send messages on our smartphones at the same time. It is also true that we usually are well informed; we know what [...]
- Details
Tradition says (and it's a tradition that fills with light the end of summer) that every year around this date the voice of Fritz Wunderlich sounds on Liederabend. As I said in the first year, 2012, I am in the habit of recalling that great tenor on the anniversary of his death and I like to share it with you. It's a way of paying homage to him, thanking him for his music and enjoying an unforgettable voice for some minutes. And, who knows, maybe someone will discover him and fall in love with him...
Series
