Fritz Wunderlich

2010 ten CD set. Vocalist Fritz Wunderlich's legacy is an impressive quantity of recordings, from popular music to Operetta, German and Italian operas and German Lied, additionally he sang baroque and spiritual works.

Joseph Haydn - Die Schöpfung / The Creation
Fritz Wunderlich / Hermann Prey / Wiener Singverein / Wiener Philharmoniker / Herbert von Karajan
2xCD | EAC+LOG+CUE | FLAC: 278 MB | Full Artwork: 164 MB | 5% Recovery Info
Label/Cat#: Deutsche Grammophon "Festspiel Dokumente" # 474 955-2 GM2 | Country/Year: Germany 2004, 1965
Genre: Classical | Style: Classical Period, Oratorio, Sacred, Vocal

"Karajan's direction is exactly as in the studio: majestic, broadly paced without being inert, vast in dynamic range, always considerate to his soloists, unerring in its preparation and clinching of climaxes." ~BBC Music Magazine

Deutsche Grammophon presents a complete survey of Sir John Eliot Gardiner's recordings for Achiv Produktion and DG. Orchestras & Choirs: Monteverdi Choir, the English Baroque Soloists, the Orchestre Revolutionnaire et Romantic, the Wiener Philharmoniker, NDR-Chor, NDR Sinfonieorchester, and the London Symphony Orchestra. Soloists include: Anne Sofie von Otter, Ian Bostridge, Barbara Bonney, Emma Kirkby, Mark Padmore, Bernarda Fink, Magdalena Kozena, Bryn Terfel, and many more.

This recording is the first official release in any format of this once-in-a-lifetime concert performance featuring Dame Joan Sutherland and Fritz Wunderlich. In 1959 performances of Handel were just beginning to embrace the original instrument movement making this recording an invaluable historic record of performance practice. In addition to musicological interest, the CDs present Joan Sutherland at the beginning of her illustrious career in the full bloom of youth. She was flown in as a last minute replacement for the scheduled soprano and proceeded to give a virtuoso performance of the demanding title role. Full of Handel's gorgeous melodies and with vocal fireworks in bountiful supply, it is no wonder that Sutherland completely awed the German public. She is joined by Fritz Wunderlich, the acclaimed German tenor, in their one-and-only collaboration. He as well was a last minute replacement and rises to the exacting demands of Handel. His rich and pliant tone is perfectly suited to the technical and dramatic demands of the opera.

This disc contains arias from operettas by Lehár, Zeller, Millöcker, Johann Strauss and Kálman. Performed by Fritz Wunderlich, Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, Hilde Gueden, Anneliese Rothenberger, Nicolai Gedda, Jussi Björling, Rita Streigh, Richard Tauber and others. The recordings are from 1950's, so don't expect super crisp hi-fi quality, it is more about artistic excellence.

Herbert von Karajan recorded between 1966 and 1968 with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra and a cast of stars this reference version of 'The Creation' by Joseph Haydn.
After a legendary concert given in 1965 in Salzburg, Herbert von Karajan entered the studio a few months later to record Haydn's masterpiece with the same lead singers, Fritz Wunderlich and Gundula Janowitz. Almost completed in 1966, the recording was abruptly interrupted by the accidental and tragic death of Fritz Wunderlich at the age of 35, on September 17, 1966. The sessions then resume with a young tenor, Werner Krenn, who replaces Wunderlich on the songs. recitatives in particular.

Fritz Wunderlich is in absolutely stunning voice in this classic recording of Mozart's "Turkish" opera brilliantly led by Eugen Jochum. Kurt Bohme is a lively, rich voiced Osmin, while Erika Koth and Lotte Schadle are a vivacious pair of female leads. Friedrich Lenz makes for an expert, lyrical second tenor! "The Rough Guide To Opera" says that "this is a justifiably famous performance, . . . not least for its being the first of the opera to present the score uncut. It is also celebrated for being one of Fritz Wunderlich's last and finest studio recordings.

The Christmas Oratorio (German: Weihnachts-Oratorium), BWV 248, is an oratorio by Johann Sebastian Bach intended for performance in church during the Christmas season. It was written for the Christmas season of 1734 and incorporates music from earlier compositions, including three secular cantatas written during 1733 and 1734 and a now lost church cantata, BWV 248a. The date is confirmed in Bach's autograph manuscript. The next performance was not until 17 December 1857 by the Sing-Akademie zu Berlin under Eduard Grell. The Christmas Oratorio is a particularly sophisticated example of parody music. The author of the text is unknown, although a likely collaborator was Christian Friedrich Henrici (Picander).