Hermann Prey, a baritone on this album, financed his music studies by performing in nightclubs, as his parents could not afford to pay for them.
Composition History
Robert Schumann's 'Frauenliebe und Leben' op. 42 was composed in 1840, a year known as his 'Liederjahr' (year of the song), during which he wrote an incredible 18 Lieder opuses.
Composition History
Johannes Brahms composed his 'Vier ernste Gesänge' op. 121 as a cycle for bass and piano in 1896, anticipating his own death, with texts taken from the Old and New Testaments.
Performer Biography
Erna Berger, a soprano on this album, was born in 1900 and showed extraordinary musicality early on, eventually financing her own singing studies after moving back to Germany from South America.
Recording & Production
This album features recordings of Hugo Wolf's 'Italienisches Liederbuch' from September and November 1959, with Erna Berger and Hermann Prey, accompanied by pianist Günther Weissenborn.
Composer's Artistic Vision
Hugo Wolf is particularly known as a song composer who aimed to make the musical setting of the text, its poetic content, and substance as fitting as possible, often described as showing the greatest respect for words.
Composer Biography
Hugo Wolf, the composer of 'Italienisches Liederbuch', suffered from mental illness and paralysis due to a syphilitic infection, which Andreas Dorschel's 1985 monograph dates to around 1877/78.
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