Hans Hotter sings Schumann: Die Beiden Grenadiere

[alpidrs]

Anyone who's been close to a member of the military knows that they do not gesticulate wildly or flail their arms about to get a point across. This is a beautiful interpretation by a magnificent singer and man, the greatest Wotan of all time.

[ericbrockway]

I am so glad that Mr Hotter does NOT wave his hands all the time. This is true Lieder singing. When singing opera Mr Hotter ACTED and waved his hands and jumped and walked. Americans seem to expect people to ACT when singing Lieder but it is of course distracting and just not done! Mr Hotter was one of the greatest Lieder singers! He does not need to wave his hands to tell a story!

[Smebninja]

@ericbrockway Its just a question how the singer acts. Sometimes its more emotionizing (dont know if this exits) to wave your arms. Hans Hotter hisself is not waving with his hands but showing the expressions through his face, especially with his eyes.

[shoroh1]

Not bad, but nowhere near to Shalyapin.

[WernerHenckmann]

Über jegliche Kritik erhaben...

[Lobsang32]

ein tollles lied!!!

[bodiloto]

Sublime Hotter Grazie !**********infinite !

[saltburner2]

Do you have a date for this clip?

I presume it dates from the late 50's or possibly the early 60's.

[saltburner2]

@saltburner2

He looks younger here than in the 1962 Tokyo recital elsewhere on YT. So mid to late 1950's seems more probable.

[Jackpower1989]

There's also an interpretation by Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau. (I love his "Der Erlkönig")

You can find it under the name:

"Die beiden Grenadiere - Dwaj grenadierzy Schumann"

[gnativerson]

very nice Hotter - compare with Boris Gmyria on YouTube

[WhiteProfondo]

Not to bad, but he takes some consonants much to early and destroys the vocals and so the phrases. Besides, he SPEAKS to much, when the 2 grenadiers talk to each other, sounds not good to my ears. His breath is quite short, especially when this marseillaise-theme appears. But well done, really! 4 stars

[LightSpeed99999]

The voice gets and A+.

The piano.....has to retake the class.

[scolas1]

Absolutely superb. What a voice, what an incredible interpretation of a great song. Thank you Leuenzahn, vielen vielen Dank! I disagree with Amiduffer. His stance is very professional. This song does not need histrionics from the performer. Hotter's supreme vocal expression conveys the soldier's feelings perfectly. "Very good vocally" is rather an understatement for someone who was arguably the greatest bass-baritone of his generation, or indeed of all time.

[Amiduffer]

Well, its looks like I stuck my hand into a hornets nest by my comment. I agree that "flailing" is usually distracting and is overdone in some cases to make up for lack of vocal talent. However, in the spirit of the poem, which describes a drama, what is wrong with SOME movement?

[askdhg]

@Amiduffer I think you can listen to a CD? So, why acting in Lieder? They´re not operas...

[Amiduffer]

@askdhg All that matters ultimately, is that the intention of Heine and Schumann are brought to life by the artist. All the technical formalities matter naught if the artist hasn't internalized what the poem means and made it his/her. William Warfield's recommendation is that movement is OK, as long as the idea and the passion to convey it are front and center beyond your technical abilities.

[wotan3000]

A paragon of commitment and dramatic understanding. Technically amazing. I am a huge Hotter fan. Very little sign of the breathing duress his allergies caused.

His was probably the biggest (i.e. Broadest and Loudest) voices of operatic history. The scalability of his voice is absolutely unmatched - literally since no one could get as loud as he could. His piano reaches pianississimo. Astounding!

Thank you so much for posting.

[Augustinus12]

Musik: Robert Schumann

Text: Heinrich Heine

[otrolog]

Thank you so much!

Apart from his divine interpretation & awesome voice, I do appreciate Hotter's 'old fashioned stance', I hate 'arm flailing', aka as 'acting'. ;)

[Amiduffer]

He could have 'acted' more in order to better convey the scene. Keeping his hands locked like that was distracting. Otherwise, he's very good vocally!

[embenadorfinearts]

Absolutely astonishing in voice & musical Subtleties !