How is this Granada better than Lanza's? Doesn't even come close. I assume you were drunk when you wrote your summary. Nonetheless, Wunderlich deserves to be on your top 100 list.
@FabDN41 Thanks--- I wish I could sing but no I cannot, however I do know Neil and his lovely wife for many years now. I heard him first in 1979 in Chicago, it was in Boheme with Sam Ramey and Leonie Mitchell also in the cast. All 3 where making a Chicago debut. Seats then where like $20 --- I went several times to that same Boheme and they all where fine.
@FADN41 No he is not Neil's rival at all really, and I cannot sing! I'm not Neil Shicoff but just a fan and I know Neil and am a lot oder but Fritz was a different voice and Neil is a Lyric Spinto, not a good comparison. Compare Neil to someone like Alagna not Fritz --I don't like to get into it on you tube anyhow but most everyone has a different opinion. Anyhow I enjoy Wunderlich and early Di Stefano was great but not later.
@vinyltovideo I met one person in the 1960's who did hear him in Germany and said it carried fine and was great in Mozart as that's what he heard but he usually did not sing quite like this, yes here he seems to be doing a Lanza but it's terrific no matter what he did!
I don't know about power- I was not in house to hear him sing and that's the best way to judge volume but I did hear Di Stefano in Tosca and it was slightly bigger then Bergonzi's or Bjorling so I don't know but surely for lyric roles Fritz had what it takes of everything and a better technique then Di Stefano and he would have lasted longer surely because he did not sing as open and he sang with in his fach in opera. Di Stefano took risks and sang even Otello. Anyhow Fritz was terrific! RIP
Fantastic Lyric tenor cut short by a freak accident. He had it all the brain directing the voice and the voice and died before his prime was even reached. His voice had Italian warmth that most non Italian singers don't have and he had the even sound from the bottom to the top. Here he gives the song an all out Lanza approach, well sung Fritz! RIP
@SHICOFF1 I agree he pulls a Lanza on it, thought it's obvious no echo chamber is used here as was in the Lanza recording. Too bad it's in German but his Spanish would probably have been worse than Lanza's.
Very good singer, Please check Ramon Chavez Lopez, he is a cuban tenor, with a marvelous voice, such enough to be included in the 100 best singers of all times, thank you for your time
Although Wunderlich sang this song in German, he successfully sings in a way transcends any language barrier. I regret not knowing about Wunderlich earlier.
I want to see people paying homage to operatic greats such as Wunderlich without diminishing other artists.
I agree.It's unfortunate to witness how the immature seek to bolster their own limited selves by finding fault with those undoubtedly beyond their own level of accomplishment.
Granada? Really? That's the best piece you could chose for Wunderlich? Tamino? Belmonte? Lieder? Whatever. He's amazing. Would have been a phenomenal Heldentenor if the fates would have allowed him to live longer. Quintessential German lyric tenor.
Granada? Really? That's the best piece you could chose for Wunderlich? Tamino? Belmonte? Lieder? Whatever. He's amazing. Would have been a phenomenal Heldentenor if the fates would have allowed him to live longer. Quintessential German lyric tenor.
Wunderlich was one of the most consistent tenors I have ever heard. He is my model for German aria's such as "O Wie Angstlich" and "Dies Bildnis ist bezaubernd schön." Along with Buerling, Pavarotti and Gedda one of my very favorite singers.
@sdh418 I´m sorry, but Granada actually is a mexican song. Lara never visited Granada during his life, but he illustrated in the song his own fantasy of Granada. It´s a little bit of hairsplitting, I know - but perhaps it´s interesting to know... Mike
Würde ich gezwungen, den besten, einzigen Tenor zu ernennen, wahrscheinlich wäre er es. Über seine Qualitäten zu reden ist müßig. Er hatte alles, aber seine Musikalität und seine Höhe (Herr Florez, ein gesungenes C trotz einer Männerstimme, mal hinhören!!) sind einmalig. Selbst der von mir heiß geliebte Jussi bleibt ein wenig hinter Fritz, dem Einzigartigen! Singen in Perfektion, mit Seele und Können! Wie ich ihn vermisse!
Odd to pick this song as representative. I would have gone for one of the art songs he recorded (Schubert, Strouss, Hydn, etc.). But anyway, he is one of the top 50 singers.
I agree. Although Wunderlich is certainly among the best tenors ever recorded, this pop song isn't among his best recordings. It's pop and he sings it that way (albeit with masterful diction). Mezzo-forte to forte all the way through.
He sings it like Pop? Really? So, when does he come off of his voice? Where are all of the straight tones? When does he sacrifice the perfect placement of his voice? Come on man, you want Pop then go listen to Bocelli or Josh Groben, don't even think about putting Wunderlich in with that crowd. Wunderlich sings Granada with as much passion and commitment to technique as to almost anything else he ever sang. It is unleashed and uncontained.
Just a comment: This is an incredible project. Thanks Mr Mike for sharing all your musical culture. Thanks a lot. (The author is not Augustin. The correct is Agustin Lara. He had an strange life but great songs we use to sing and remember here in Mexico, his country.)
ich habe niemals eine solche interpretation von "granada" gehört!!!! herr wunderlich, sie gehörten zu den besten tenören der welt... wenn sie nicht sogar der beste ihrer zeit waren! ich ziehe meinen hut voller demut vor ihrer stimme.
Tragically he tripped on some steps and hit his head,never recovered, this was on17 September 1966,nine days before his 36th birthday. It happened at his hunting lodge near Heidelberg.
I think that it´s nice to have a 100 Greatest singers list,but everyone has there own special favourite top singers which is really what matters.(I have enjoyed Fritz Wunderlich now for over 30years)No:1?Your choice.
Develop to what? Oh my god, just the thought of topping THAT... Wasn't there a saying that the gods must have been jealous of his singing and took him to them to enjoy his voice forever?
He's in the top 1, I'd say. Incomparable beauty of voice and technique, naturalness, truth, and range: who else was a perfect Bach evangelist and Mozart tenor and sang Verdi and even Wagner as well as all the great tenor hits? Fritz for ever.
Sixth and final installment of the Wunderlich documentary was posted a few days ago on lochness11's site. After the closing credits, either Robert or the producers tacked on a delightful excerpt from a comic opera I couldn't identify, so our last thoughts are not on the senseless tragedy of his death but on his glorious singing and the sheer joy he had in performing. Many thanks, Robert!
I can't take this lovely song sung in German!.. I'm sorry, but I would prefer he would be singing something by German or Austrian composers in native language for 100 singers collection... at the same time, voice is indeed gloriuous and very impressive and I would certainly include him being included int the list
Not a Great fan of german singers but he was right at the top Doesn't do anything for me but he is admired by many and the german people take as much pride in him as the Italians do In caruso .. Stolz [not sure of spelling]
Lochness11 just posted the 5th--& apparently next-to-last installment of the FW documentary, with Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau saying with a condescending smile that FW's worries about his voice filling the huge new Met were unnecessary because "there was always a bit of amplification" used.
This is the first I've heard about this in 50 years of following the Met, & find it impossible to believe a purist like Bing allowed any such thing. I now dislike "Professor Dr. Lied" even more than ever.
@bobzeschin The MET does amplify off-stage voices, but not on-stage singers. So Caravadossi in the Tosca torture scene may be amplified (it would be insane to have him fill the opera house with his voice from a different room), but Wunderlich would not have been.
@piasecznik OK, the Met may use amplification in isolated instances (and I never saw it done in all the performances there that I supered in, including Tosca). but that doesn't give Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau the right to imply, with that infuriating smirk, that they would have had to mike mein geliebter Fritz.
Amazing! It is such a shame he died so young. It was a real tragedy. Just think what would've happened if he lived just 10 years more, or was even alive today...
What di Stefano did for Italian, Wunderlich did for German. I would say that this Granada is still BY FAR the best I've heard, even with Corelli's. He was also an excellent horn player with musical gifts far beyond his voice itself. If we named the 3 most beautiful tenor voices of all, Wunderlich's would be one of them. Compare his Tamino with anyone else's. (there is an excellent 1964 recording of the whole opera) They shame in comparison. He could sing in messa voce, full volume, anything.
In my humble opinion that is best version from Granada. The power his voice is over all other singers. He is singing a lied without to change his voice manners, is really a complete beautiful voice.
My second-favorite Youtube impresario, lochness11, just posted the first 2 parts of a terrific German documentary about FW, complete with home movies & captivating reminiscences from family, friends, & colleagues. His old singing teacher's an absolute treasure, as is the story of Josef Traxel & Wolfgang Windgassen conspiring to give him his big break as Tamino in Stuttgart. Best of all, ENGLISH SUBTITLES!
Check it out & please nag Robert to post the rest of it ASAP!
Scottish Bob has posted the third & fourth parts of the documentary since my post a month ago, and from the looks of things, there will be one or two more segments. They're heartbreaking to watch, because you know what's waiting for him in that hunting lodge in September, 1966!
The most beautiful tenor sound ever in my opinion. Just light and beautiful. Each note is caressed carefully and each has such spin to it! This man had no breaks in his spin which is rare for any singer. Beautiful. Absolutely wonderful technique on a naturally gorgeous sound. His is one of the saddest stories in history. Such talent (if not GENIUS) taken at such a young age. BRAVO FRITZ!!!
lol ? corellis granada is definitly the worst of all time, by comparing with rgeat tenors. corelli wasnt made to sing in spanish. but pavarottis granada was just bad too. the best voices for granada were domingo wunderlich lanza.
Wunderlich certainly belongs on this list of 100 Greatest Singers, and this is one his most exciting recordings. The other tenors I would include are Franco Corelli, Jussi Bjoerling, Jon Vickers, Enrico Caruso, Jose Carreras, and Charles Kullmann, some of whom were not chosen. :-(
Who knows what Wunderlich might have accomplished had he not died so young. Pearlmuth3 says it all. And Sutherland praised Wunderlich for his uncanny sight-reading ability.
Sutherland talks about Wunderlich's sight-reading ability in her autobiography. It appears there was a mix-up in performing a Handel opera, in which Wunderlich and another tenor (I don't remember whom) had mistakenly both studied the same role. Wunderlich was either asked or volunteered to perform the other tenor role--with virtually no preparation--and was successful in learning the music by means of sight-reading.
And the opera was Alcina - it was a radio concert an recording in cologne, Sutherland was called in at short notice for the title role, and Monti should have sung Ruggiero, the bigger of two tenor roles.
By mistake he and Wunderlich had studied Oronte. So Wunderlich took over the other part he had never sung, seen or heard before.
The recording is available at DGG - very impressive!
Who, by the way, is also a great tenor. Not totally up to a Wunderlich level, but also with a really pleasant voice. There's a great All'Idea with Panerai and Monti on YouTube.
@100Singers Wow. Nicola Monti, Joan Sutherland and Fritz Wunderlich in the same opera? Is there a recording? I love Monti, and of course Sutherland and Wunderlich.
Che bellissima voce!As I have said before,Fritz was one of the greatest lyric tenors of any era.Wonderful technique,seamless legato and what a gorgeous timbre and tone he possessed.Such a shame he died so young.I have no doubt that had he lived longer and sang in the US (Met,etc.),he would have been a huge international success.He would have had no problems with an Italian repertoire with his superb phrasing and diction.Bravo Wunderlich e grazie mille!
he was perhaps the most beautiful lyric tenor after gigli and surely was as great a voice as pav or bjorling but died young in his 30's after a fall. HE could do anthing with his lyric voice here he sings all out in a Lanza fashion his Mozart was state of the arts and he was singing arias in original Italian when he died from the accident he fell down and broke his neck. His met debut was in 2 weeks.
How is this Granada better than Lanza's? Doesn't even come close. I assume you were drunk when you wrote your summary. Nonetheless, Wunderlich deserves to be on your top 100 list.
crapfacejoe 2 months ago
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jaketaz 1 month ago
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@crapfacejoe
Okay, explain in objective terms how Lanza's is better. Objective - that means no adjectives describing your personal taste.
jaketaz 1 month ago
@FabDN41 Thanks--- I wish I could sing but no I cannot, however I do know Neil and his lovely wife for many years now. I heard him first in 1979 in Chicago, it was in Boheme with Sam Ramey and Leonie Mitchell also in the cast. All 3 where making a Chicago debut. Seats then where like $20 --- I went several times to that same Boheme and they all where fine.
SHICOFF1 8 months ago
@FADN41 No he is not Neil's rival at all really, and I cannot sing! I'm not Neil Shicoff but just a fan and I know Neil and am a lot oder but Fritz was a different voice and Neil is a Lyric Spinto, not a good comparison. Compare Neil to someone like Alagna not Fritz --I don't like to get into it on you tube anyhow but most everyone has a different opinion. Anyhow I enjoy Wunderlich and early Di Stefano was great but not later.
SHICOFF1 8 months ago
@vinyltovideo I met one person in the 1960's who did hear him in Germany and said it carried fine and was great in Mozart as that's what he heard but he usually did not sing quite like this, yes here he seems to be doing a Lanza but it's terrific no matter what he did!
SHICOFF1 8 months ago
I don't know about power- I was not in house to hear him sing and that's the best way to judge volume but I did hear Di Stefano in Tosca and it was slightly bigger then Bergonzi's or Bjorling so I don't know but surely for lyric roles Fritz had what it takes of everything and a better technique then Di Stefano and he would have lasted longer surely because he did not sing as open and he sang with in his fach in opera. Di Stefano took risks and sang even Otello. Anyhow Fritz was terrific! RIP
SHICOFF1 8 months ago
@FADN41 YES THIS IS THE VERY BEST OF IT AND IT WOULD HAVE BEEN THE BEST NO MATTER WHAT LANGUAGE HE SANG IT IN. LOSING HIM AT 35 WAS A GREAT TRAGEDY.
SHICOFF1 8 months ago
Fantastic Lyric tenor cut short by a freak accident. He had it all the brain directing the voice and the voice and died before his prime was even reached. His voice had Italian warmth that most non Italian singers don't have and he had the even sound from the bottom to the top. Here he gives the song an all out Lanza approach, well sung Fritz! RIP
SHICOFF1 8 months ago
@SHICOFF1 I agree he pulls a Lanza on it, thought it's obvious no echo chamber is used here as was in the Lanza recording. Too bad it's in German but his Spanish would probably have been worse than Lanza's.
VinylToVideo 8 months ago
Wunderbar, Wunderlich
mizofan 8 months ago
Fritz Wunderlich is on top of my list.
umbdude 8 months ago
Very good singer, Please check Ramon Chavez Lopez, he is a cuban tenor, with a marvelous voice, such enough to be included in the 100 best singers of all times, thank you for your time
ramonchavezcu 10 months ago
I've been a permanent Lanza's fan since my childhood, but this Fritz Wunderlich
goes far beyond my idol. ZERBIS is right: "the absolete best".
7cinefilo 10 months ago
One of the best voices!
Kenshin22able 1 year ago
Just discovered this quote about Fritz from the American soprano Evelyn Lear:
"... And my God, he was the greatest - he was actually the greatest tenor that I have ever had the good fortune to perform with and to hear."
justaprojection 1 year ago
DABUTEN
Dabarfer 1 year ago
One of the greatest voices of all time!!
zerblis 1 year ago 2
What a great project! The surefooted selection of recordings show off all these incredible singers in the best possible light. Thank you!
TarrytownMusicHall 1 year ago
Although Wunderlich sang this song in German, he successfully sings in a way transcends any language barrier. I regret not knowing about Wunderlich earlier.
rosagorda 1 year ago
Forget the greatest 100. This guy is top ten. Hell, probably the absolute best.
zerblis 1 year ago 14
I want to see people paying homage to operatic greats such as Wunderlich without diminishing other artists.
rosagorda 1 year ago
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@rosagorda
2 months ago
I want to see people paying homage to operatic greats such as Wunderlich without diminishing other artists.
I agree.It's unfortunate to witness how the immature seek to bolster their own limited selves by finding fault with those undoubtedly beyond their own level of accomplishment.
benalbanach 1 year ago
perchè i più bravi vivono cosi' poco?....magnifico Fritz sei nella storia.
brodillo47 1 year ago
Gran voz, magnifico tenor de corta vida, pero que dejo bellos registros para la posteridad.
lpizzella 1 year ago
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Granada? Really? That's the best piece you could chose for Wunderlich? Tamino? Belmonte? Lieder? Whatever. He's amazing. Would have been a phenomenal Heldentenor if the fates would have allowed him to live longer. Quintessential German lyric tenor.
OKelleyPaidir 1 year ago
Granada? Really? That's the best piece you could chose for Wunderlich? Tamino? Belmonte? Lieder? Whatever. He's amazing. Would have been a phenomenal Heldentenor if the fates would have allowed him to live longer. Quintessential German lyric tenor.
OKelleyPaidir 1 year ago
He is perfect.Without diminishing others - he is my favorite tenor!
znbr1 1 year ago
Along with Pavarotti and Di Stefano my favorite tenor.
castorp278 2 years ago
Sometimes I think it is the MOST beautiful voice I've ever heard!
pellmeli 2 years ago 4
I would rather have heard him sing Mozart - but he's on my top 5 list. One of the greatest voices.
tomfroekjaer 2 years ago
¡Espectacular!
pedurrod 2 years ago
who's a really good tenor. so far i really like david phelps the best but i want to hear other great tenors.
bslinkymi112 2 years ago
Wunderlich's wonderful voice is a joy to listen to. His untimely death left a huge void in the international opera world.
Ar dheis De go raibh a anam dhilis.
gayopera1 2 years ago 2
FENOMENAL!!!!!!!
aurekiko 2 years ago 2
Spectacular. Right there with Pavarotti and Bjoerling for vocal splendor and superb diction.
rainbowland550 2 years ago 3
Wunderlich was one of the most consistent tenors I have ever heard. He is my model for German aria's such as "O Wie Angstlich" and "Dies Bildnis ist bezaubernd schön." Along with Buerling, Pavarotti and Gedda one of my very favorite singers.
jpcs1st 2 years ago 2
Ich liebe Wunderlich, Schmidt und Lanza. Ich bin selbst lyrischer Tenor. Mein Tonumfang reicht bis zum hohen F!
Das Beste Granada neben Lanza und Corelli!!!!!!!!!!!
tenorhighf 2 years ago
Unqualifizierter Kommentar:
Er singt so klar und deutlich, daß man jedes Wort versteht!
So wunderbar!
MaryStuart53 2 years ago
....really great...but I wish it was in Italian.....
j72050 2 years ago
granada is actually a spanish song
sdh418 2 years ago
@sdh418 I´m sorry, but Granada actually is a mexican song. Lara never visited Granada during his life, but he illustrated in the song his own fantasy of Granada. It´s a little bit of hairsplitting, I know - but perhaps it´s interesting to know... Mike
100Singers 2 years ago 5
i was referring to the language, and answering j72050's comment above, "i wish it were in italian"
sdh418 2 years ago
You are correct. But I guess sdh418 just meant to say the original score is in Spanish.
pedurrod 2 years ago
@100Singers : Granada...although it has a Spanish flavor...... is Mexican... you are correct.
rosagorda 1 year ago
the comositor, I think, and I repeat , I think is from southamerica
Scarpia90 2 years ago
This is a real man singing!!!!!!
detko 2 years ago 3
Würde ich gezwungen, den besten, einzigen Tenor zu ernennen, wahrscheinlich wäre er es. Über seine Qualitäten zu reden ist müßig. Er hatte alles, aber seine Musikalität und seine Höhe (Herr Florez, ein gesungenes C trotz einer Männerstimme, mal hinhören!!) sind einmalig. Selbst der von mir heiß geliebte Jussi bleibt ein wenig hinter Fritz, dem Einzigartigen! Singen in Perfektion, mit Seele und Können! Wie ich ihn vermisse!
tenorvoicefan 2 years ago 12
I listened to him when he was alive and I was devestated at his demise. He sang beautiful Mozart.
aristopus 2 years ago
Odd to pick this song as representative. I would have gone for one of the art songs he recorded (Schubert, Strouss, Hydn, etc.). But anyway, he is one of the top 50 singers.
tomwestbrook 2 years ago
I agree. Although Wunderlich is certainly among the best tenors ever recorded, this pop song isn't among his best recordings. It's pop and he sings it that way (albeit with masterful diction). Mezzo-forte to forte all the way through.
gallusman 2 years ago
@gallusman
He sings it like Pop? Really? So, when does he come off of his voice? Where are all of the straight tones? When does he sacrifice the perfect placement of his voice? Come on man, you want Pop then go listen to Bocelli or Josh Groben, don't even think about putting Wunderlich in with that crowd. Wunderlich sings Granada with as much passion and commitment to technique as to almost anything else he ever sang. It is unleashed and uncontained.
Long Live Fritz Wunderlich!
Vaelsung1 2 years ago 4
his «Das Trinklied vom Jammer der Erde» from Das lied von der Erde in the Klemperer version is breathtaking. It's an aesthetic shock to me.
His voice is beautifull.
lexico77 2 years ago 3
That is so sad that he died at 36, he is briliant.
idoltyler06 2 years ago
Maestro Wunderlich a very good singer, He is in my opinion up there with Maestro Battistini (bass), Caruso, Gogorza, Di Stefano, ancora.
jbeer82 2 years ago
this was pretty intense even scary at the beginnnig, it was also weird, did he ever sing this in spanish?
SiEtIn1 2 years ago
This comment has received too many negative votes show
I have to disagree with Mike about Mr. Fritz Wunderlich being amoung the greatest, but he certainly was a capable tenor.
EmilyGreene1984 2 years ago
Just a comment: This is an incredible project. Thanks Mr Mike for sharing all your musical culture. Thanks a lot. (The author is not Augustin. The correct is Agustin Lara. He had an strange life but great songs we use to sing and remember here in Mexico, his country.)
2000ryg 2 years ago
I love, love, love this man's voice. To get an idea of his keen sensitivity, listen to him sing "Ombra mai fu". It brought me to tears...
skyhunk 2 years ago
I did not realise that was a C at the end.
Well, as I like the song and LOVE the voice that is what is important to give one pleasure.
RondalaC 2 years ago
this is some singing, His voice matured, a mere five or six years earlier his high high b flats and c's were tight sounding.. This is super.
kgarmaker123 2 years ago
oh
mein
gott!!!
ich habe niemals eine solche interpretation von "granada" gehört!!!! herr wunderlich, sie gehörten zu den besten tenören der welt... wenn sie nicht sogar der beste ihrer zeit waren! ich ziehe meinen hut voller demut vor ihrer stimme.
robynnecyndie 2 years ago
that is "C" in the end! It fantastic.
On the other hand, Wunderlich is one of my favourite tenor!
He was a genious...
:)
zongorista 2 years ago 3
Is this a "D" in the end?
zongorista 2 years ago
Tragically he tripped on some steps and hit his head,never recovered, this was on17 September 1966,nine days before his 36th birthday. It happened at his hunting lodge near Heidelberg.
twlldinbachdel 2 years ago
Fritz Wunderlich was a guest at German newspaper tycoon Burda's hunting lodge on September 17, 1966 when the tragic accident happened.
Not only days before his 36th birthday but also only a few weeks before his scheduled much anticipated debut at the MET.
What a tremendously tragic loss for the music world. He will be unforgotten.
energyglobal 2 years ago 2
Ja, he has such a good voice.
Ach, it's a shame he left uns all too soon.
I belief he died in a car accident.
Gott habe ihn selig!
JohnnyKutz 2 years ago
I think that it´s nice to have a 100 Greatest singers list,but everyone has there own special favourite top singers which is really what matters.(I have enjoyed Fritz Wunderlich now for over 30years)No:1?Your choice.
RondalaC 2 years ago
Stupendous voice as always! What a loss for humanity!
cubanbach 2 years ago 3
This is such a lousy song, and in german too...Well the voice is terrific
mozzrt 2 years ago
Nobody has been able to top Fritz singing "Granada"!!! What a Voice♪♫♪♪♫♥♥♥
crazyovermozart 2 years ago 3
"Granada" is a good choice to show Wunderlichs talents. Recorded one year before his death. How he would develop ...
greghauser 2 years ago
@greghauser
Develop to what? Oh my god, just the thought of topping THAT... Wasn't there a saying that the gods must have been jealous of his singing and took him to them to enjoy his voice forever?
grimmrad 8 months ago
He's in the top 1, I'd say. Incomparable beauty of voice and technique, naturalness, truth, and range: who else was a perfect Bach evangelist and Mozart tenor and sang Verdi and even Wagner as well as all the great tenor hits? Fritz for ever.
justaprojection 2 years ago 4
Never mind the top 100... Fritz is in the top 10
Kentoo48 2 years ago 3
Bravo I love it and it is beyond words
matboi07 2 years ago
Sixth and final installment of the Wunderlich documentary was posted a few days ago on lochness11's site. After the closing credits, either Robert or the producers tacked on a delightful excerpt from a comic opera I couldn't identify, so our last thoughts are not on the senseless tragedy of his death but on his glorious singing and the sheer joy he had in performing. Many thanks, Robert!
bobzeschin 2 years ago
I can't take this lovely song sung in German!.. I'm sorry, but I would prefer he would be singing something by German or Austrian composers in native language for 100 singers collection... at the same time, voice is indeed gloriuous and very impressive and I would certainly include him being included int the list
georgia2b 2 years ago
The top 100 list is ridiculous because it doesn't include Corelli.
tdeane34 2 years ago
Call me crazy but anybody hears a resemblance with Corelli's technique?
hologramlink108 3 years ago
Best version ever heard!
hologramlink108 3 years ago
Not a Great fan of german singers but he was right at the top Doesn't do anything for me but he is admired by many and the german people take as much pride in him as the Italians do In caruso .. Stolz [not sure of spelling]
lpvcrcd 3 years ago
Full lyric sound paired with perfect placement... not to mention the fact that his voice is one of the most beautiful ever. This is singing.
Mooorhe 3 years ago
Lochness11 just posted the 5th--& apparently next-to-last installment of the FW documentary, with Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau saying with a condescending smile that FW's worries about his voice filling the huge new Met were unnecessary because "there was always a bit of amplification" used.
This is the first I've heard about this in 50 years of following the Met, & find it impossible to believe a purist like Bing allowed any such thing. I now dislike "Professor Dr. Lied" even more than ever.
bobzeschin 3 years ago
@bobzeschin The MET does amplify off-stage voices, but not on-stage singers. So Caravadossi in the Tosca torture scene may be amplified (it would be insane to have him fill the opera house with his voice from a different room), but Wunderlich would not have been.
piasecznik 1 year ago
@piasecznik OK, the Met may use amplification in isolated instances (and I never saw it done in all the performances there that I supered in, including Tosca). but that doesn't give Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau the right to imply, with that infuriating smirk, that they would have had to mike mein geliebter Fritz.
bobzeschin 1 year ago
@piasecznik I was standing right next to Jonas Kauffman in the wings of the MET during the torture scene and he was not amplified.
ah332 1 year ago
the greatest...ever
ah332 3 years ago
I first heard this sung in 1971 and have been a devotee of Fritz Wunderlich ever since.
It does not matter ifabout not understanding the languages as the voice and feeling is there.Just listen and enjoy.
So sad about his tragic death so young.
RondalaC 3 years ago
Amazing! It is such a shame he died so young. It was a real tragedy. Just think what would've happened if he lived just 10 years more, or was even alive today...
jeffro887 3 years ago
What di Stefano did for Italian, Wunderlich did for German. I would say that this Granada is still BY FAR the best I've heard, even with Corelli's. He was also an excellent horn player with musical gifts far beyond his voice itself. If we named the 3 most beautiful tenor voices of all, Wunderlich's would be one of them. Compare his Tamino with anyone else's. (there is an excellent 1964 recording of the whole opera) They shame in comparison. He could sing in messa voce, full volume, anything.
GermanOperaSinger 3 years ago
In my humble opinion that is best version from Granada. The power his voice is over all other singers. He is singing a lied without to change his voice manners, is really a complete beautiful voice.
Gotthard38 3 years ago 4
My second-favorite Youtube impresario, lochness11, just posted the first 2 parts of a terrific German documentary about FW, complete with home movies & captivating reminiscences from family, friends, & colleagues. His old singing teacher's an absolute treasure, as is the story of Josef Traxel & Wolfgang Windgassen conspiring to give him his big break as Tamino in Stuttgart. Best of all, ENGLISH SUBTITLES!
Check it out & please nag Robert to post the rest of it ASAP!
bobzeschin 3 years ago
bobzeschin - Thanks for telling us about the documentary. Going to check it out now!
spress15 3 years ago
Scottish Bob has posted the third & fourth parts of the documentary since my post a month ago, and from the looks of things, there will be one or two more segments. They're heartbreaking to watch, because you know what's waiting for him in that hunting lodge in September, 1966!
bobzeschin 3 years ago
The most beautiful tenor sound ever in my opinion. Just light and beautiful. Each note is caressed carefully and each has such spin to it! This man had no breaks in his spin which is rare for any singer. Beautiful. Absolutely wonderful technique on a naturally gorgeous sound. His is one of the saddest stories in history. Such talent (if not GENIUS) taken at such a young age. BRAVO FRITZ!!!
Iareto 3 years ago 3
great of course. His Granada may be the best, but I wouldn't say "by far" while Lanza and Corelli are around. :D
Wonderful postings ;-)
ShawDAMAN 3 years ago
lol ? corellis granada is definitly the worst of all time, by comparing with rgeat tenors. corelli wasnt made to sing in spanish. but pavarottis granada was just bad too. the best voices for granada were domingo wunderlich lanza.
stybboon 3 years ago
Congratulations for your brave statement and the rightness of your words!
100Singers 3 years ago
@stybboon juan diego doesn't do too badly either... in fact after wunderlich my favorite
DavidoffGustav 1 year ago
Wunderlich certainly belongs on this list of 100 Greatest Singers, and this is one his most exciting recordings. The other tenors I would include are Franco Corelli, Jussi Bjoerling, Jon Vickers, Enrico Caruso, Jose Carreras, and Charles Kullmann, some of whom were not chosen. :-(
billyguns2 3 years ago 2
Who knows what Wunderlich might have accomplished had he not died so young. Pearlmuth3 says it all. And Sutherland praised Wunderlich for his uncanny sight-reading ability.
meltzerboy 3 years ago
Ooh. Could you tell us more about, or where we could find more information about this "uncanny sightreading ability"?
forallyouknow 3 years ago
Sutherland talks about Wunderlich's sight-reading ability in her autobiography. It appears there was a mix-up in performing a Handel opera, in which Wunderlich and another tenor (I don't remember whom) had mistakenly both studied the same role. Wunderlich was either asked or volunteered to perform the other tenor role--with virtually no preparation--and was successful in learning the music by means of sight-reading.
meltzerboy 3 years ago
The other tenor was Nicola Monti.
100Singers 3 years ago
And the opera was Alcina - it was a radio concert an recording in cologne, Sutherland was called in at short notice for the title role, and Monti should have sung Ruggiero, the bigger of two tenor roles.
By mistake he and Wunderlich had studied Oronte. So Wunderlich took over the other part he had never sung, seen or heard before.
The recording is available at DGG - very impressive!
vully70 3 years ago
Who, by the way, is also a great tenor. Not totally up to a Wunderlich level, but also with a really pleasant voice. There's a great All'Idea with Panerai and Monti on YouTube.
piasecznik 2 years ago
@100Singers Wow. Nicola Monti, Joan Sutherland and Fritz Wunderlich in the same opera? Is there a recording? I love Monti, and of course Sutherland and Wunderlich.
piasecznik 1 year ago
Great voice and great style.
Kallistos07 3 years ago 2
Here, it's a great level! Wunderlich had a great voice, unique!
petrof4056 3 years ago 2
Che bellissima voce!As I have said before,Fritz was one of the greatest lyric tenors of any era.Wonderful technique,seamless legato and what a gorgeous timbre and tone he possessed.Such a shame he died so young.I have no doubt that had he lived longer and sang in the US (Met,etc.),he would have been a huge international success.He would have had no problems with an Italian repertoire with his superb phrasing and diction.Bravo Wunderlich e grazie mille!
CraigFrancisSoto 3 years ago 6
he was perhaps the most beautiful lyric tenor after gigli and surely was as great a voice as pav or bjorling but died young in his 30's after a fall. HE could do anthing with his lyric voice here he sings all out in a Lanza fashion his Mozart was state of the arts and he was singing arias in original Italian when he died from the accident he fell down and broke his neck. His met debut was in 2 weeks.
pearlmuth3 3 years ago 3
I am completely agree with you, but, i've to say, i love also other beautiful kind of voice that enriched our multiform soul.
avidiaa 3 years ago