Gerard Souzay Liebesbotschaft (Schubert Schwanengesang)

Schubert D. 957 Liebesbotschaft from Schwanengesang sung by Gerard Souzay

Gérard Souzay's public appearances began in 1945 with recitals and concerts, including a performance of Fauré's Requiem in a centenary tribute to the composer at the Royal Albert Hall in London. He rapidly established an international career as a recitalist, admired not only in French music but also for his command of the German repertoire, especially Schubert and Schumann. In recital, his first accompanist was Jacqueline Bonneau (who had been his contemporary at the Paris Conservatoire), but she was reluctant to travel and from 1954 onwards he formed a close partnership with the American pianist Dalton Baldwin which continued for the rest of his career.
Souzay's exceptional linguistic gifts enabled him to sing convincingly in 13 different languages including Hebrew, Portuguese and Russian. In contemporary music he performed in Honegger's La danse des morts and in the world première of Stravinsky's Canticum sacrum. The composer Jacques Leguerney (1906-1997) wrote many songs for Souzay and for his sister.
His operatic career began in 1947 in Cimarosa's Il matrimonio segreto at the Festival d'Aix-en-Provence, but it was not until the late 1950s that he extended his stage work - though even then it did not take precedence over his recitals. His roles included Monteverdi's Orfeo, Mozart's Don Giovanni and Almaviva in The Marriage of Figaro, Lescaut in Massenet's Manon, and Méphistophélès in Berlioz's La damnation de Faust. One of his favorite and most successful roles was Golaud in Debussy's Pelléas et Mélisande.
He did little operatic work after the 1960s, but continued his recital career, finally retiring from performance in the late 1980s. He spent the last years of his life giving master classes in the United States, Europe and Japan: he was an inspiring teacher, preferring to work on phrasing and the mood of a song rather than French diction.
He was a keen abstract painter, and in 1983 he published a book Sur mon chemin: pensées et dessins [1] in which a selection of his paintings was accompanied by his written commentary, on art and life. He died at his home in Antibes in the south of France on 17 August 2004.
- Wikipedia
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Obituary:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/2004/aug/18/guardianobituaries.france

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Gerard
• Liebesbotschaft
• Schubert:
• sings
• Souzay
• schwanengesang

[gwain30]

Can someone give me the date of this music????

[MauriceFlute]

iz nice

[olobbus]

I've been wanting to hear this forever.

[zerline1]

Délicieux !

[pianomags]

God I LOVE this man's voice so much :)

[VoceVersatile]

Outstanding performance - such perfect diction, delicacy and fluidity. He kept things moving and did not slow up too much. Hermann Prey has a fabulous voice but I prefer this version. Thank you Vstasov.