FRITZ WUNDERLICH LIVE ON STAGE 74:22
All MONO recordings except tr. 11

MOZART: Die Zauberflöte
1 Dies Bildnis ist bezaubernd schön
2 Soll ich dich, Teurer, nie mehr sehn?
with Anneliese Rothenberger, Karl Kohn
3 Holde Flöte
4 Mich schreckt kein Tod
5 Tamino mein! – Wir wandelten durch Feuergluten – Triumpf
with Claude Heater, Albrecht Peter, Anneliese Rothenberger
Orchester der Bayerischen Staatsoper, Fritz Rieger
(Munich)

MOZART: Don Giovanni
6 Come mai – Dalla sua pace
7 Amici miei - Il mio tesoro intanto
Orchester der Wiener Staatsoper, Herbert von Karajan

ROSSINI: Der Barbier von Sevilla
8 Sieh schon die Morgenröte
9 Strahlt auf mich der Blitz des Goldes
with Eberhard Wächter
Orchester der Wiener Staatsoper, Karl Böhm

RICHARD STRAUSS: Capriccio
10 Addio, mia vita
with Lucia Popp, Lisa Della Casa, Robert Kerns, Waldemar Kmentt, Walter Berry
Orchester der Wiener Staatsoper, Georges Prêtre

RICHARD STRAUSS: Daphne
11 Leukippos, du?
with Hilde Güden, Vera Little
Wiener Symphoniker, Karl Böhm

RICHARD STRAUSS: Der Rosenkavalier
12 Di rigori armato il seno
with Kurt Böhme, Josef Knapp
Orchester der Bayer. Staatsoper, Rudolf Kempe

RICHARD STRAUSS: Die schweigsame Frau
13 Du süssester Engel! (Finalszene 2. Akt)
with Ingeborg Hallstein, Kurt Böhme
Orchester der Bayerischen Staatsoper; Heinz Wallberg

MOZART: Die Entführung aus dem Serail
14 Hier soll ich Dich denn sehen, Konstanze
15 Konstanze, Dich wiederzusehen
Orchester der Wiener Staatsoper, Josef Krips

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“The ‘sudden’ impact of this artist’s singing is so spontaneous, so dead right, we just dispense with all the analytical microscopy, sit back and delight in the forceful combination of a sunlit Mediterranean voice quality blended with a Central European musical and dramatic intelligence that only a truly charismatic tenor can provide. Amongst his amazing achievements he certainly proved that Mozart could be done with directness and clarity without sacrificing any of the interpretive sophistication that composer demanded, and he showed a whole generation that Richard Strauss did not present insurmountable vocal challenges to tenors who know what they’re doing.” - Joseph Calleja

Fritz Wunderlich, Germany's greatest tenor in the 20th century - and one of the greatest tenors of all time - would have celebrated his 80th birthday on 26 September 2010. We commemorate the occasion with an exceptional album of Magic Moments - arias and scenes, almost all first-time releases, taken from live performances at the Vienna State Opera and the Bavarian State Opera, recorded between 1963 and 1966, the year of Wunderlich's death.

The music is by Mozart (The Magic Flute, The Abduction from the Seraglio, Don Giovanni), Rossini (The Barber of Seville - sung in German!) and Richard Strauss (Capriccio, Der Rosenkavalier, Daphne, Die schweigsame Frau) - full details above.

The live quality of the recordings - meticuloulsy remastered by our engineers at the Emil Berliner Studios - gives an extra frisson to Wunderlich's calling-card, the portrait aria from Magic Flute (Dies Bildnis ist bezaubernd schön), to the high jinks of The Barber, and to the Tenor's Aria from Rosenkavalier.

Also present on the recording: the great Anneliese Rothenberger, who died just recently (Pamina) and Lucia Popp in Strauss's Capriccio.

Conductors include Herbert von Karajan, Karl Böhm, Josef Krips and Georges Prêtre. Many of the performacnes are the from the premières of the productions in question.