Program Notes - Lincoln Center`s Great Performers

The Program
Wednesday Evening, April 20, 2016, at 7:30
Art of the Song
Matthias Goerne, Baritone
Alexander Schmalcz, Piano
SCHUMANN Der Einsiedler (1850)
Einsamkeit (1850)
Requiem (1850)
EISLER Selections from Hollywood Liederbuch (1942–43)
Hotelzimmer 1942
Die Maske des Bösen
An den kleinen Radioapparat
Frühling
Auf der Flucht
Über den Selbstmord
Die Flucht
Die Landschaft des Exils
WOLF Harfenspieler I: Wer sich der Einsamkeit ergibt (1888)
Harfenspieler III: Wer nie sein Brot mit Tränen aß
Harfenspieler II: An die Türen will ich schleichen
Intermission
Please make certain all your electronic devices are switched off.
This performance is made possible in part by the Josie Robertson Fund for Lincoln Center.
Steinway Piano
Alice Tully Hall, Starr Theater
Adrienne Arsht Stage
Great Performers
BNY Mellon is Lead Supporter of Great Performers
Support is provided by Rita E. and Gustave M. Hauser, Audrey Love Charitable Foundation,
Great Performers Circle, Chairman’s Council, and Friends of Lincoln Center.
Public support is provided by the New York State Council on the Arts.
Endowment support for Symphonic Masters is provided by the Leon Levy Fund.
Endowment support is also provided by UBS.
MetLife is the National Sponsor of Lincoln Center
UPCOMING GREAT PERFORMERS EVENTS:
Sunday Afternoon, May 8, 2016 at 3:00 in David Geffen Hall
Murray Perahia, Piano
HAYDN: Variations in F minor
MOZART: Sonata in A minor, K.310
BRAHMS: Ballade in G minor, Op. 118
BRAHMS: Two Intermezzos, Op. 119
BRAHMS: Intermezzo in A major, Op. 118
BRAHMS: Capriccio in D minor, Op. 116
BEETHOVEN: Sonata No. 29 in B-flat major (“Hammerklavier”)
Thursday–Saturday Evenings, June 2–4 at 7:30 in the Rose Theater
The Importance of Being Earnest (U.S. stage premiere)
New York Philharmonic
Ilan Volkov, conductor
Simon Wilding, Lane/Merriman
Benedict Nelson, Algernon Moncrieff
Paul Curievici, John Worthing
Stephanie Marshall, Gwendolen Fairfax
Alan Ewing, Lady Bracknell
Hilary Summers, Miss Prism
Claudia Boyle, Cecily Cardew
Kevin West, Rev. Canon Chasuble
Gerald Barry, Composer and Librettist
Ramin Gray, Director
GERALD BARRY: The Importance of Being Earnest
Co-presented with CONTACT! at the NY Phil Biennial as part of the Lincoln Center–New
York Philharmonic Opera Initiative
Pre-performance discussion on Friday, June 3, at 6:15 with John Schaefer and Gerald Barry
For tickets, call (212) 721-6500 or visit LCGreatPerformers.org. Call the Lincoln Center Info
Request Line at (212) 875-5766 to learn about program cancellations or to request a Great
Performers brochure.
Visit LCGreatPerformers.org for more information relating to this season’s programs.
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We would like to remind you that the sound of coughing and rustling paper might
distract the performers and your fellow audience members.
In consideration of the performing artists and members of the audience, those who must
leave before the end of the performance are asked to do so between pieces. The taking
of photographs and the use of recording equipment are not allowed in the building.
Great Performers I The Program
EISLER Selections from Die Hollywood-Elegien (1942)
Unter den grünen Pfefferbäumen
Die Stadt ist nach den Engeln genannt
Jeden Morgen, mein Brot zu verdienen
Diese Stadt hat mich belehrt
In den Hügeln wird Gold gefunden
WOLF Grenzen der Menschheit (1889)
Sonne der Schlummerlosen (1896)
Morgenstimmung (1896)
EISLER Selections from Hollywood Liederbuch
Speisekammer 1942
Ostersonntag
Die letzte Elegie
Die Heimkehr
Wenn sie nachts lag und dachte (Der Sohn I)
EISLER Two Songs (after B. Pascal)
Despite these miseries, man wishes to be happy
The only thing which consoles us
EISLER Selections from Hollywood Liederbuch
Erinnerung an Eichendorff und Schumann
L’automne californien
SCHUMANN Abendlied (1851)
This performance is approximately 90 minutes long, including intermission.
Snapshot
Great Performers
By Thomas Denny
Timeframe
Veteran attendees of lieder recitals will likely
be struck by the free flow of this evening’s
program. Instead of clearly separated blocks
of songs, each typically featuring a single
composer, this program weaves back and
forth among songs by three composers. A
dynamic dialogue develops among the composers, each so different in style and temperament. Late songs by Schumann, a core
early Romantic composer, open and close
the program. Eight songs from Eisler’s
Hollywood Liederbuch (Hollywood Songbook) follow, settings of poems by Bertolt
Brecht composed during World War II.
Wolf’s late Romantic settings of the three
Harper’s songs from Goethe’s Wilhelm
Meisters Lehrjahre end the first half.
ARTS
After intermission comes a cohesive set of
five Die Hollywood-Elegien (Hollywood
Elegies), offering a trenchant critique of the
movie industry. A mixed group of three Wolf
songs follows, then an assortment of
Hollywood songs by Eisler. Schumann’s
“Abendlied” provides the final benediction.
The whole is greater than the parts, the
order far from random, and we in the audience are surely being invited to experience
these disparate works as a carefully constructed journey.
1850
Schumann’s
“Der Einsiedler”
Charles Dickens’s David
Copperfield, originally
published as a serial,
appears as a book.
1888
Wolf’s Harfenspieler I–III
Vincent van Gogh paints Le
café de nuit (The Night Café).
1942
Eisler’s Die HollywoodElegien
Albert Camus publishes The
Stranger.
SCIENCE
1850
The British Meteorological
Society is founded.
1888
The marine biology lab in
Woods Hole, Massachusetts,
is established.
1942
Eastman Kodak starts marketing color negative film.
IN NEW YORK
—Copyright © 2016 by Lincoln Center for the
Performing Arts, Inc.
1850
Steinway & Sons founder
Henry Steinway (né Heinrich
Steinweg) emigrates to New
York from Germany.
1888
Hugh Grant is mayor, known
for forcing the city’s utilities
to put their overhead wires
underground.
1942
Fiorello H. La Guardia
becomes the first mayor to
move into Gracie Mansion.
Notes on the Program
Great Performers I Notes on the Program
By Thomas Denny
Der Einsiedler, from Drei Gesänge, Op. 83, No. 3 (1850)
Einsamkeit and Requiem, from Sechs Gedichte von N. Lenau und
Requiem, Op. 90, Nos. 5 and 7 (1850)
Abendlied (1851)
ROBERT SCHUMANN
Born June 8, 1810, in Zwickau, Germany
Died July 29, 1856, in Endenich, Germany
Perhaps the most gifted melodist of the early Romantic generation—
a wonderful prose writer himself and finely attuned to poetry and
literature—Schumann came to song composition quite naturally. As a
composer, he was unusual for his tendency to immerse himself intensively in a single genre at a time, so it is customary to speak of
Schumann’s “chamber music year” or his “symphonic year” or “oratorio year.” Schumann also had two “lieder years.” The first was the spectacular flood of songs that came in 1840, the year of his long-awaited
marriage to Clara. Ten years later, spanning 1850 and 1851, Schumann
settled into another period of intense song output. In between, he composed almost no songs.
The late 1840s, the few years leading up to his second lieder year, were
an extraordinarily productive time in Schumann’s life. Politics in the
world outside were riven with revolutionary currents and uprisings, and
the Schumanns even had to flee Dresden briefly during the short-lived
revolution of May 1849. Yet Robert viewed this period as among his
most fruitful. During 1850, he and Clara were embarking on a new life
in Düsseldorf. He had accepted the position of municipal music director
in March 1850, and in September the couple arrived at their new home.
Schumann composed many songs during this optimistic transitional
period, including the opening three songs on this evening’s program,
composed in 1850, and the final “Abendlied” of 1851. “Einsamkeit”
was one of six poems by Nikolaus Lenau that Schumann set as a group
in August 1850. On learning that the poet had died, Schumann quickly
added the “Requiem” to be published along with the six. Schumann’s
information turned out to be false, as Lenau had not actually died at the
time he inspired his own requiem. Schumann’s effort was not in vain,
however, for the poet did die by the time of a private first performance.
There were many bright spots for the Schumanns early in the
Düsseldorf years: a successful opening concert with Clara as piano
soloist, important compositions, an idyllic vacation in Switzerland in
1851, and the entrance of Brahms into their lives in 1853. But Robert’s
trajectory was decidedly downward. Both his mental and physical health
were deteriorating, affecting his ability to conduct, and by late 1853 he
had no choice but to leave his job. His suicide attempt and institutionalization followed shortly.
Great Performers I Notes on the Program
Selections from Hollywood Liederbuch (1942–43)
Selections from Die Hollywood-Elegien (1942)
HANNS EISLER
Born July 6, 1898, in Leipzig, Germany
Died Sept 6, 1962, in Berlin
The Austrian-born Eisler studied composition with Arnold Schoenberg, the
modernist pioneer of atonality. The two parted ways in part because Eisler
came to view the modernist agenda as too isolating and rarefied, preferring to
use music in the service of his political commitment to Marxism. After moving
to Berlin in 1925, Eisler increasingly composed for theater and film—often
political in nature—and wrote marches and songs and other functional music
for use by the workers’ movement. He collaborated closely with his good
friend Bertolt Brecht. Eisler first visited America in the mid-1930s, and wrote
to friends about his fascination with the raw, naked style of capitalism at work
on this side of the Atlantic.
He fled Germany in 1938 and joined a flood of brilliant German emigrés in Los
Angeles, called the “Weimar on the Pacific.” With his talent and connections,
Eisler readily found work as a Hollywood composer. His relationship with the
“dream factories” was complex and full of ironies. Although he wrote an influential Marxist critique of Hollywood, he adapted to the compromises it
demanded and worked successfully in this bastion of profit motive. After the
war, Eisler’s Marxist leanings and activities brought him before the House UnAmerican Activities Committee in 1947 and he was deported in 1948.
Returning to a divided Germany, he chose to settle in the Communist East. He
continued to compose, including writing the East German national anthem.
Eisler’s Hollywood Liederbuch consists of over 40 short songs, written during
1942 and 1943. Settings of poems by Brecht dominate in the collection.
Embedded in the larger collection is a grouping of several songs under the title
Hollywood Elegien. Throughout the Liederbuch, the short poems and spare
musical settings offer distilled glimpses into the complexities of the emigré
experience, of being exiled from a war-torn home that was under the thumb
of a powerful “enemy.” An individual song might unpack the complex meanings of a simple object, a portable radio, or an old pipe of tobacco, or respond
to the changing landscapes seen as the refugee fled across the Pacific.
Eisler’s ironic take on his adopted refuge is front and center in the Hollywood
Elegien. There he explores how the City of Angels can be both heaven and
hell, depending on money, and reveals the ambivalence of the artists who
work in Hollywood, the marketplace of lies. Taken as a whole, Eisler’s
Hollywood songs provide a rich portrait of alienation. Matthias Goerne has
described the Hollywood Songbook as a 20th-century update of Schubert’s
Winterreise, that wrenching portrait of the alienated “wanderer”—a stranger
as he arrived, and a stranger as he departs. Rounding out the collection are
settings of a couple of meditations by Pascal, one poem by Berthold Viertel,
and, bringing this evening’s program full circle, one by Eichendorff, who was
one of Schumann’s favorite Romantic poets.
Great Performers I Notes on the Program
Harfenspieler I–III (1888)
Grenzen der Menschheit (1889)
Sonne der Schlummerlosen (1896)
Morgenstimmung (1896)
HUGO WOLF
Born March 13, 1860, in Slovenj Gradec, Slovenia
Died February 22, 1903, in Vienna
Although Wolf studied briefly at the Vienna Conservatory before leaving in a
scandal, he was essentially a self-taught composer. In his numerous early
songs, he studiously imitated the masters of song, Schubert and Schumann.
He composed little during a three-year stint as a sharp-penned music critic in
Vienna. As a fierce pro-Wagner partisan, he went into pitched battle with
Eduard Hanslick, the conservative critic and friend of Brahms. Wolf was
assertive enough to convince both Wagner and Brahms to look briefly at his
music; both casually advised the young Wolf to work at larger compositions.
But his true calling was clearly the lied, and his hundreds of songs stand as a
unique achievement in the post-Wagnerian history of the song.
Wolf’s mature songs date from two relatively brief periods. Immediately after
resigning as music critic, he threw himself into song composition while living
as the guest of friends in various quiet outlying villages. In 1888, songs
gushed from his pen. During this miraculous outpouring, he set numerous
poems by Mörike, Eichendorff, and finally, Goethe. He continued composing
fluently into 1891, when the flow suddenly stopped, a compositional drought
that lasted a couple of years. For much of his life, Wolf was consumed by the
desire to compose an opera and he completed Der Corregidor, which was
unsuccessful, in 1895. In 1896, he entered a second highly productive period
of song composition, before descending into syphilitic madness in early 1897.
In his final years, music became a source of unbearable torment for him and
he withdrew completely.
Wolf’s irascible, challenging personality contained a strong contrarian streak,
and when he mined a source of poetry—whether a popular anthology or a volume by a single poet—he often sought out unfamiliar poems from the collection. Not so with the Harper’s songs by Goethe. When Wolf immersed himself
in Goethe’s poetry in late 1888, setting 50 Goethe poems in four months, the
three Harper’s songs from Wilhelm Meister were the very first. Both Schubert
and Schumann had produced well-known settings of the same poems, a challenge Wolf seemed willing to confront.
Musicologist Thomas Denny, Professor Emeritus at Skidmore College, has
published and lectured extensively on the music of Franz Schubert, as well as
18th and 19th-century operatic topics.
—Copyright © 2016 by Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, Inc.
Great Performers I Texts and Translations
Der Einsiedler
ROBERT SCHUMANN
Text: Joseph Freiherr von Eichendorff
The Hermit
Komm, Trost der Welt, du stille
Nacht!
Wie steigst du von den Bergen sacht,
Die Lüfte alle schlafen,
Ein Schiffer nur noch, wandermüd’,
Singt übers Meer sein Abendlied
Zu Gottes Lob im Hafen.
Come, comfort of the world, you still
night!
How softly you climb from the hills!
The breezes are all sleeping,
only one sailor still, weary with travel,
sings across the sea an evening song
to praise God from the harbor.
Die Jahre wie die Wolken gehn
Und lassen mich hier einsam stehn,
Die Welt hat mich vergessen,
Da trat’st du wunderbar zu mir,
Wenn ich beim Waldesrauschen hier
Gedankenvoll gesessen.
The years go by like clouds
and leave me standing here alone;
the world has forgotten me.
Then amazingly, you came to me
when I was here by the rustling wood,
sitting lost in thought.
O Trost der Welt, du stille Nacht!
Der Tag hat mich so müd’ gemacht,
Das weite Meer schon dunkelt,
Laß ausruhn mich von Lust und Not,
Bis daß das ew’ge Morgenrot
Den stillen Wald durchfunkelt.
O comfort of the world, you still night!
The day has made me so weary;
the wide sea is darkening already.
Let me rest from joy and suffering
until the eternal dawn
illuminates the still wood throughout.
Einsamkeit
ROBERT SCHUMANN
Text: Nikolaus Lenau
Loneliness
Wild verwachs’ne dunkle Fichten,
Leise klagt die Quelle fort;
Herz, das ist der rechte Ort
Für dein schmerzliches Verzichten!
Wild, overgrown, dark firs,
softly the spring continues to lament;
Heart, this is the right place
for your painful renunciation!
Grauer Vogel in den Zweigen,
Einsam deine Klage singt,
Und auf deine Frage bringt
Antwort nicht des Waldes Schweigen.
A grey bird in the branches
sings your lament in a lonely fashion,
and your question is not answered
by the forest’s silence.
Wenn’s auch immer Schweigen
bliebe,
Klage, klage fort; es weht,
Der dich höret und versteht,
If there was always silence to your
question,
lament, continue to lament.
A spirit that hears and understands
you
softly wafts here: the spirit of love.
Stille hier der Geist der Liebe.
Great Performers I Texts and Translations
Nicht verloren hier im Moose,
Herz, dein heimlich Weinen geht,
Deine Liebe Gott versteht,
Deine tiefe, hoffnungslose!
Not lost here among the moss,
Heart, is your secret weeping.
God understands your love,
your deep, hopeless love!
Requiem
ROBERT SCHUMANN
Requiem
Ruh’ von schmerzensreichen Mühen
Aus und heißem Liebesglühen!
Der nach seligem Verein
Trug Verlangen,
Ist gegangen
Zu des Heilands Wohnung ein.
Rest from painful effort
and from love’s hot glow!
He who longed
to unite with Bliss
has left
for the dwelling of the Savior.
Dem Gerechten leuchten helle
Sterne in des Grabes Zelle,
Ihm, der selbst als Stern der Nacht
Wird erscheinen,
Wenn er seinen
Herrn erschaut im Himmelspracht.
For him who is just, shine bright
stars in the cell of the grave;
for him, who is himself like a star in
the night,
will they shine,
when he observes
the Lord in heaven’s splendor.
Seid Fürsprecher, heil’ge Seelen!
Heil’ger Geist, laß Trost nicht fehlen.
Hörst du? Jubelsang erklingt,
Feiertöne,
Darein die schöne
Engelsharfe singt:
Intercede, holy souls!
Holy Ghost, let solace not be lacking.
Do you hear? A joyous song resounds,
with festive tones,
in which the beautiful
angel’s harp sings out:
Ruh’ von schmerzensreichen Mühen
Aus und heißem Liebesglühen!
Der nach seligem Verein
Trug Verlangen,
Ist gegangen
Zu des Heilands Wohnung ein.
Rest from painful effort
and from love’s hot glow!
He who longed
to unite with Bliss
has left
for the dwelling of the Savior.
(Please turn the page quietly.)
Great Performers I Texts and Translations
Selections from Hollywood Liederbuch
HANNS EISLER
Text: Bertolt Brecht
Hotelzimmer 1942
An der weißgetünchten Wand
Steht der schwarze Koffer mit den
Manuskripten.
Drüben steht das Rauchzeug mit den
kupfernen Aschenbechern.
Die chinesische Leinwand, zeigend
den Zweifler
Hängt darüber. Auch die Masken
sind da. Und neben der Bettstelle
Steht der kleine sechslampige
Lautsprecher.
Hotel Room 1942
Over against the whitewashed wall
stands the black suitcase with all the
manuscripts.
On it lies the smoking kit, close by
the copper ashtray,
below the Chinese canvas bearing a
portrait of the doubter.
And the masks, too, are there. Then
next to the top of my bed
is the small six-valve set with its
loudspeaker.
In der Frühe
Drehe ich den Schalter um und höre
Die Siegesmeldungen meiner
Feinde.
When I wake up early,
I can switch it on so as to hear
my enemies bragging of their
conquests.
Die Maske des Bösen
An meiner Wand hängt ein japanisches Holzwerk
Maske eines bösen Dämons, bemalt
mit Goldlack.
Mitfühlend sehe ich
Die geschwollenen Stirnadern,
andeutend
Wie anstrengend es ist, böse zu sein.
The Mask of Evil
Against my wall I have a Japanese
carving
painted with a golden lacquer, the
mask of a demon.
Deeply concerned, I look at
those swollen veins in his forehead
proving
how strenuous it must be to be evil.
An den kleinen Radioapparat
Du kleiner Kasten, den ich flüchtend
trug,
Daß deine Lampen mir auch nicht
zerbrächen,
Besorgt vom Haus zum Schiff, vom
Schiff zum Zug,
Daß meine Feinde weiter zu mir
sprächen
To a Portable Radio
You little box I carried on that trip,
An meinem Lager und zu meiner
Pein,
Der letzten nachts, der ersten in der
Früh,
beside my bedside and give me pain,
concerned to save your works from
getting broken,
fleeing from house to train, from
train to ship,
so I might hear the hated jargon
spoken
last thing at night, once more as
dawn appears,
Great Performers I Texts and Translations
Von ihren Siegen und von meiner
Müh:
Versprich mir, nicht auf einmal
stumm zu sein!
charting their victories and my worst
fears:
promise at least you won’t go dead
again!
Frühling
Fischreiche Wässer! Schönbäumige
Wälder!
Birken—und Beerenduft!
Finnish Landscape
Those fish-stocked waters! Such
splendid trees as well!
Scent of the berries and the birches
there!
Concord of winds that gently lull an
air
so milky that those clanking iron
churns
that trundle from the white farmhouse might be open!
Bemused by sight and sound and
sense and smell,
the refugee beneath the alders turns
Vieltöniger Wind durchschaukelt
eine Luft
So mild, als stünden jene eisernen
Milchbehälter
Die dort vom weißen Gute rollen,
offen!
Geruch und Ton und Bild und Sinn
verschwimmt,
Der Flüchtling sitzt im Erlengrund
und nimmt
Sein schwieriges Handwerk wieder
auf: das Hoffen.
once more to his laborious task: of
hoping.
Auf der Flucht
Da ich die Bücher, nach der Grenze
hetzend
Den Freunden ließ, entrat ich des
Gedichts
Doch führ ich meine Rauchgeräte
mit, verletzend
Des Flüchtlings dritte Regel: habe
nichts!
The Pipes
Abandoning, in haste to cross the
border,
my books to friends, I left my poem
too,
but took along my pipes, which
broke the general order
for refugees: Best have no things
with you!
Die Bücher sagen dem nicht viel,
der nur
Auf solche wartet, kommend, ihn zu
greifen.
Das Ledersäcklein und die alten
Pfeifen
Vermögen fürder mehr für ihn zu
tun.
Those books don’t mean much to
the man
who grimly waits to see his torturers
approaching.
His leather pouch and other gear for
smoking
now look like being of more use to
him.
(Please turn the page quietly.)
Great Performers I Texts and Translations
Auch hohe Brücken über die Flüsse
Selbst die Stunde zwischen Nacht
und Morgen
On Suicide
In such a country and at such a time,
there should be fewer melancholy
evenings
and lofty bridges over the rivers
while the hours that link the night to
morning
Und die ganze Winterzeit dazu, das
ist gefährlich.
Denn angesichts dieses Elends
Werfen die Menschen
In einem Augenblick
Ihr unerträgliches Leben fort.
and the winter season, too, each
year, are full of danger.
For, having seen all this misery,
people won’t linger,
but will decide at once
to fling their too-heavy life away.
Über den Selbstmord
In diesem Lande und in dieser Zeit
Dürfte es trübe Abende nicht geben
Escape
In my flight from my countrymen
I have got as far as Finland.
Friends
who till yesterday were strangers, let
us have beds
in the most spotless bedrooms. The
bulletins on the wireless
tell how the bastards are winning.
Höre ich die Siegesmeldungen des
Curious
Abschaums. Neugierig
Betrachte ich die Karte. Hoch oben in I study what the map says. At the
top, in Lapland,
Lappland
where the Arctic Circle lies,
Nach dem Nördlichen Eismeer zu
I can see there’s a tiny door.
Sehe ich noch eine kleine Tür.
Die Flucht
Auf der Flucht vor meinen Landsleuten
Bin ich nun nach Finnland gelangt.
Freunde
Die ich gestern nicht kannte, stellten
uns Betten
In saubere Zimmer. Im Lautsprecher
Die Landschaft des Exils
Aber auch ich auf dem letzten Boot
Sah noch den Frohsinn des Frührots
im Takelzeug
Und der Delphine grauliche Leiber
tauchend
Aus der chinesischen See.
Die Pferdewäglein mit dem
Goldbeschlag
Die rosa Armschleier der Matronen
In den Gassen des gezeichneten
Manila
Sah auch der Flüchtling mit Freude.
The Landscape of Exile
I, as a passenger on the last boat,
could see the gaiety of the dawn
through the ropes
and how the dolphins’ grey-colored
bodies leapt up
out of the Japanese Sea.
The little horsecarts, brilliantly gilded,
the pink sleeves that are worn by the
matrons
in the alleyways of the targeted
Manila,
heightened the fugitive’s pleasure.
Great Performers I Texts and Translations
Und die Öltürme und die duftenden
Gärten von Los Angeles
Und die abendlichen Schluchten
Kaliforniens ließen den Boten des
Unglücks nicht kalt.
Likewise the oil derricks and the sweetscented gardens of Los Angeles
and the shadowy ravines
of California could not leave the
envoy of tragedy cold.
Harfenspieler I: Wer sich der
Einsamkeit ergibt
HUGO WOLF
Text: Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Harper’s Song I: He who gives
himself over to solitude
Wer sich der Einsamkeit ergibt,
Ach, der ist bald allein;
Ein jeder lebt, ein jeder liebt
Und läßt ihn seiner Pein.
He who gives himself over to solitude,
ah! he is soon alone;
everyone lives, everyone loves,
and everyone leaves him to his pain.
Ja! Laßt mich meiner Qual!
Und kann ich nur einmal
Recht einsam sein,
Dann bin ich nicht allein.
Yes! Leave me to my torment!
And can I only once
be truly lonely,
then I will not be alone.
Es schleicht ein Liebender lauschend
sacht
Ob seine Freundin allein?
So überschleicht bei Tag und Nacht
Mich Einsamen die Pein,
Mich Einsamen die Qual.
A lover creeps up and listens softly—
Ach, werd’ ich erst einmal
Einsam im Grabe sein,
Da läßt sie mich allein!
is his beloved alone?
So, both day and night, does
the pain creep up on my solitude,
and the torment creep up on my
loneliness.
Ah! Only once, when
I am alone in my grave,
will it then truly leave me alone!
(Please turn the page quietly.)
Great Performers I Texts and Translations
Harfenspieler III: Wer nie sein Brot
mit Tränen aß
HUGO WOLF
Text: Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Harper’s Song III: He who never
ate his bread with tears
Wer nie sein Brot mit Tränen aß,
Wer nie die kummervollen Nächte
He who never ate his bread with tears,
he who never, through miserable
nights,
sat weeping on his bed—
he does not know you, Heavenly
Powers.
You lead us into life,
you let the wretched man feel guilt,
and then you leave him to his pain—
for all guilt avenges itself on earth.
Auf seinem Bette weinend saß,
Der kennt euch nicht, ihr
himmlischen Mächte.
Ihr führt ins Leben uns hinein,
Ihr laßt den Armen schuldig werden,
Dann überlaßt ihr ihn der Pein;
Denn alle Schuld rächt sich auf
Erden.
Harfenspieler II: An die Türen will
ich schleichen
HUGO WOLF
Text: Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Harper’s Song II: I will creep from
door to door
An die Türen will ich schleichen,
Still und sittsam will ich stehn;
Fromme Hand wird Nahrung reichen,
Und ich werde weiter gehn.
Jeder wird sich glücklich scheinen,
Wenn mein Bild vor ihm erscheint;
Eine Träne wird er weinen,
Und ich weiß nicht, was er weint.
I will creep from door to door;
quiet and humble will I stand.
A pious hand will give me food,
and I shall go on my way.
Everyone will think himself lucky
when he sees me before him;
a tear will he shed,
but I won’t know why he weeps.
Intermission
Selections from Die Hollywood-Elegien
HANNS EISLER
Text: Bertolt Brecht
Unter den grünen Pfefferbäumen
Unter den grünen Pfefferbäumen
Gehn die Musiker auf den Strich,
Zwei und zwei mit den Schreibern.
Bach hat ein Streichquartett im
Täschchen,
Dante schwenkt den dürren Hintern.
Underneath the green pepper trees
Underneath the green pepper trees,
daily
the composers are on the beat,
two by two with the writers.
Bach writes concertos for the
strumpet,
Dante wriggles his shriveled arsehole.
Great Performers I Texts and Translations
Die Stadt ist nach den Engeln
genannt
Die Stadt ist nach den Engeln
genannt,
Und man begegnet allenthalben
Engeln.
Sie riechen nach Öl und tragen
goldene Pessare
Und mit blauen Ringen um die
Augen
Füttern sie allmorgenlich die
Schreiber in ihren Schwimmpfühlen.
This town was christened after
the angels
This town was christened after the
angels,
and you come across angels there
on all sides.
They all smell of oil, and each one
wears a golden pessary,
and with deep-blue rings all round
their eyes,
they feed the writers in their
swimming pools every morning.
Jeden Morgen, mein Brot zu
verdienen
Jeden Morgen, mein Brot zu verdienen
Geh’ ich zum Markt, wo Lügen verkauft werden.
Hoffnungsvoll
Reihe ich mich ein unter die
Verkäufer.
Every morning, to start earning
my bread
Every morning, to start earning my
bread,
I visit the market where lies are
bought and sold.
Full of hope,
I take my place there with the other
sellers.
Diese Stadt hat mich belehrt
Diese Stadt hat mich belehrt,
Paradies und Hölle können eine
Stadt sein.
Für die Mittellosen
Ist das Paradies die Hölle.
This city has made me realize
This city has made me realize:
Paradise and hell-fire are the same
city.
For the unsuccessful,
paradise itself serves as hell-fire.
In den Hügeln wird Gold gefunden
In den Hügeln wird Gold gefunden,
An der Küste findet man Öl.
Größere Vermögen
Bringen die Träume vom Glück,
In the hills are the gold prospectors
In the hills are the gold prospectors,
by the sea you come upon oil.
Greater fortunes far
are won from those dreams of
happiness,
which are kept on celluloid spools.
Die man hier auf Zelluloid schreibt.
(Please turn the page quietly.)
Great Performers I Texts and Translations
Grenzen der Menschheit
HUGO WOLF
Text: Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Limits of Mankind
Wenn der uralte
Heilige Vater
Mit gelassener Hand
Aus rollenden Wolken
Segnende Blitze
Über die Erde sät,
Küss’ ich den letzten
Saum seines Kleides,
Kindliche Schauer
Treu in der Brust.
When the ancient
Holy father
with calm hand
from the rolling clouds
sends blessed lightning
over the earth,
I kiss the last
seam of his cloak
with a childlike awe
deep in my breast.
Denn mit Göttern
Soll sich nicht messen
Irgendein Mensch.
Hebt er sich aufwärts
Und berührt
Mit dem Scheitel die Sterne,
Nirgends haften dann
Die unsichern Sohlen,
Und mit ihm spielen
Wolken und Winde.
For with gods
shall never compete
mortal Man.
If he lifts himself up
and disturbs
the stars with his head,
then nowhere are anchored
his uncertain feet,
and with him sport
the clouds and the wind.
Steht er mit festen
Markigen Knochen
Auf der wohlgegründeten
Dauernden Erde,
Reicht er nicht auf,
Nur mit der Eiche
Oder der Rebe
Sich zu vergleichen.
If instead he stands with firm,
vigorous bones,
upon the well-founded
and enduring earth,
he does not reach up
even to the oak tree,
or the vine
to compare.
Was unterscheidet
Götter von Menschen?
Daß viele Wellen
Vor jenen wandeln,
Ein ewiger Strom:
Uns hebt die Welle,
Verschlingt die Welle,
Und wir versinken.
What distinguishes
Gods from Men?
That many a wave broke
before the one came wandering—
an eternal stream:
The wave lifts us;
yet gulp in the water,
and we drown.
Great Performers I Texts and Translations
Ein kleiner Ring
Begrenzt unser Leben,
Und viele Geschlechter
Reihen sich dauernd
An ihres Daseins
Unendliche Kette.
A small ring
limits our life,
and many generations
string past constantly,
their existences forming
an endless chain.
Sonne der Schlummerlosen
HUGO WOLF
Sun of the Sleepless
Original text: Lord Byron
Sonne der Schlummerlosen, bleicher
Stern!
Wie Tränen zittern, schimmerst du
von fern;
Du zeigst die Nacht, doch scheust
sie nicht zurück,
Wie ähnlich bist du dem
entschwundnen Glück,
Sun of the sleepless! melancholy
star!
Whose tearful beam glows tremulously far,
That show’st the darkness thou
canst not dispel,
How like art thou to joy remember’d
well!
Dem Licht vergang’ner Tage, das
fortan
Nur leuchten, aber nimmer wärmen
kann!
Die Trauer wacht, wie es durchs
Dunkel wallt,
Deutlich, doch fern, hell, aber o, wie
kalt!
So gleams the past, the light of other
days,
Which shines, but warms not with
its powerless rays;
A night-beam Sorrow watcheth to
behold,
Distinct, but distant—clear—but, oh
how cold!
Morgenstimmung
HUGO WOLF
Text: Robert Reinick
Morning Mood
Soon night will reach its end;
already I feel the morning breezes
blowing.
The Lord, he says: “Let there be
Der Herr, der spricht: Es werde
light!”
Licht!
Then all that is dark must disappear.
Da muß, was dunkel ist, vergehen.
From Heaven’s vault through all the
Vom Himmelszelt durch alle Welt
world
the angels fly, cheering with joy;
Die Engel freudejauchzend fliegen:
rays of sunlight blaze through the
Der Sonne Strahl durchflammt das
universe.
All.
Herr, laß uns kämpfen, laß uns siegen! Lord, let us struggle, let us win!
Bald ist der Nacht ein End’ gemacht,
Schon fühl’ ich Morgenlüfte wehen.
(Please turn the page quietly.)
Great Performers I Texts and Translations
Selections from Hollywood Liederbuch
HANNS EISLER
Text: Bertolt Brecht
Larder on a Finnish Estate
O shadowy coolness!
Where at night the scent of fir trees
swirling in, asserts itself
Speisekammer 1942
O schattige Kühle!
Einer dunklen Tanne
Geruch geht nächtlich brausend in
dich ein
Und mischt sich mit dem süßer
Milch aus großer Kanne
Und dem des Räucherspecks am
kalten Stein.
and mixes with the smells of milk in
big containers
and smoky bacon on its cold stone
shelf.
Bier, Ziegenkäse, frisches Brot und
Beere
Gepflückt am grauen Strauch, wenn
Frühtau fällt!
Oh, könnt ich laden euch, die überm
Meere
Der Krieg der leeren Mägen hält!
Beer, goats’ milk cheese, fresh
white bread, and berries
just picked from bushes weighted
down with dew!
Oh, you across the sea with empty
bellies,
oh how I wish it were for you!
Ostersonntag
Heute, Ostersonntag früh
Ging ein plötzlicher Schneesturm
über die Insel.
Zwischen den grünenden Hecken
lag Schnee. Mein junger Sohn
Holte mich zu einem
Aprikosenbäumchen an der
Hausmauer
Von einem Verse weg, in dem ich
auf diejenigen mit dem Finger
deutete
Die diesen Krieg vorbereiteten, der
Diesen Kontinent, diese Insel,
mein Volk und meine Familie
und mich
Vertilgen muß. Schweigend
Legten wir einen Sack
Um den frierenden Baum.
Easter Sunday
Easter day a cold wind blew
and a flurry of snow swept over the
island.
In among burgeoning hedges it lay.
My teenage son
dragged me out to save a little
apricot tree up against the house,
putting aside a verse in which I’d
done the best I could to expose
that group of men
who were preparing the holocaust
which would lay waste our continent, and this island, my people,
likewise my family and me, and
wipe us out. Silently
we wrapped a sack
round the shivering tree.
Great Performers I Texts and Translations
Die letzte Elegie
Über die vier Städte kreisen die
Jagdflieger
Der Verteidigung in großer Höhe
Vermutlich damit der Gestank der
Gier und des Elends Nicht zu ihnen
heraufdringt.
The Last Elegy
Above the four cities the fighter
planes
of the Defense Department circle at
a great height
so that the stink of greed and poverty
shall not reach them.
Die Heimkehr
Die Vaterstadt, wie find ich sie doch?
Folgend den Bomberschwärmen
Komm ich nach Haus.
Wo liegt sie mir? Dort, wo die
ungeheueren
Gebirge von Rauch steh’n.
Das in den Feuern dort
Ist sie.
Homecoming
My native town, what will it look like?
Guided by bomber squadrons
I shall come home.
Where will it lie? There, where those
mountainous
pinnacles of smoke stand.
There, in the furnace, that
is it.
Die Vaterstadt, wie empfängt sie
mich wohl?
Vor mir kommen die Bomber.
Tödliche Schwärme
Melden euch meine Rückkehr.
Feuersbrünste
Gehen dem Sohn voraus.
My native town, then how will it
greet me?
Before me go the bombers.
Death-dealing locusts
tell you I shall be coming.
Conflagrations
hail the son’s return.
Der Sohn I
Wenn sie nachts lag und dachte
Und ihr Sohn auf der grimmigen See!
Sie konnte nicht einschlafen
Ihr Herz, das pochte so laut.
The Son I
At night when she lay thinking
of her son on the menacing sea,
she could not drop off to sleep,
her heart kept beating so loud.
Wenn ihr Sohn sie besuchen kam
Stand sie nachts vor der Hütte.
Wasser aus einem Eimer schüttete
sie
An die Wand, hinter der ihr Sohn lag
Damit er einschlief, damit er meinte
Er war noch auf der See.
When her son came to see her,
she stood all night by her cabin,
flinging handfuls of water out of a
pail
at the wall behind which her son lay,
that he might sleep well, since he
could still feel that he was out at sea.
(Please turn the page quietly.)
Great Performers I Texts and Translations
Two Songs (after B. Pascal)
HANNS EISLER
Text: Blaise Pascal
Despite these miseries, man wishes to be happy
Despite these miseries, man wishes to be happy, and only wishes to be
happy, and cannot wish not to be so. But how will he set about it? To be
happy he would have to make himself immortal. But, not being able to do
so, it has occurred to him to prevent himself from thinking of death.
The only thing which consoles us
The only thing which consoles us for our miseries is diversion, and yet this is
the greatest of our miseries. For it is this which principally hinders us from
reflecting upon ourselves, and which makes us insensibly ruin ourselves.
Without this we should be in a state of weariness, and this weariness would
spur us to seek a more solid means of escaping from it. But diversions
amuse us and lead us unconsciously to death.
Selections from Hollywood Liederbuch
HANNS EISLER
Erinnerung an Eichendorff und
Schumann
Text: Joseph Freiherr von Eichendorff
Souvenir of Eichendorff and
Schumann
Aus der Heimat hinter den Blitzen
rot,
Da kommen die Wolken her.
Aber Vater und Mutter sind lange tot,
From my homeland, beyond those
streaks of red,
that is where all the clouds appear.
But my mother and father are long
since dead,
and nobody knows me here.
Es kennt mich dort niemand mehr.
L’automne californien
Text: Berthold Viertel
Autumn in California
Die Leiter blieb noch unterm
Feigenbaum stehen,
Doch er ist gelb und schon längst
leer gegessen
Von Schnäbeln und von Mündern,
wem’s zuerst geglückt.
The ladder still stands leaning up
against the fig tree
that has turned yellow, and its fruit
has been eaten
by those who got there first with
mouths or eager beaks.
Wird ihn der nächste Sommer grün
und reich beladen sehen,
Und kommt der Friede unterdessen,
Mag es ein anderer sein, der hier die
Feigen pflückt.
But if the approaching summer sees
it grow into a big tree,
and once the enemy’s been beaten,
it could be someone else that comes
and picks the figs.
Great Performers I Texts and Translations
Wir wären dann in kältere Breiten
heimgegangen:
Da wächst kein Feigenbaum,
Aber der Wein.
We shall have sought the much
colder climate of our homeland:
we don’t grow fig trees there,
but we grow wine.
Fällt dort der Schnee,
Werden wir um so frischer sein—
Und gern im wieder befreiten Winter
wohnen.
If snow should fall,
we shall once more think life is fine—
happy to live in our liberated winter.
Abendlied
ROBERT SCHUMANN
Text: Gottfried Kinkel
Evening song
Es ist so still geworden,
Verrauscht des Abends Weh’n;
Nun hört man aller Orten
Der Engel Füße geh’n.
Rings in die Tiefe senket
Sich Finsternis mit Macht;
Wirf ab, Herz, was dich kränket
Und was dir bange macht!
It has become so quiet.
The evening breeze has rustled itself
out.
Now one hears everywhere
the footsteps of the angels.
All around darkness sinks
powerfully into the valleys;
cast off, heart, what grieves you
and what makes you anxious!
Es ruht die Welt im Schweigen,
Ihr Tosen ist vorbei,
Stumm ihrer Freude Reigen
Und stumm ihr Schmerzenschrei.
Hat Rosen sie geschenket,
Hat Dornen sie gebracht—
Wirf ab, Herz, was dich kränket
Und was dir bange macht!
The world rests in silence,
its turbulence is past,
its roundelay of joy is mute,
and mute its cry of pain;
whether it provided roses,
whether it brought thorns,
cast off, heart, what grieves you
and what makes you anxious!
Und hast du heut gefehlet,
O schaue nicht zurück;
Empfinde dich beseelet
Von freier Gnade Glück.
Auch des Verirrten denket
Der Hirt auf hoher Wacht—
Wirf ab, Herz, was dich kränket
Und was dir bange macht!
And if today you erred,
oh do not look back;
feel yourself animated
by the good fortune of free grace.
The shepherd upon his watch on high
thinks also of the lost one
cast off, heart, what grieves you
and what makes you anxious!
Nun steh’n im Himmelskreise
Die Stern’ in Majestät;
In gleichem, festem Gleise
Der goldne Wagen geht.
Now all about the heavens
the stars stand in majesty.
Along the old, firm pathway
the golden carriage the moon is
traveling.
And like the stars, it directs
your way through the night.
Cast off, heart, what grieves you
and what makes you anxious!
Und gleich den Sternen lenket
Er deinen Weg durch Nacht;
Wirf ab, Herz, was dich kränket,
Und was dir bange macht!
MARCO BORGGREVE
Meet the Artists
Great Performers I Meet the Artists
Matthias Goerne
One of the most internationally sought-after vocalists, Matthias Goerne is
a frequent guest at renowned festivals and concert halls, and has collaborated with leading orchestras across the globe. Since his opera debut at
the Salzburg Festival in 1997 as Papageno, Mr. Goerne has appeared on
the world’s principal opera stages, including the Royal Opera House–
Covent Garden, Madrid’s Teatro Real, Paris National Opera, Vienna State
Opera, and the Metropolitan Opera. His roles have ranged from Wolfram
(Tannhäuser), Amfortas (Parsifal ), and Kurwenal (Tristan und Isolde) to
the title roles in Berg’s Wozzeck, Bartók’s Bluebeard’s Castle, and
Hindemith’s Mathis der Maler.
Mr. Goerne’s artistry has been documented on numerous recordings,
many of which have received prestigious awards. A 12-CD series of
selected Schubert songs (Matthias Goerne Schubert Edition) for
Harmonia Mundi received rave reviews, as did his debut as Wotan on a
new recording of Wagner’s Das Rheingold under Jaap van Zweden. A
new album with Quatuor Ebène has just been released by Warner
Classics.
Highlights of Mr. Goerne’s 2015–16 season include song recitals at
London’s Wigmore Hall, the Philharmonie de Paris, San Francisco Opera,
Sydney Festival, and Wiener Festwochen, as well as performances with
leading orchestras such as the New York Philharmonic and Royal
Concertgebouw Orchestra. At the Vienna State Opera, Mr. Goerne sings
Orest in Elektra. This summer he returns to the Ravinia Festival and performs at the Salzburg Festival in two concerts with the Vienna Philharmonic under Zubin Mehta and in a recital with pianist Yuja Wang.
Born in Weimar, Germany, Mr. Goerne studied with Hans-Joachim Beyer
in Leipzig, and with Elisabeth Schwarzkopf and Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau.
He is an honorary member of the Royal Academy of Music in London.
Great Performers I Meet the Artists
CAROLINE DE BON
Alexander Schmalcz
Alexander Schmalcz has worked
with legendary singers such as Edita
Gruberová, Grace Bumbry, Anna
Tomowa-Sintow, and Peter Schreier.
A close collaborator with Matthias
Goerne, he has also performed with
Daniel Behle, Konstantin Wolff,
Stephan Loges, Inessa Galante, and
Eva Mei. His chamber music partners include Céline Moinet, Albrecht
Mayer, Dimitri Ashkenazy, Tatjana
Masurenko, and the King’s Singers.
As a song accompanist, Mr. Schmalcz can be heard regularly in the cultural
centers of Europe, the Americas, and Asia, and he performs at festivals such
as the Salzburg and Prague Spring Festivals, Schleswig-Holstein
Musikfestival, Tanglewood, and Schwetzinger Festspiele. He has appeared at
Milan’s Teatro alla Scala, the Vienna and Munich State Operas, Théâtre du
Châtelet, Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, Leipzig’s Gewandhaus, London’s
Wigmore Hall, Seoul Arts Center, and Tokyo Opera City Concert Hall.
Mr. Schmalcz has also orchestrated Schubert songs that were commissioned
by Goerne. The transcriptions have enjoyed great acclaim with performances
at the Mostly Mozart Festival in New York, as well as in Vienna and Dresden.
Mr. Schmalcz studied at Musikhochschule Dresden and Utrecht
Conservatory before completing his studies at the Guildhall School of Music
and Drama with Iain Burnside and Graham Johnson. He holds a full professorship for song interpretation at the Leipzig Musikhochschule and gives
international master classes.
Lincoln Center’s Great Performers
Celebrating its 50th anniversary, Lincoln Center’s Great Performers offers classical and contemporary music performances from the world’s outstanding
symphony orchestras, vocalists, chamber ensembles, and recitalists. Since its
initiation in 1965, the series has expanded to include significant emerging
artists and premieres of groundbreaking productions, with offerings from
October through June in Lincoln Center’s David Geffen Hall, Alice Tully Hall,
and other performance spaces around New York City. Along with lieder
recitals, Sunday morning coffee concerts, and films, Great Performers offers
a rich spectrum of programming throughout the season.
Great Performers
Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, Inc.
Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts (LCPA) serves three primary roles: presenter of artistic programming, national leader in arts and education and community relations, and manager of the Lincoln Center campus. A presenter of
more than 3,000 free and ticketed events, performances, tours, and educational activities annually, LCPA offers 15 programs, series, and festivals including American Songbook, Great Performers, Lincoln Center Festival, Lincoln
Center Out of Doors, Midsummer Night Swing, the Mostly Mozart Festival,
and the White Light Festival, as well as the Emmy Award–winning Live From
Lincoln Center, which airs nationally on PBS. As manager of the Lincoln
Center campus, LCPA provides support and services for the Lincoln Center
complex and the 11 resident organizations. In addition, LCPA led a $1.2 billion
campus renovation, completed in October 2012.
Lincoln Center Programming Department
Jane Moss, Ehrenkranz Artistic Director
Hanako Yamaguchi, Director, Music Programming
Jon Nakagawa, Director, Contemporary Programming
Jill Sternheimer, Director, Public Programming
Lisa Takemoto, Production Manager
Andrew Elsesser, Temporary Associate Director, Programming
Charles Cermele, Producer, Contemporary Programming
Mauricio Lomelin, Producer, Contemporary Programming
Regina Grande, Associate Producer
Amber Shavers, Associate Producer, Public Programming
Nana Asase, Assistant to the Artistic Director
Luna Shyr, Senior Editor
Jenniffer DeSimone, Production Coordinator
Olivia Fortunato, House Seat Coordinator
Mr. Goerne and Mr. Schmalcz’s representation:
Michael Kocyan Artists Management
kocyan.blogspot.com