Hermann Prey, baritone
Dear friends of CMG:
On Saturday, 14 July 2012, at 7:00 p.m. Eastern time, I offer a tribute to one of Germany's most beloved baritones, HERMANN PREY, born in Berlin on July 11th, 1929 and died of a heart attack in Bavaria on July 23rd, 1998. It was his mother who fostered Hermann's love of music, which he took to the end of his life. It was Hermann Prey who wanted to sing "everything," and he did! From music from the Renaissance period to art songs and especially German lieder—known and not so well known—operas, operettas, broadway tunes, oratorios and cantatas. Vocal afficionados have always compared the voices of Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau and Hermann Prey. It was Fischer-Dieskau who had the larger career on recordings, though Prey recorded substantially as well, and both have their camps. Comparisons will always be inevitable.
Prey also remembers the World War II years and remembers having to hide from the bombs and eating canned foods in his grandfather's basement. At 15, he was to appear for the war efforts of Germany, but by then the war was waning and Prey's father simply burned his son's draft notice.
After having studied at the Berlin High School of Music in 1948, he was a member of the Hamburg Opera's roster singing traditional and contemporary operas. He made his Metropolitan Opera debut in the music of Wagner, which didn't do much good for him insofar as the critics were concerned but eventually he also appeared at the Met in roles by Mozart and Rossini, which brought him accolades. Still, like Fischer-Dieskau, Prey's fame seems to be in the real of German lieder where he worked with some of the world's most accomplished pianists, including Günter Weissenborn, Alexis Weissenberg, Gerald Moore, Michael Engres, Karl Engel, and many others, both off- and on records and in the concert hall.
In 1982, he wrote his autobiography entitled First Night Fever. He recorded prolifically for EMI, Decca/London, Deutsche Grammophon, Philips, Capriccio, and many other labels.
The following will be featured on this broadcast:
♫ Liszt: Petrach Sonnets Nos. 47, 104, and 123 with Alexis Weissenberg, pianist (r.1978)
♫ Mozart: Don Giovanni: 3 excerpts (one with soprano Erika Köth) with the Berlin Symphony, Hans Zanotelli, conductor (r.1960)
♫ Schumann: Dichterliebe, Op. 48 with Karl Engel, pianist (r.1962)
Click on this link to take you directly the the broadcast:
http://wpel.streamon.fm/player/streampl ... 32k&type=1
The program can be heard anywhere in the world if your computer is equipped with speakers and you adjust your time schedule to equate to 7:00 p.m. Eastern time.
I trust you will enjoy this program on Saturday, 14 July 2012 featuring the German baritone, Hermann Prey, which is now heard across the world via the Internet. ♫
