Katherine Arkandy debuts Strauss's new coloratura song

THE SONGBIRD: Katherine Arkandy (1898 - 1991) was born in England and raised in Hungary. She was a musical prodigy and booked singing tours as a child. Her operatic debut took place in Budapest in 1918, where sang until 1921. A move to Germany took her to the Munich State Opera until 1925 when she ended up back in England as primarily a concert soprano. There are six mentions of her singing on the BBC radio, between 1927 and 1935. She made a handful of records including the Bell Song and the Doll Song, both available on another channel on YouTube.

THE MUSIC: Richard Strauss's Brentano Lieder (Op. 68) was written mid-career in 1918 after a 12-year lapse in songwriting during which he had composed many of his major operatic works (Salome, Elektra, Der Rosenkavalier, Ariadne auf Naxos, and Die Frau Ohne Schatten). The six songs for piano and voice to poems by Clemens Brentano were dedicated to the German soprano Elisabeth Schumann, and then orchestrated by Strauss in 1940/41 and rededicated variously to Adele Kern and Viorica Ursuleac. The song collection sits high and demands a wide vocal compass, a variety of colors, and extreme dynamics from floating suspensions to bold declamations. "Amor" is a short song that is written in Strauss's signature shimmering, modulating coloratura textures to accentuate the poem's story of Cupid beguiling a shepherdess who helps him when his wings catch fire. Strauss asks the singer to dance delicate vocal pirouettes and perform other acrobatics such as many intricate trills (including on High C).

Скачать видео