OUT OF OUR MINDS CHAMBER MUSIC
Concert 3 – “Winter Travel”
Saturday, November 23, 2024 @ 3:00 PM
Nola Starling Recital Hall
Harry Baechtel, baritone | David Richardson, piano
PROGRAM
Multi-media performance of Franz Schubert’s Winterreise, D. 911,
Poetry by Willhelm Müller
English translations by William Mann published online by the Hampsong Foundation
1. Gute Nacht
2. Die Wetterfahne
3. Gefror’ne Tränen
4. Erstarrung
5. Der Lindenbaum
6. Wasserflut
7. Auf dem Flusse
8. Rückblick
9. Irrlicht
10. Rast
11. Frühlingstraum
12. Einsamkeit
13. Die Post
14. Der greise Kopf
15. Die Krähe
16. Letzte Hoffnung
17. Im Dorfe
18. Der stürmische Morgen
19. Täuschung
20. Der Wegweiser
21. Das Wirtshaus
22. Mut
23. Die Nebensonnen
24. Der Leiermann
Concert 3 – “Winter Travel”
Saturday, November 23, 2024 @ 3:00 PM
Nola Starling Recital Hall
Harry Baechtel, baritone | David Richardson, piano
PROGRAM
Multi-media performance of Franz Schubert’s Winterreise, D. 911,
Poetry by Willhelm Müller
English translations by William Mann published online by the Hampsong Foundation
1. Gute Nacht
2. Die Wetterfahne
3. Gefror’ne Tränen
4. Erstarrung
5. Der Lindenbaum
6. Wasserflut
7. Auf dem Flusse
8. Rückblick
9. Irrlicht
10. Rast
11. Frühlingstraum
12. Einsamkeit
13. Die Post
14. Der greise Kopf
15. Die Krähe
16. Letzte Hoffnung
17. Im Dorfe
18. Der stürmische Morgen
19. Täuschung
20. Der Wegweiser
21. Das Wirtshaus
22. Mut
23. Die Nebensonnen
24. Der Leiermann
PROGRAM NOTES by Dr. James Wilson
In the fall of 1827, two months before he died at the age of 31, Franz Schubert completed his third and final song cycle titled Winterreise (A Winter’s Journey). Several years earlier, Schubert had come across a book of poetry containing Wilhelm Müller’s poetic cycle titled Der Winterreise (Schubert dropped the article). Through the lense of history it is easy to see why Schubert was attracted to this set of dark, wintry, and existential poems. In 1823, Schubert contracted syphilis and was hospitalized for an extended period. He was able to make a slight recovery, but he had nevertheless contracted a terminal disease. In 1824 he wrote,
“Imagine a manse health will never be right again, and who in sheer despair over this ever makes things worse and worse, instead of better; imagine a man, I say, whose most brilliant hopes have perished, to whom the felicity of love and friendship have nothing to offer but pain at best, whom enthusiasm for all things beautiful threatens to forsake, and I ask you, is he not a miserable, unhappy being? … each night, on retiring to bed, I hope I may not wake again, and each morning but recalls yesterday’s grief.”
Several scholars believe that Schubert was homosexual, and that he had contracted syphilis from a male prostitute. This would have certainly compounded his misery and feelings of isolation. Though he lived in Vienna, one of Europe’s most advanced communities of the day, his sufferings were not for public knowledge. This may read as 200-year-old gossip, but it holds significance when comparing Schubert’s life to his setting of Müller’s poetry. In several instances throughout, the protagonist in the story speaks of his isolation and banishment:
No. 1 “I came here a stranger, as a stranger I depart.”
“Why should I stay here longer, so that people can drive me away?”
No. 9 “I am used to going astray, and every way leads to a goal.”
No. 17 “Drive me out with your barking, you vigilant dogs.”
No. 20 “What is this foolish compulsion that drives me into desolation?”
Schubert seems to have identified with these feelings of scorn and rejection in finding the inspiration to write his final songs. After playing through the completed cycle for a friend, Franz von Schober, who really only liked No. 5 Der Lindenbaum, Schubert replied, “I like these songs more than all the rest [he wrote more than 600 during his lifetime], and you will come to like them as well.”
Throughout his journey, the protagonist finds multiple connections between elements of nature and his inner being. The frozen brooklet, with a raging torrent beneath, reminds him of his heart; the crows flying around his head foreshadow death; the few remaining leaves hanging on the trees remind him of his last remaining hopes, and the three suns (an actual winter apparition) represent his lost love’s two eyes, which now for him have set.
At the end of his journey, he comes to the edge of a town where he meets the hurdy-gurdy man. The hurdy-gurdy is a folk instrument from Eastern Europe. Its traditional associations are with the peasant class, of wandering beggars and gypsies. Many critics interpret this as an encounter with the doppelgänger, the haunting vision of one’s self. The instrument symbolizes the outcast, and the dogs growling around him represent society. His beggar’s plate, symbolic of the protagonist’s longing, remains forever empty, and the constant grinding of his organ wheel, symbolic of his endless searching, represents the absurdity of it all. The hurdy-gurdy man is a Sisyphus of sorts, condemned to an endless cycle of toil and disappointment. But he is also wise in his acceptance, “and he just let’s it happen, as it will.”
Before the age of Cable TV, Netflix, Facebook and Spotify, the bulk of our entertainment came from live music. German Lieder served as one of the highest forms of this entertainment, and audiences loved to immerse themselves in the imagery of poetry and music. Today, an hour of German singing will challenge any English-speaking audience, simply because our brains no longer maintain the endurance to focus on one sonority for an extended period of time. In adding the visual element, we have sought to provide an extra layer for audience members to experience, contemplate, and compare. Everyone experiences art differently, and there is no “correct” way to experience a recital. Perhaps you will prefer to center your focus on the videos, or perhaps you want to follow the text in order to know what is happening from moment to moment, or maybe you like to close your eyes in order to experience the music with your own imagery. Any way you choose to enjoy this recital is the “correct” way, and we are pleased that you have chosen to come and join in the experience.
In the fall of 1827, two months before he died at the age of 31, Franz Schubert completed his third and final song cycle titled Winterreise (A Winter’s Journey). Several years earlier, Schubert had come across a book of poetry containing Wilhelm Müller’s poetic cycle titled Der Winterreise (Schubert dropped the article). Through the lense of history it is easy to see why Schubert was attracted to this set of dark, wintry, and existential poems. In 1823, Schubert contracted syphilis and was hospitalized for an extended period. He was able to make a slight recovery, but he had nevertheless contracted a terminal disease. In 1824 he wrote,
“Imagine a manse health will never be right again, and who in sheer despair over this ever makes things worse and worse, instead of better; imagine a man, I say, whose most brilliant hopes have perished, to whom the felicity of love and friendship have nothing to offer but pain at best, whom enthusiasm for all things beautiful threatens to forsake, and I ask you, is he not a miserable, unhappy being? … each night, on retiring to bed, I hope I may not wake again, and each morning but recalls yesterday’s grief.”
Several scholars believe that Schubert was homosexual, and that he had contracted syphilis from a male prostitute. This would have certainly compounded his misery and feelings of isolation. Though he lived in Vienna, one of Europe’s most advanced communities of the day, his sufferings were not for public knowledge. This may read as 200-year-old gossip, but it holds significance when comparing Schubert’s life to his setting of Müller’s poetry. In several instances throughout, the protagonist in the story speaks of his isolation and banishment:
No. 1 “I came here a stranger, as a stranger I depart.”
“Why should I stay here longer, so that people can drive me away?”
No. 9 “I am used to going astray, and every way leads to a goal.”
No. 17 “Drive me out with your barking, you vigilant dogs.”
No. 20 “What is this foolish compulsion that drives me into desolation?”
Schubert seems to have identified with these feelings of scorn and rejection in finding the inspiration to write his final songs. After playing through the completed cycle for a friend, Franz von Schober, who really only liked No. 5 Der Lindenbaum, Schubert replied, “I like these songs more than all the rest [he wrote more than 600 during his lifetime], and you will come to like them as well.”
Throughout his journey, the protagonist finds multiple connections between elements of nature and his inner being. The frozen brooklet, with a raging torrent beneath, reminds him of his heart; the crows flying around his head foreshadow death; the few remaining leaves hanging on the trees remind him of his last remaining hopes, and the three suns (an actual winter apparition) represent his lost love’s two eyes, which now for him have set.
At the end of his journey, he comes to the edge of a town where he meets the hurdy-gurdy man. The hurdy-gurdy is a folk instrument from Eastern Europe. Its traditional associations are with the peasant class, of wandering beggars and gypsies. Many critics interpret this as an encounter with the doppelgänger, the haunting vision of one’s self. The instrument symbolizes the outcast, and the dogs growling around him represent society. His beggar’s plate, symbolic of the protagonist’s longing, remains forever empty, and the constant grinding of his organ wheel, symbolic of his endless searching, represents the absurdity of it all. The hurdy-gurdy man is a Sisyphus of sorts, condemned to an endless cycle of toil and disappointment. But he is also wise in his acceptance, “and he just let’s it happen, as it will.”
Before the age of Cable TV, Netflix, Facebook and Spotify, the bulk of our entertainment came from live music. German Lieder served as one of the highest forms of this entertainment, and audiences loved to immerse themselves in the imagery of poetry and music. Today, an hour of German singing will challenge any English-speaking audience, simply because our brains no longer maintain the endurance to focus on one sonority for an extended period of time. In adding the visual element, we have sought to provide an extra layer for audience members to experience, contemplate, and compare. Everyone experiences art differently, and there is no “correct” way to experience a recital. Perhaps you will prefer to center your focus on the videos, or perhaps you want to follow the text in order to know what is happening from moment to moment, or maybe you like to close your eyes in order to experience the music with your own imagery. Any way you choose to enjoy this recital is the “correct” way, and we are pleased that you have chosen to come and join in the experience.
|
Harry Baechtel, baritone
Northern California native Harry Baechtel enjoys a wide-ranging career in the vocal arts. Praised for his “mellifluous” baritone, he recently joined microphilharmonic for a performance of the Schoenberg chamber orchestra arrangement of Mahler’s Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen, receiving rave reviews. “In a group of greatly trained musicians, Baechtel was the highlight of the evening” -Eugene Weekly. Baechtel has extensive experience in the standard operatic and oratorio repertoires as well as in modern musical productions. He created the role of Adam in Ethan Gans-Morse’ contemporary opera/oratorio The Canticle of the Black Madonna, and his operatic roles include Papageno (Die Zauberflöte), Il Conte (Le nozze di Figaro), Malatesta (Don Pasquale), and Prince Tarquinius (The Rape of Lucretia), with organizations such as Boston Lyric Opera, Berkshire Opera, and Eugene Opera. He has performed as baritone soloist in a broad spectrum of the oratorio repertory including the Fauré Requiem, the Brahms Requiem, Finzi’s In terra pax, Handel’s Messiah, Orff’s Carmina Burana, Schubert’s Mass in G-major, Bach’s B-minor Mass, and Vaughan Williams’ Hodie and the Fantasia on Christmas Carols. Baechtel has a particular passion for performing art songs, recently releasing a recording of chamber music and mélodies by Gabriel Fauré from the 1890s with pianist Michael Seregow and Sylvestris Quartet on period instruments. An active recitalist, he performed at the Oregon Bach Festival with German Soprano Julia Sophie Wagner in a project that ties German Lieder together with dialogue into a dramatic tale called Princess Elise. Other recent projects include two performances of Franz Shubert’s Winterreise, including black and white images of Portland in winter by photographer So-Min Kang. In addition to his performing engagements Baechtel is an associate professor of voice at Portland State University holding degrees from Northwestern University, Boston University and the University of Oregon. His doctoral research, completed at the University of Oregon, delves into a cultural analysis of the fascinating and complex relationship between Gustav Mahler, his musical settings in the German folk idiom, and the early nineteenth-century folk poetry collection Des Knaben Wunderhorn. |
|
David Richardson, piano
Pianist David Richardson, a native of Newburyport, MA, actively performs in the La Crosse area as a collaborative pianist, organist, and conductor. Richardson currently works at Viterbo University, serving as the pianist for the 9th Street Singers along with several music theatre classes. He also serves as the pianist for the La Crosse Chamber Chorale and is the organist and choirmaster at Christ Episcopal Church in La Crosse. Other engagements in the area have included work with the La Crosse Symphony Orchestra, Madison Opera, University of Wisconsin Stevens Point, Winona State University, and Our Savior’s Lutheran Church in La Crosse. Prior to his time in La Crosse, Richardson had previous engagements at the Brevard Music Center’s Janiec Opera Company, Lyric Opera of Chicago’s Ryan Opera Center, and Boston Lyric Opera. Richardson has also held positions as a vocal coach and accompanist at Boston University and the Hartt School of Music. As a pianist working in the choral, opera, and orchestral worlds, Richardson has had the opportunity to work under the batons of Robert Shaw, Julius Rudel, Ann Howard Jones, Patrick Summers, James Conlon, David Zinman, Grant Gershon, Duain Wolfe, and Gary Wedow. As a rehearsal pianist for opera he has had the honor to work with singers Dmitri Hvorostovsky, Anthony Dean Griffey, Elizabeth Futral, and Will Liverman. Richardson holds degrees from the University of Wisconsin Madison (D.M.A in collaborative piano), Manhattan School of Music (M.M. in collaborative piano) and Boston University (B.M. in piano performance). Further training has included the Boston University Tanglewood Institute, the University of Miami’s summer program in Salzburg, Aspen Music Festival, and Houston Grand Opera’s Young Artist Program. |
