Souzay & Cortot: Schumann Dichterliebe, Op.48 (1/3)

[@PhillipLWilcher]

If ever there were two musicians whose sound was perfectly matched to render Schumann's Dichterliebe even more exquisite than it actually is - if that is at all possible - they are Gerard Souzay and Alfred Cortot. This is a dream within a dream.

[@oa28mus]

Incomparable piano playing, one bar of Cortot’s playing is enough music to know you will love all he does. Send superb chills down my spine!!!

[@yosvanyterry9204]

This is great and what a estrange coincidence that your brother made me listen to it a month ago ! Yos

[@martijnthomas6017]

Completely agree!

[@fourstrings48]

I cannot understand why anyone would want to give a thumbs down to this sublime performance.

[@VivaRenata]

One of the finest interpretations of a Schumann classic that one could ever hear. An amazing baritone accompanied by a stellar pianist.

[@fatherman73]

One thing that always impresses me about Souzay is the clarity of his diction. So crisp and delicate.

[@andrewmargrave7518]

Souzay was wrong to denigrate this recording. His singing is exquisite, and Cortot plays magnificently, showing no loss of anything due to age although he must have been well past 70 when this recording was made. Bravissimo to both artists!

Thank you! These two "magicians" together! Marvelous!

[@NeighHarris]

Remarkable!! Unbelievably fine. Such artistry!

[@jerryyoung755]

In the '80s, Mr. Souzay (my teacher, with whom I studied the cycle) had been asked to approve a release of this recording. He had not already known that it had been released on Turnabout. He heard it for the first time in my living room. In a matter of minutes he asked me to turn it off. His response: "He was too old, and I was too young.".

[@afritimm]

Great story.

[@expatmartin]

A wonderful performance and interpretation. I sang in his master class in Sydney in 1980 and my very first master class. He was and is a real role model for us all and a very generous and charming person. Thank you for the wonderful clip.

[@georgiannanyman]

Some subjective emotional misjudgment caused Souzay to be harshly self-critical on this -but in all the times I heard him -I consider this with Cortot to be the closest to musical perfection .It touches the heart.

[@meredith218461]

A heavenly match between a superb baritone and a legendary poet of the piano.

[@saltburner2]

I heard that when Souzay was asked about this recording, he said wistfully: I was too young and he was too old.

[@dieschonemullerin]

Thanks for sharing this. A dream. So pure that it hurts.

[@davidsolomon8203]

This is superb music-making!!! He handle the high tessitura magnificently, flowing from basso to baritone to tenor: This is remarkable singing!!!

[@ninodaney]

Haunting is the word for this. Hauntingly beautiful

[@marcrodriguez7177]

c'est la meilleure interprétation. Souzay est juste et vrai, plein d'émotion et Cortot ne le dessert pas non. il ne joue pas contre. Il porte le souffle à la perfection.

[@albertomartin4812]

What they do in "Ich grolle nicht" is amazing, that climax at 9:25 always gives me goosebumps.

[@glb289]

That part gives me goosebumps too, but for a much different reason.

[@NoahAldenHardaway]

Almost ashamed to say it, but several years ago their reading of that song helped me through a breakup.

[@danyto75]

magnifique, je ne me lasse pas d'écouter et d'apprendre !

[@floragutierrez538]

Dos titanes de la música en feliz conjunción!...

[@SalHernor]

What a beautiful music... Schumann's lieder are just beauty and with this kind of artists they are a treasure. Thank you for sharing this. (Now I have in my mind "Ich will meine Seele tauchen". I'm sure it will not leave me in all day long )

[@fourstrings48]

Ever since the mid-Sixties, I have always been an ardent admirer of Gérard Souzay's singing. One thing that particularly strikes me in this recording is his extraordinary ability to produce a wide variety of timbres, from light baritone to something that sounds pratically like a powerful basso. What a singer, and what an artist! (And Cortot is wonderful, too...)

[@nadaniente115a]

Très beau d'écouter Cortot et Souzay ensemble... Merci...

[@zivauri]

Oh My Goodness. Thank you!

[@VivaRenata]

Tack! I own this recording on an old LP but you can never listen to it often enough.

[@thomasrosmer241]

Thank you for this!

[@pierocells]

ceux là, loin du bling bling commercial d'aujourd'hui,apportaient consolation et espoir

[@stephenhill2404]

Beautiful. Also listen to DFD with Horowitz accompanying (!) recorded in 1976.

[@pedherall]

Aquí se nota todavía la influencia de su maestro Pierre Bernac incluso en algunas inflexiones en el fraseo. La voz muy fresca y de barítono ligero muy dúctil. Espléndida interpretación

[@antoniofernandez-albalatga5731]

Recital de piesia.❤❤❤❤❤❤👏👏👏👏👏👏

[@antoniofernandez-albalatga5731]

Poesía.

[@zivauri]

xanadudldu - This is exquisite! Such bad taste of Souzay to reject himself , and Cortot later! So, everyone, next time you criticize yourself, or early work you have done, remember this. OK?

[@hoomdenhaag5388]

:p :p :-)

[@AntonGerzenbergPiano]

@aarnold1971 Das ist so bei solchen Musikern! Sie verstehen die Musik auch ohne Text. Aber ich denke bei seiner Ausgabe war eine französische Übersetzung mit drin.

[@aarnold1971]

Keiner sang Schumann mit tieferem Ausdruck als der große Meister Souzay. Diese alte Version ist ein Schatz, den ich erst vor kurzem entdeckt habe. Die 60-er Jahre Version mit Dalton Baldwin ist die bekanntere (bei Philips), beim gesungenen Wort die bessere (da schöneres deutsch), beim Singen steht sie hinter dieser.

[@fourstrings48]

This strikes me as a marvelous performance throughout. But one detail that I find particularly interesting is that the song "Ich grolle nicht," which usually sounds somewhat angry and sarcastic, takes the poem at face value, with no such arrière-pensées; the song becomes (largely thanks to the slower-than-usual tempo) an expression of pure and sorrowful acceptance.

[@gunnarlysemose2744]

There is many good interpreters of this songcycle ,but in my view the best ones come from Aksel Schøtz ,Fischer Dieskau and Gerard Souzay

[@afritimm]

Fritz Wunderlich is splendid.

[@arminhafner9539]

und hans Hotter mit Hans Altmann.

[@AndreaKatzpianist]

He rejected Cortot because of his affiliation with Vichy and the pro-nazi regimen. Also Casals stopped talking to him, and he had a famous trio with Thibauld. Has nothing to do with music making, this is sublime and he probably knew it.

[@afritimm]

Andrea Katz But.....the recording was made 10 years AFTER the war. Why did Souzay do it in the first place if that was a problem?

[@jean-francoisranck3788]

I do not think that Souzay rejected this interpretation because Cortot was affiliated with the Vichy Regime but because he knew that he could never sing with such a perfection again.

[@moonyyummy]

wow

[@ディヤングルタ]

4:39

[@LeonFleisherFan]

@aarnold1971 Sie meinen die Aussprache, nehme ich an? Das Textverständnis (die Interpretation) übertrifft nämlich auch hier die meisten (verblüffenderweise vor allem auch moderne) Aufnahmen. Es mag ja sein, dass dies nur Muttersprachige beschäftigt (oder, je nachdem, stört), aber da geht es mir als Linguist auch bei fremdsprachigem Gesang (Oper!) nicht anders: die Worte sind nicht blosses Vehikel!

[@Rachlimninoff]

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[@jinwoobae7555]

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[@aarnold1971]

@LeonFleisherFan Ja, ich meine die Aussprache. Ansonsten geben ich Ihnen Recht. Sein Textverständnis ist nahezu unbegreiflich. Wie konnte er, als Nicht-Deutscher, den Sinn so tief erfassen und stimmlich widergeben?

[@posamsaso]

아 역시 코르토네

[@fatherman73]

I will add that the pianist is working against the singer at times. That's a shame, because otherwise this is one of the finest recordings I've heard of this cycle

[@albertomartin4812]

The pianist was actually one of the greatest musicians of the 20th century, and I think it's really hard to equal his expresivity performing Schumann's music. The main character here is not the singer by any means, not even the voice line, but the whole.

[@fatherman73]

I know a few phenomenal pianists who are terrible accompanists. Just my opinion from a couple of decades of being a professional choir director and and a trained singer. I've worked with Dalton Baldwin among others. 

[@albertomartin4812]

Of course I respect your opinion. To me this recording is outstanding, singer and pianist are magical. But just notice that Cortot was with no doubt among the finest interpreters of Schumann's piano solo music, he had a huge comprehension of his world, and was a great chamber music player and conductor too. What I mean is that I would dare to say that your statement could perfectly be that Souzay is working against the pianist sometimes (which I don't think is the case either). My opinion from also a couple of decades as a trained pianist. :P

[@fatherman73]

Ha. So you are a pianist! This gives us each a unique perspective. I came across this recording because I was surfing Souzay, my former teacher's teacher. Perhaps you were surfing Cortot. I have heard him elsewhere and found his playing to be very compelling. Much respect for him. I do believe that lieder should be approached as a duet, and so I like to hear some individual expression from the pianist, but not in an antagonistic way. I'll give it another listen. Perhaps I'm just too used to Gerald Moore's interpretation.

[@fatherman73]

OK, I just listened to it again. Full retraction! Perhaps it was because I listen to it on computer speakers before. It was absolutely perfect. Sorry for getting all puffy.