Oberon's Glade

Tag: FRAU OHNE SCHATTEN

  • Gertrud Rünger

    G runger

    Gertrud Rünger (1899-1965) sang both mezzo-soprano and dramatic soprano roles during her career. She began as a choral singer, moving on to solo roles in smaller German houses in 1923.

    In 1930, she joined the ensemble of the Vienna State Opera, and in 1934 came to the Berlin Staatsoper. She sang Verdi’s mezzo roles in German, and developed a reputation as a Wagnerian soprano, singing in Paris, London, Amsterdam, Dresden, and Munich.

    Ms. Rünger sang the Nurse in FRAU OHNE SCHATTEN at the Salzburg Festival in 1932-1933, and later appeared there as Klytemnestra and as Beethoven’s Leonore. She sang briefly at The Met in 1937, as the WALKURE and GOTTERDAMMERUNG Brunnhildes, Fricka in RHEINGOLD, and as Ortrud opposite Kirsten Flagstad’s Elsa.

    Designated as Kammersängerin, Gertrud Rünger continued to perform into the 1950s, whilst also teaching voice. She passed away at Berlin in 1965.

    Gertrud Rünger – Sleepwalking Scene ~ MACBETH – in German

    Gertrud Rünger – DON CARLO aria – in German

    And here is Ms. Rünger live in a thrilling rendition of Ortrud’s Invocation.

    ~ Oberon

  • Stephen Gould Has Passed Away

    Stephen gould

    It is very sad to read of the death of the American tenor Stephen Gould. Earlier in the summer, he had been diagnosed with bile duct cancer, and his demise was swift. 

    Born in 1962 in Virginia, Mr. Gould graduated from Olivet Nazarene University with a Bachelor of Arts in 1984.

    He first made a name for himself in music theatre, singing some 3,000 performances in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical, PHANTOM OF THE OPERA. Turning to opera, he developed into a formidable heldentenor.

    Among his signature Wagnerian roles were Siegfried, Tristan, Tannhäuser, and Parsifal; he also took on the arduous roles of Florestan, the Emperor in FRAU OHNE SCHATTEN, Bacchus, and Otello.

    Mr. Gould performed at the major opera houses of the world, including the the Wiener Staatsoper, the Bayreuth Festival, Bayerische Staatsoper, Teatro Massimo di Palermo, Berlin State Opera, and the Teatro dell’Opera di Roma.

    I first heard Stephen Gould on a radio broadcast of Wagner’s RING Cycle from the 2006 Bayreuth Festival. He was truly impressive, and his was the outstanding performance in the Cycle, conducted by Christian Thielemann.

    Finally, in November 2019, I had the chance to experience Mr. Gould’s singing live, when the National Symphony Orchestra offered a concert performance of Act II of TRISTAN UND ISOLDE under the baton of Gianandrea Noseda at Devid Geffen Hall. This was my reaction:

    “Veteran heldentenor Stephen Gould, now 57 years old and with years of singing opera’s most demanding tenor parts behind him, displayed a voice of prodigious power and tonal steadiness. He knows Tristan’s music so well, and he lives it fully. While his clarion singing rang amply thru the hall, he also has the tenderness of expression for “O sink hernieder, nacht der liebe…”  And as the act moves towards its devastating ending, Mr. Gould’s magnificent singing of the moving passage “Wohin nun Tristan scheidet,willst du, Isold’, ihm folgen?” (“Where Tristan now shall go, will you, Isolde, follow?”) carried us to that exalted place where a great Wagnerian singer can take us.”

    My friends who were at that performance with me were equally thrilled by Mr. Gould’s performance, and in the ensuing years his name would come up when we spoke of great performances we had witnessed. It speaks volumes when a singer can make such a memorable impression in a concert setting of single act of an opera.

    Listen to Stephen Gould in the final minutes of Act II of TRISTAN UND ISOLDE here.

    ~ Ruhe jetzt, geliebter Held.

  • Audrey Stottler Has Passed Away

    AudreyStottler

    September 15th, 2018 – I’ve learned of the death of Audrey Stottler (above), who I met in 2003 when she was in New York City to cover – and sing a single performance of – the Dyer’s Wife in FRAU OHNE SCHATTEN at The Met.

    Audrey came in the opera room at Tower Records where I was working at the time, and my boss Bryan and I chatted her up. Bryan had seen her as Turandot at Virginia Opera in 1993. and I’d seen her 2002 Met Turandot – a role she sang worldwide – and we were looking forward to the FRAU. She was most gracious during our long conversation.

    Audrey had a notable success as the Dyer’s Wife; I recall being especially impressed by her juicy upper tones, the unusual richness of her lower range, and the sense of lyricism in her singing.

    This scene from WALKURE displays her vocal attributes quite well:

    Audrey Stottler – Die Walküre ~ Der manner sippe

    And this is thrilling, grand-scale Wagner singing:

    Audrey Stottler – Tristan und Isolde ~ Isolde’s Narration & Curse

    At the time of her unexpected death, Audrey was running a popular voice studio in Minneapolis.

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    Bryan took this photo of me with Audrey the day we met her. There are some lovely tributes to her on Norman Lebrecht’s blog.

    ~ Oberon