München (DE), Lange Nacht der Musik, Gasteig
What an inspiring weekend!!! mathias and I were very much looking forward to meeting the wonderful tenor Julian Prégardien. And although I never met Julian in person it felt like I‘ve known him for a while. Somehow our paths crossed musically through Schubert‘s Winterreise & Schumann‘s Dichterliebe long before we met personally...I guess it‘s true what they say – music really does bring people together : )! What an honour to be invited by Julian to sing our versions of Schumann‘s Lieder at the Lange Nacht der Musik in Gasteig. He chose an open space right in front of a staircase leading to the „Carl-Orff Saal“ making it as accessible as it could be for people to come by and listen. Anyone who walked up the stairs had the chance to get in touch with Schumann‘s music and listen to the incredible Dichterliebe from two different musical perspectives - the „original“ version of Schumann‘s Dichterliebe performed by Julian and Els Biesemans (Els was playing on an early pianoforte aka hammerclavier!!!) followed by our Schumann Song Book versions. In between sets we even had time to talk about our musical worlds and perspectives with charming Sylvia Schreiber leading our get-together. Time flew by and mathias and I enjoyed every minute of it. Thank you to our friend Hans Heini for coming all the way! The whole place was filled with music and excitement and it was a true pleasure to be a part of this great event! Thank you to the wonderful team of Gasteig from the sound engineer to all the helping hands and last but not least to Max Wagner, the managing director of Gasteig, for welcoming us with such open ears : )!
After our second set mathias and I had to pack up quickly and get back to the train station. With a lot of luck we got there out of breath but just in time to hop on the train to Tegernsee. The next morning we had the chance to play another double concert with Julian and Els at the incredibly beautiful home of Helmut Nanz and his family. Surrounded by stunning beauty, art, open hearted people and a loooot of snow - can you believe it: Snow „im wunderschönen Monat Mai“!!! : ) - we once more played Schumann‘s Lieder - this time we tried to connect our different interpretations even closer, playing the songs we had in common "Ich will meine Seele tauchen", "Ich grolle nicht" und "Hör ich das Liedchen klingen" one after the other, trying to combine our perspectives in one cycle. I cannot tell you how much I enjoyed the moment when Julian sings the end of „Die Sennin“ in our version!!! Thank you to family Nanz for inviting us into their beautiful home and giving us the chance to share our songs with their warm hearted friends! I can only be grateful for this intense weekend full of songs. So here‘s to you, Julian - thank you for taking a chance and making it possible to cross musical borders all together! What a Liederabend and Liedermorgen. I got back to Vienna close to midnight, very tired and deeply inspired – wanting more : )!
Yours Lia
Listen to Julian‘s Dichterliebe right here: Im wunderschönen Monat Mai
And check out Els Biesemans‘ world of keys: https://www.elsbiesemans.be
Von fremden Ländern und Menschen
Ein Märchen für Lia Pale von Julian Prégardien, Tenor, Opern – und Liedsänger
Oktober 2017
Es war einmal ein Prinz, der für sein Leben gerne Lieder sang. Er liess zu seinem Gesang ein Klavier aufspielen. Die Lieder begleiteten ihn bereits sein ganzes Leben, denn auch der König liebteihre Lieder. Sie lasen und sangen die Lieder aus notierten Zeichen, die sie sehr verehrten, denn diese Zeichen waren von grossen Meistern aufgeschrieben worden.
Eines Tages erhielt der Prinz durch einen Boten Kunde von einem fremden Land, in dem eine Prinzessin lebte, die ebenfalls Lieder sänge. Sie singe seine Lieder in einer fremden Sprache und habe Freunde um sich versammelt. Andere Prinzen erschraken ob dieser Kunde und wurden zornig. Der Prinz aber ward neugierig und lauschte heimlich den fremden Klängen der fremden Menschen.
Sie klangen schön - und berührten ihn. Der Prinz erkannte, dass auch diese Menschen die Zeichen der Meister kannten und liebten, und er hatte das Verlangen, der Prinzessin und ihren Freunden die Hand zu reichen und ihnen zu danken, dass sie seine Lieder ebenso verehrten wie er.
Und in einem fernen Land sitzen die besitzlosen Meister. "Seine Lieder?" fragt einer lächelnd die anderen - und alle freuen sich daran, dass alte, glühende Zeichen Leser, Deuter und Lauscher finden.
Of foreign Countries and People
A fairy tale for Lia Pale by Julian Prégardien, Tenor, Opera- and “Lied” singer
October, 2017
Once upon a time there was a prince who sang songs with utmost pleasure. He let a piano play with his singing. The songs accompanied him already his whole life, for the king too loved their songs. They read and sang the songs from notated signs, dear to them, for these signs had been written down by great masters.
One day the prince received from a messenger news about a foreign country in which a princess lived who would also sing songs. She sang his songs in a foreign language and had friends gathered around her. Other princes got frightened by the news and became angry. But the prince got curious and listened secretly to the foreign sounds of the foreign people.
They sounded pretty – and they touched him. The prince recognized that these people too knew and loved the signs of the masters, and he had the desire to reach out to the princess and her friends and to thank them that they revered his songs as much as he did.
And in a faraway country the masters without property are sitting together: "His songs?" one is asking with a smile the others – and everybody rejoices over the fact that old, glowing signs find readers, interpreters and eavesdroppers.
