"Schubert's music is not pretentious. People who are sensitive to music will definitely find themselves and find resonance in his music." Talking about his favorite composer Schubert, German baritone singer Mattia S. Gurney said.
On January 5th, Gerne teamed up with pianist Chen Sa to sing Schubert's vocal suite "The Beautiful Mill Girl" at the Shanghai Symphony Hall. This solo concert at the beginning of the new year made many people say it was a surprise. Some people said it was a surprise. Even Ge Nei became a fan overnight. On January 7, Genet will also join hands with the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra to sing Mahler's "Young Man" under the conductor of Yu Long.
Genet and Chen Sa
"King of Songs" Schubert, who can write 12 songs a day
German poet Muller's "The Beautiful Mill Girl" tells a love tragedy - a wandering miller walking along a stream Going forward, passing by a mill, he fell in love with the miller's daughter at first sight. The hunter took away the miller girl, and the miller threw himself into the embrace of the flowing water in the pain of his broken love.
In 1823, Schubert, who was struggling with his career, frustrated in love, and suffering from illness, read this poem and had a strong resonance. The miller seemed to be his incarnation. He selected 20 poems from the original work and composed a vocal suite.
uses a velvet-like voice to outline the musical lines intertwined with light and dark, slowly describing the mill worker's love, grief, jealousy and despair.
"A lonely young man is trying to find true love. When the girl says hello, he feels that the other person has fallen in love with him and becomes very possessive. Such a false love can only end in disappointment and have disastrous consequences. The end." Gurney said that this is Schubert's most dramatic and tragic work. The piano in
's works is no longer just an accompaniment, it even plays a role in interpreting the meaning of the lyrics. The sound of the piano is sometimes the sound of a gurgling stream, sometimes the sound of a spinning grinding wheel, and sometimes the sound of a hunter's horse kicking.
For Chen Sa, who collaborated with her for the first time on the stage, Genne was generous in praising her, "She is not only a world-class pianist, but also a world-class artist." In September last year, the two met briefly in Berlin and rehearsed for several hours until We met again only two days before the Shanghai performance. Chen Sa was surprised by Chen Sa's deep understanding of the work and his open mind.
"Her heart, her emotions and beautiful music are tied together. She can play an extremely sweet tone, and at the same time she is full of passion and has a very warm personal understanding of musical phrases." Gehne said that there are many emerging talents in the international music scene today. Fantastic musicians from Asia, but Chen Sa is still special.
within
"The Beautiful Mill Girl" (1823) and Schubert's "Winterreise" (1827-1828), which was born four years later, are regarded as the pinnacle of German art songs, and the latter was performed in China of higher frequency.
"Winter Journey" is also based on Müller's poems. 24 songs form a vocal suite, portraying a lonely, lonely, depressed soul who is dissatisfied with reality and pursues a vague ideal kingdom but cannot obtain it.
"'Winter Journey' ends with a kind of hope, rather than ending with death, and with Schubert's life wisdom as he grows older." Gurney said that the tone of "Winter Journey" is dark , the protagonist gives up everything in the world and goes to nature, walking non-stop, with an unknown future. Passing by the cemetery, he may even think that this is his resting place, but in the last song "The Organist" another person appears, a Lonely, strange strangers, "he thought, maybe they can go together. This is hope."
Schubert is a representative figure of early romantic music. "The Mill Girl" and "Winterreise" are both It has a strong color of sadness, implying the composer's personal imprint of life. "Focusing on individuals rather than society, using lyrical means to describe personal feelings and encounters, and to present personal love, loneliness, despair, and death, this is One of the hallmarks of early Romantic music,” Gurney said.
Genei and Chen Sa
Schubert passed away in 1828. Although his life was only 31 years, he produced an astonishing number of works and left a rich musical legacy for future generations.Known as the "King of Songs", he has written more than 650 songs, as well as numerous operas, symphonies, piano music, chamber music, and choral works.
"People have done research. If a scribe wants to copy the scores of all his works, it may take forty or fifty years. The music is all in his head, and he only needs to resort to writing. Sometimes, he can do it in one day To write 12 songs is unbelievable, it is simply a miracle." Gurney speculated that Schubert's untimely death may have something to do with the intensive creation and intensity of his work.
pioneered a new trend of orchestral accompaniment of art songs.
Ge Nei is one of the most popular Schubert singers today. He has recorded more than 10 albums of Schubert art songs, many of which have been rated as the best versions. In January last year, he released his latest album "Revisiting Schubert" through dg.
"If you want to listen to a vocal concert, Schubert's art songs are a good place to start." Gone believes that Schubert's music is not pretentious, and people who are sensitive to music will definitely find it in his music. Oneself, find resonance, "There is something admirable about Schubert. Although there is endless loneliness, pain, and sadness in his life, he has never been cynical, and he has never let despair and depression take over in his music. He always They are very positive and always say 'yes' to life."
and Yu Long
are also the top interpreters of German art songs today. When recommending the highlights of the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra's 2023-24 music season to reporters, Music Director Yu Long first recommended Genet, "a top artist!"
After the Schubert tour, Genet will join hands with the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra The group then moved on to Mahler's "The Devil's Corner".
Different from the vocal suite, "Young Devil's Horn" is a collection of songs. Mahler selected 24 songs from hundreds of folk poems widely circulated in German-speaking areas and composed them. Gerne will sing 6 of them - "Legend of the Rhine", "When the Wonderful Horn Blows", "Life on Earth", "Original Light", "Reveille" and "The Young Drummer".
Mahler created a new trend of using orchestras to accompany art songs. “He expanded the collaborative instruments of art songs from the piano to an orchestra, hoping that the big band would be as flexible as the piano to match the singer’s voice. "For singers, Schubert and Mahler are important composers that cannot be bypassed, and they have always been the focus of Gone's singing.
A few years ago, Yu Long invited Genet to come to Shanghai to sing Mahler's "Song of the Earth", but the trip was not possible due to the epidemic. For the first time, he collaborated with the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra. He was excited to find that the difficulty of the work was not low, but the rehearsal was smooth and efficient. Yu Long’s fluent German surprised him even more. “He studied in Germany and has a good understanding of German culture. Deep understanding. Our communication is very smooth, no need to say anything, just one point is clear."
