A Program of Art Songs by Robert Schumann (1810-1856)
Auditorium, APS Conference Center, Argonne National Laboratory
Sunday, January 23, 2000 at 3:00 p.m.
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This program is partially supported by the Illinois Arts Council, a state agency.
On May 15 1840, Robert Schumann (1810-1856) wrote to his betrothed Clara Wieck: “I have again composed so much that sometimes it seems to me altogether uncanny. Oh, I cannot help it, I would like to sing myself to death like a nightingale. Twelve Eichendorff songs. But I have already forgotten them and started something new.” The ‘something new’ turned out to be Dichterliebe, Op. 48, which was completed that same month. The twelve Eichendorff songs, which form the Liederkreis Op. 39, and the sixteen songs of the Dichterliebe cycle were but a sample of what Schumann's “Year of the Song” was to give to the world. The Liederkreis Op. 24, on nine poems by Heine, had been completed in February, as had the Myrthen cycle of 26 songs, while the incomparable Frauenliebe und Leben was to be written in July and a large number of other songs were to be completed before the end of the year. As Schumann confided to Clara early in the year: “I cannot tell you how easily all this has come and how happy it has made me. Usually I compose these songs standing or walking, not at the piano. This is really quite a different sort of music that need not be carried first by the fingers - much more direct and melodious.”
The latter half of 1839 had been a time of deep distress, musically quite unproductive. Clara was for much of the time in Berlin staying with her mother, while Schumann sat in Leipzig, tormented by thoughts of death and decay, his nerves at the breaking point, all musical inspiration departed. Father Wieck continued his slanderous attacks on his future son-in-law, seeking to enlist the help of the courts in an abusive campaign which culminated in a scandalous scene in December 1839, in which Wieck so lost control of himself that the judge had some difficulty in bringing him to order. (The court dismissed all Wieck's objections.)
The barren despair of 1839 gave way to the intense activity of 1840. It had been twelve years since Schumann had last tried his hand at songwriting, and there was nothing in his youthful attempts to suggest the mastery he was to bring to the genre. In his piano-accompanied Lieder (Art Songs) he created a “different sort of music,” and in weaving into the songs the full intensity of his own experience Schumann produced what are probably the most moving love songs in existence.
Bass-baritone Robert Holl is well known to Chicago audiences. He made his debut with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra at a special concert in Grant Park in 1991 and performed with the CSO in Orchestra Hall in 1998, both times in Beethoven's Ninth Symphony under the baton of Daniel Barenboim. In January 1999, he sang Schubert's Winterreise in Orchestra Hall with Maestro Barenboim at the piano, and in January 2000, before his appearance for Arts at Argonne, he will sing in Bruckner's F minor Mass, again with the CSO under Barenboim.
A native of Rotterdam, the Netherlands, Robert Holl received first prize at the 1971 International Vocal Competition in 's-Hertogenbosch. He then moved to Munich, where he continued his studies with Hans Hotter. The following year he won first prize at the Munich International Competition. From 1973 to 1975, he was a member of the Bavarian State Opera in Munich. Robert Holl, who lives in Austria, received the honorary title of Kammersänger from the city of Vienna in 1990.
Holl frequently collaborates with other musicians, including Peter Schreier for performances of Bach oratorios and his wife, soprano Ellen van Lier, for performances of Hugo Wolf's Italian Songbook. His extensive discography for the Preisler label includes works by Pfitzner, Reger, Franz Schmidt, Schubert, and Wolf.
Pianist David Lutz is on the faculty of the Conservatory of the City of Vienna, where he holds classes in Lied and Oratorio and in Vocal Accompaniment. Born in Pennsylvania, he is a graduate of the University of Delaware and Boston University. His first recording was made in 1986 with Robert Holl (Schubert Lieder).
The concert will be presented in the Auditorium of the APS Conference Center (Bldg. 402) at Argonne. It is open to the public; no special permit is required to enter the laboratory site.
Don't know how to reach Argonne? Confused about the layout of the laboratory site? Here are some navigational aides:
Admission to the concert is $20. Call (630) 252-3751 to order your tickets now, VISA and MasterCard accepted; or use the ticket request form to order your tickets by mail.
Remaining tickets will be sold in the lobby of the Argonne Cafeteria (Bldg. 213) during the week of January 17 between noon and 1:00 p.m. The Auditorium Box Office will be open on the day of the performance at 2:30 p.m.
The audience is invited to join the artist at a reception following the performance.
A special pre-concert dinner will be offered at the Argonne Guest House restaurant. Dinner hours from 5:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. $22.95 per person. Reservations requested (739-6000).
