Search - Fritz Wunderlich :: Wunderlich, Fritz

One Of The Finest Male Singers We Will Ever Know

jdflynnno | 10/29/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I don't claim to know a great deal about opera and my knowledge of great classical music singers -- German or otherwise -- is limited to the usual list of suspects and divas. But as far as I'm concerned, Fritz Wunderlich possessed one of the greatest God-given voices you will ever hear in ANY type of Western music. If you ever wondered why so many music critics still lament this man's tragic death before he could become a household name, I would advise you to purchase this collection. Good Lord, what a voice! Believe me, once you hear ol' Fritz belt out a few tunes, you won't be thinking of any other male singer in any other type of music (whether it's Pavrotti, Domingo, Melchior, Vickers, Fischer-Dieskau, Sinatra, Nat "King" Cole, Billy Eckstine, Elvis, George Jones, Sam Cooke or even Bob Dylan) for some time. Herr Wunderlich was simply in a class by himself, and you are also strongly urged to get his EMI recording with Christa Ludwig and Otto Klemperer of Mahler's Das Lied von der Erde. Be warned, though, on that one. Not only will he shatter your heart with his singing of Mahler's sad lyrics, but he's liable to cause you lockjaw with his unique, incomparable phrasing."

One of the greatest tenors ever

A. E. Schwarcz | montreal, canada | 03/14/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"When Fritz Wunderlich died (tragically, in an accident) at the

age of 36, some of Opera's greatest experts and critics were

devastated and called his death a "heavy blow to music."



How true. Wunderlich never had the chance to get international

exposure at the level modern tenors do. He lived in the "wrong era", before media hype, and he died youg - much too young.



Yet even today, Wunderlich experiences a remarkable renaissance.

The world has (re-)discovered this gorgeous voice. Monaco and

Corelli had more power (though not much more), Bjoerling's and

Pavarotti's and Joseph Schmidt's timbres were more ringing (though not much more), Di Stefano and Carreras sang more sweetly (though not much more), and Bergonzi's and Tucker's belcanti were fabulous.



But hardly any of those had all thoe qualities combined like Fritz Wunderlich. Listen to his breathtaking musicality when he sang Mozart, his effortless height, his clear diction (probably unparalleled by any opera singer ever), his phrasing, his passion when he sang Verdi or Puccini.



And his height ... has there ever been a tenor who could reach,

seemingly without effort, the high D (no printing mistake...)

the way he did in "Granada" ?



And not just that he hit the high notes. It's how he hit them:

with expression, intelligence and, wherever required (mainly in

song and operetta), with wit and charm.



His Lieder are exemplary, his Italian songs probably more impressive than most Italian tenors'.



If one imagines that Wunderlich was just at the beginning of his career, one shudders at how great he would have become. I think he would have been mentioned in one breath with Caruso and Gigli.



What a huge loss to music, indeed.



"