Release Date: 07 February 2025
Label: Querstand
Packaging Type: Box Set
No of Units: 5
Barcode: 4025796022070
Composer/Series: Die Wiederentdeckte Stimme
Description
The voice of the Dessau heroic tenor Kammersanger Dr Horst Wolf (1894-1980) is considered "lost". No professional recordings of this singer are known today, who was associated with the Dessau Theater for over a quarter of a century, of which he became an honorary member when he retired in 1957, and who sang at the state operas in Dresden, Munich, Berlin and Vienna as well as at almost all major opera houses in Germany, but also abroad. There are essentially two reasons for this gap in the records: firstly, he had an aversion to recordings in the "sterile" studio throughout his life and secondly, the radio recordings with his voice have been lost.
Nevertheless, at the presentation of his memoirs under the title "The Wolf's Tale" in 2020 in the Marienkirche in Dessau, a recording was presented: Scene and Romance of Richard from "A Masked Ball" by Giuseppe Verdi. The sound of the voice of the heroic tenor Dr. Horst Wolf was rightly considered a minor sensation at the time. It is no less sensational that, in addition to this piece, which has been preserved through a chain of coincidences, the present 5-CD box contains numerous recordings of the singer from the 1950s.
In the Dessau Theater, he had excerpts from operas in which he took part, mostly Wagner operas, recorded. Most of the tapes were destroyed in a house fire in January 1980, but several dozen were salvaged from the burned-out ruins. However, the tapes had suffered considerable fire, soot and water damage. Many of these damaged tapes, which are over half a century old, could not be saved. But at least some of them have now been restored and made audible in a self-sacrificing, subtle restoration work by Christian Zwarg, Berlin.
Now available on a unique 5CD set at a special price are the restored recordings. In addition to Dr. Horst Wolf, other singers from the Dessau Theater can be heard in them, including many whose voices are rarely or not at all available on recordings. The booklet provides the historical context and also explains the procedure for the difficult restoration.
Tracklisting
Horst Wolf
Pieter van Dijk
Mirella Hagen, Tobias Berndt, Frank-Immo Zichner
Mechthild Winter
Maria Ladurner, Martin Riccabona, cappella Argentina
Kristin Henneberg, Susanne Rabbach, Andreas Hartmann
Juliane Laake, Ensemble Art d'Echo
Jean-Michel Douiller
Piotr Beczala; Keri Alkema; Carlos Alvarez; Dolora Zajick; Katerina Tretyakova; Chorus of the Gran
Olga Kulchynska; Andrei Zhilikhovsky; Arsen Soghomonyan; Violeta Urmana; Olga Guryakova; Mischa Sch
Andreas Homoki; Philharmonia Zurich; Tomasz Konieczny; Camilly Nylund; Klaus Florian Vogt; Wolfgang
Juan Francisco Gatell; Anna Prohaska; Sara Blanch; Arno Schuitemaker's Ballet Company; Orchestra e
Lisette Oropesa; Vito Priante; Levy Sekgapane; Matteo Macchioni; Davide Giangregorio; Coro del Teat
Yeree Suh; Markus Schafer; Daniel Ochoa; Niklas Mallmann; Anna Feith; Anna-Doris Capitelli; Philipp
Orchester und Chor der Wiener Staatsoper; Kurt Rydl; Marian Talaba; Angela Desnoke; Misha Didyk; Do
Charlie Drummond; Yvonne Howard; William Morgan; Richard Suart; Mark Nathan; Ben McAteer; Catriona
