Lorraine, revisited

We are having a very snowy, wintry, beautiful day here at Rood Hill Farm and I had nothing much to do besides keeping the bird feeders filled for my hungry flock of chicadees, finches, tufted titmice, blue jays, and a pair of cardinals. It was a perfect afternoon to sit down and listen to the CD Richard Dyer sent me recently of Lorraine Hunt Lieberson singing Das Lied von der Erde with the Radio Filharmonisch Orkest (Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra). The conductor was Edo de Waart and it was recorded live in Utrecht on September 9, 1999. Richard told me that he had always wished that he had heard Lorraine sing this role but thought she had never done so.


Lorraine and I worked on Das Lied in New York City and I think that she sang it at Alice Tully Hall. I remember we worked together in the apartment of a member of the Lincoln Center Chamber Group, who lived right across the street from my New York City studio, which wasn't available that night for some reason.

In this performance the tenor was David Rendall. He starts out seeming to want to fight the orchestra with much pushing and a very fast, tight vibrato. He calms it down a bit in the later movements, so perhaps this overly agitato wobble was caused by nerves.

But then Lorraine sings. And heaven opens its arms. Whereas the tenor seems to be standing apart, having an argument with the orchestra, Lorraine sings from the center, both of the orchestra and of her very being. Undoubtedly her years as a violist gave her a special feeling when singing with instruments of how to become a part of them and yet stand out.

I realised, listening to her again today, what a great black hole exists in my life not being able to work with her any more. I know that I am incredibly predjudiced, but there is just no one singing today, whom I have heard, at any rate, who performs with the all-encompassing passion, musicality, variation of tone, and over-all love, that she did. It's as if she and the orchestra are making love to each other as well as to the music.

Thank you so very much, Richard, for this incredible gift by this wonderful artist we both loved.