# Hans Reinmar another largely forgotten Baritone?



## aussiebushman (Apr 21, 2018)

Digging through my LP recordings - some of which I had not played for years, I found the Lebendige Verganenheit disk featuring Austrian baritone Hans Reinmar - http://www.arkivmusic.com/classical/album.jsp?album_id=38870.

Quoting from the Preiser Records notes, "Hans Reinmar was probably the most versatile and multi* faceted baritone of bis time."

A search on TC did not deliver any results so my simple contribution to this apparent omission might start with what might arguably be one of Wagner's most beautiful melodies:






More clips may be found here: https://www.preiserrecords.at/en/hans-reinmar.html


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## vivalagentenuova (Jun 11, 2019)

Lebendige Vergangenheit is such a great series. Indispensible, really. 
Just recently found out about Reinmar. Wow! What a voice! I really enjoy his recording of Wotan's farewell:





And with the great Rosvaenge in _Otello_:


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## Bellinilover (Jul 24, 2013)

I'd certainly never heard of him.


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## aussiebushman (Apr 21, 2018)

That Wotan's Abschied from Reinmar is pure magic!

About Rosvaenge. Lebendige Vergangenheit also issued an album featuring several performances. Many decades ago I was impressed with his thrilling range and passion, never more suitable than his brilliant performance of Strauss' Italian Singer's aria in Rosenkavalier. 




Despite his obvious brilliance, over time I have become less fond of his "over the top" performances - like his "ach so fromm" 



 That is not real criticism - just a personal view.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

aussiebushman said:


> About Rosvaenge. Lebendige Vergangenheit also issued an album featuring several performances. Many decades ago I was impressed with his thrilling range and passion, never more suitable than his brilliant performance of Strauss' Italian Singer's aria in Rosenkavalier.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Over-the-top he was, but don't you wish there were a tenor alive who had a voice capable of going there?


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## vivalagentenuova (Jun 11, 2019)

> That Wotan's Abschied from Reinmar is pure magic!


Isn't it? Despite the sound quality, the singing was so good it was the example of that piece I played for my students when we covered the Ring in our class on epics. They liked it a lot.

I just ordered the Beecham _Zauberflote_ with Rosvaenge in it. I'm kind of excited for an over the top Tamino -- if Tamino's too subtle I just find him annoying.



> Over-the-top he was, but don't you wish there were a tenor alive who had a voice capable of going there?


Sigh.


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## aussiebushman (Apr 21, 2018)

Woodduck said:


> Over-the-top he was, but don't you wish there were a tenor alive who had a voice capable of going there?


Sad but true! Maybe we can live in hope, but in the meantime,the old recordings just keep on keeping on


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## wkasimer (Jun 5, 2017)

vivalagentenuova said:


> I just ordered the Beecham _Zauberflote_ with Rosvaenge in it. I'm kind of excited for an over the top Tamino -- if Tamino's too subtle I just find him annoying.


I like Rosvaenge in the right music (especially Verdi), but to me he sounds completely miscast as Tamino.


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## vivalagentenuova (Jun 11, 2019)

> I like Rosvaenge in the right music (especially Verdi), but to me he sounds completely miscast as Tamino.


It came today and I'm listening to his Dies bildnis ist bezaubernd schoen. I like it quite a lot. I like that his voice is strong. I find many tenors more known for Mozart repertoire like Schreier, Simoneau, and Gedda to be underpowered, pinched, and not as rich.


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## aussiebushman (Apr 21, 2018)

Back to Reinmar, this legendary performance of Feuerzauber (magic fire) is well worth hearing, despite the very poor recording quality - but what would you expect for 1929?






But - just for comparison, here is the more well-known Hans Hotter - undeniably superb, but to my ancient ears, not perhaps quite in the class of Reinmar (Yes, go ahead and argue)


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

vivalagentenuova said:


> It came today and I'm listening to his Dies bildnis ist bezaubernd schoen. I like it quite a lot. I like that his voice is strong. I find many tenors more known for Mozart repertoire like Schreier, Simoneau, and Gedda to be underpowered, pinched, and not as rich.


We first meet Tamino as a clueless young fellow running from a snake, calling for help, and being saved by a bunch of women. I see Tamino as very much a boy. Roswaenge doesn't sound boyish to me. It's as if Siegfried were running away from Fafner and the forest bird flew in to save him!


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## Duncan (Feb 8, 2019)

"After World War II, Rosvaenge divided his time between Berlin and Vienna. His voice showed little sign of age; it was still warm and sonorous throughout its range, and brilliant and lustrous in its upper register. Indeed, he could produce an easy and full-blooded high D during his vocal prime. This can be heard in one of his most celebrated recordings, the Postillon's Song ("Mes amis, écoutez l'histoire") from Le postillon de Lonjumeau by Adolphe Adam."


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

aussiebushman said:


> Back to Reinmar, this legendary performance of Feuerzauber (magic fire) is well worth hearing, despite the very poor recording quality - but what would you expect for 1929?
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Hotter never had the smoothest voice, but he had power and eloquence. He was also tall and imposing onstage - the very image of a god. Reinmar is vocally cleaner and sings the music with a beauty and ease we rarely hear, but he digs less deep into Wotan's emotions. He also sounds more a true baritone as opposed to the bass-baritone of Hotter. I'm not sure how well the recording indicates his capacity to ride Wagner's orchestra and fill the opera house. We do have many live recordings from Hotter.


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## vivalagentenuova (Jun 11, 2019)

> We first meet Tamino as a clueless young fellow running from a snake, calling for help, and being saved by a bunch of women. I see Tamino as very much a boy. Roswaenge doesn't sound boyish to me. It's as if Siegfried were running away from Fafner and the forest bird flew in to save him!


Totally agree that Tamino is boyish, but I differ slightly in what that means for the singer singing him. To me, operatic voice should refelect the soul of the character, not their physical speaking voice. So Tamino or Rinuccio in _Gianni Schicchi_ may be a little shrimp, but I don't want them to sound like it. They're _really_ in love, and his I want to hear that mainly not in the interpretation (though in that too) but in the voice itself. For me, opera is the magnifying glass of the soul, and the voice is the lens.

The Reinmar vs. Hotter question is a good example. Hotter may have more interpretive nuance, but Reinmar's voice actually communicates more to me than Hotter's nuance. Ideally, a singer would have both, and the ones that do are the greatest of the greats. But to me the voice is primary and indispensible, and shouldn't be lightened or lessened to make a character sound weak or girlish/boyish.


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## wkasimer (Jun 5, 2017)

vivalagentenuova said:


> Totally agree that Tamino is boyish, but I differ slightly in what that means for the singer singing him. To me, operatic voice should refelect the soul of the character, not their physical speaking voice. So Tamino or Rinuccio in _Gianni Schicchi_ may be a little shrimp, but I don't want them to sound like it. They're _really_ in love, and his I want to hear that mainly not in the interpretation (though in that too) but in the voice itself. For me, opera is the magnifying glass of the soul, and the voice is the lens.


You're gonna hate Lars Vogt on the new DG recording with Nezet-Seguin....



> The Reinmar vs. Hotter question is a good example. Hotter may have more interpretive nuance, but Reinmar's voice actually communicates more to me than Hotter's nuance.


There have been a lot of fine bass-baritones who've sung this music impressively. But most of them sound like that, and no more. Few have sounded like a god - Hotter, Schorr, Kipnis, and Reizen are the only ones that come to mind.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

wkasimer said:


> There have been a lot of fine bass-baritones who've sung this music impressively. But most of them sound like that, and no more. Few have sounded like a god - Hotter, Schorr, Kipnis, and Reizen are the only ones that come to mind.


May I suggest George London?


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## aussiebushman (Apr 21, 2018)

[QUOTE
There have been a lot of fine bass-baritones who've sung this music impressively. But most of them sound like that, and no more. Few have sounded like a god - Hotter, Schorr, Kipnis, and Reizen are the only ones that come to mind.[/QUOTE]

Thank you for that referral. Kipnis has always been a great favorite of mine but I had never heard him sing Wotan. Very impressive and "godlike" as you say:





As for Schorr, His interpretation and voice sound to me more like Reinmar and maybe even more thrilling:


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## Bonetan (Dec 22, 2016)

wkasimer said:


> You're gonna hate Lars Vogt on the new DG recording with Nezet-Seguin....
> 
> There have been a lot of fine bass-baritones who've sung this music impressively. But most of them sound like that, and no more. Few have sounded like a god - Hotter, Schorr, Kipnis, and Reizen are the only ones that come to mind.


Hotter is my fave, but I've always believed that Tomlinson sounds more godlike than them all!


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## Bonetan (Dec 22, 2016)

aussiebushman said:


> Back to Reinmar, this legendary performance of Feuerzauber (magic fire) is well worth hearing, despite the very poor recording quality - but what would you expect for 1929?
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I think 40s Hotter surpasses Reinmar in every way...


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## wkasimer (Jun 5, 2017)

Woodduck said:


> May I suggest George London?


I must confess that I've never been a big London fan. I find his tone unattractive, even by Wagnerian standards, and his intonation is often flawed (usually sharp).


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## wkasimer (Jun 5, 2017)

Bonetan said:


> I think 40s Hotter surpasses Reinmar in every way...


It's a shame that most people only know Hotter from his post-1950 opera broadcasts, when he was already in vocal decline (even though he was only in his 40's). His wartime recordings are much better vocally, and interpretively similar.


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## vivalagentenuova (Jun 11, 2019)

wkasimer said:


> You're gonna hate Lars Vogt on the new DG recording with Nezet-Seguin....
> 
> There have been a lot of fine bass-baritones who've sung this music impressively. But most of them sound like that, and no more. Few have sounded like a god - Hotter, Schorr, Kipnis, and Reizen are the only ones that come to mind.


Listened to Vogt on YouTube. Forget boyish: Vogt sounds like he needs an emergency transfusion. That he gets hired on a regular basis to sing _Wagner_ at _Bayreuth_ is all the evidence anyone would need that there's been an operatic free fall, let alone decline.

The 40s Hotter is indeed outstanding, but I still actually prefer Reinmar, if only slightly. His high notes in particular are easier.


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