Lehmann Thoughts and Memories

Ted Mignone: Memories of Lotte Lehmann Recitals at Town Hall -1947 to 1951. In 1947 I was 16, quite new to opera and unaware of lieder. When a few of the regular Metropolitan Opera standees asked me to go to a Lotte Lehmann lieder recital I agreed without realizing what was in store for me. I will never forget the impact of the first time. The feeling in the house was different from the Met performances. It seemed that every one wanted to be there. There were many people who knew each other so there were many greetings exchanged form middle-age and older Germans, teachers and students, Met opera standees, single men and musical celebrities. The anticipation buzz was high. When Lehmann walked on stage the applause was not only wonderfully loud but sustained. I looked around at the smiling faces looking up at a dear friend. I myself thought that she was my favorite Aunt (a lovely warm woman). The smile was infectious but it's the watery bright blue eyes which affected me most - all the way up from the rear balcony. Such a feeling of intimacy and friendliness. As she waited for Paul Ulanowsky to sit and arrange the music, she turned to the audience and smiled again -every one smiled back and laughed with her. By the time she began the first song I was her friend and she mine. I remember that impression not only because it was the first time I'd experienced something like this but also from my discussion of the event with my parents afterwards. When I told them that Lehmann ''sang to me, '' my father said, ''Al Jolson had the same effect on an audience.'' I understood that remark later in life when I saw some popular entertainers who were able to touch an audience in a personal way . Throughout the years I've seen many wonderful lieder recitals from Schwarzkopf to today's Hilmar . They held your interest with Lehmann's qualities of musicianship, tone of voice and communication of the text BUT none did it personally as if they were next to me singing it simply and to me. I know that this has been said by many people but I didn't know that then and after 55 years I still feel the same way when I think of her and when I listen to her recordings.

Bruce Herman writes: when I was in my twenties in the Sixties, I went to see a film version of Der Rosenkavalier with Elizabeth Schwartzkopf and loved the opera. I had heard only that Lotte Lehmann was a famous Marschallen. I knew nothing of her, but borrowed a set of records from the library. Very poor quality and mono, of course. I can't explain the next part. The only other one it worked with for me was Caruso. I felt that Lehmann was right there in the room with me as I listened. Even through the really poor sound reproduction she reached me. I have been fitfully fascinated with her ever since. July 2002

From a letter of 10 May 2002, soprano Dorothy Warenskjold writes: "I didn't study with Lehmann -- at least, not formally. By that I mean that all her recitals were a kind of learning experience for me. She was one of only two singers that ever sent me out of the audituorium walking on air. I will never forget her farewell Town Hall recital....Early in my career, I was planning to go to New York to try for national management [and a mutual friend asked] if Lehmann would be willing to write a note recommending me to her manager, Marks Levine...(She had seen me do a recital in Santa Barbara...) At her request I came down from San Francisco to visit her in her home [in Santa Barbara]. I was fully prepared to sing for her but she assured me it wasn't necessary. She had heard me recetnly, she said, on the Standard Hour Radio Program. We had a delightful few hours together. And as I left she said she would be happy to contact Levine. A few weeks later, in New York, I had an appointment with Marks Levine...Well, I sang for him with the result that I was taken under contract....I was always very grateful to Lehmann for her kindness to me in those early days of my career....A few years later she came backstage to see me...after my first Sophie in Der Rosenkavalier."

Sherman Zelinsky writes in a letter of 24 May 2002: "I had but two visits with Lehmann...the first at the Orrington [hotel] in May 1967after her last master class at Northwestern - the morning she was leaving for Europe. She really didn't then discuss politics in depth - though she did relate her Göring-lion story, adding just a few comments. My second visit with her was at Orplid at her open house for her 80th birthday. ..The bulk of my friendship with her was the correspondense we had with each other from 1967 until her deather in 1976. [Mr. Zelinsky then tells of the Goethe Bicentennial year of 1949 when Lehmann came to San Francisco to sing an all-Goethe program.] After singing the printed program there was quite thunderous applause requesting an encore. After coming to the platform several times, she finally held up her hands to quiet the qudience and announced in a rather sheepish tone of voice...'I don't know any more Goethe songs! So may I sing one of these over again?' I believe it was the Schumann Talismane. There was more applause; then with a smile on her face and a twinkle in her eye, she said something to the effect that, "It isn't Goethe, but maybe you will let me sing for you An die Musik - and sang it as never I'd heard her sing it before."

Mme Lehmann gave a two master class at Mount Allison University which is located in Sackville, New Brunswick, Canada. I'm not sure now just how they managed to persuade her to come. The University is an excellent one but, just the same, not exactly located in Montreal or Toronto! I do remember she was en route to Europe. The master classes took place in January or February of 1962 if I remember correctly. I sang Schumann's Widmung.

What is vivid, still, in my memory is how she coached a young soprano on the role of the Marschallin. It was spellbinding to see. Mme Lehmann was suffering from a heavy cold and had almost no voice because of it, yet when she demonstrated the intensity of the scene one quite forgot there was actually no voice coming out! Ron Murdock

Professor Carleton Elliott, now retired, spoke about the event as follows: "It was organized by a wealthy pianist from Montreal named Eallin Ballin who was a friend of Lehmann. Bob Tweedy made the travel arrangements and the singers came from many places, bringing their own pianists. Lehmann worked with the pianists as well as the singers. I remember one song in particular. It was Schubert's Die Forelle and the singer was told not to be too emotional about the story, because it dealt only with a little fish. During the event Lehmann bid us remember the name of her then student, Grace Bumbry, who she said would make her mark." Sadly the master class was not recorded.

From Syracuse New York: Having heard Lotte Lehmann sing, having had her as a friend, having coached Lieder and opera with her and her brother Fritz Lehmann for many years, [all this] taught me not only the art of singing but also the art of living. Jane Birkhead

From Germany: I am the editor of the German National Discography. We have a special series "Discographie der deutschen Gesangsaufnahmen", [Discography of German Vocal Recordings] and you might consider adding a link to our website on your home page: http://www.lotz-verlag.de. 2 volumes have been published thus far. Lotte Lehmann will be covered in a future volume. I have visited your page, but did not find a Lotte Lehmann discography there. [It may be found in the Index section.] If you let me have your draft I may be able to add. Meanwhile all best wishes -Rainer E. Lotz
http://www.lotz-verlag.de

From Austria: (English translation below) Vielen lieben Dank für den Hinweis auf die neue Soundgallery. Ich habe sie mir soeben bei einem Freund mit einem Glasfasernetz-Internetzugang angesehen und angehört, doch meine ich, man müßte die Sache so auf die Seíten stellen, daß man die Musik auch speichern kann, um sie auch zu einem späteren Zeitpunkt abspielen zu können, nicht nur, wenn man Online ist. Ansonsten finde ich die Auswahl ganz ansprechend und ich werde morgen auch Frau Schuch darüber berichten. Mit freundlichen Grüßen aus Wien - G. Hnatek

[Many thanks for the advice about the new Soundgallery. I have recently seen and heard it with a friend who has a fiber optic connection. But I think that it should be organized so that one could retrieve the sound for future use, not just to hear while Online. Otherwise, I find the choice completely acceptable and will tell Frau Schuch (a great Lehmann fan in Vienna) about it. With friendly greetings from Vienna -G. Hnatek]

From Greece: Lotte Lehmann is one of my very special singers too! My favorite is her interpetation of Siegliende. How can one help not to like her... I think of her as the Muzio of the German repertory . Your site's content is excellent. I will gladly add it to my links for the November update. Keep in touch, GEORGE POLYZOIDES for FASOLT fasolt@hellasnet.gr>

From France: (English translation below) Merci beaucoup pour ce site très complet, qui me sera très utile. Je l'ajouterai aux liens de mon site, et je le transmettrai à quelques amis qui éditent des annuaires. L'URL de mon site sur le lied et la mélodie au disque est: http://altern.org/liedmelo Merci beaucoup de parler de mon site. Amitiés, Olivier Gratzer Olivier. Gratzer@wanadoo.fr

[Many thanks for this very complete site, which will be very useful for me. I will add it to the links of my site and refer it to some friends who edit some catalogs. The URL for my site on Recorded Lieder and Melodie is: http://altern.org/liedmelo Greetings, Olivier]

From Iowa, USA What you have created on that website is modern magic, and it will help in a large way to insure the immortality of the beloved Lehmann as we all cross the line into the next millenium, one in which the whole world will increasingly unite and communicate through the Web. It is astonishing to behold how much material is arranged within the complex electronic corridors of that website, one with many doors not yet open to visitors. I ventured through it in awe. The initial white on black photo is absolutely stunning, a great opening (which later on might feature a vocal temptation as well?). Everything just shines with your love and expertise. It will be such fun to see how this "Lehmann Garden" develops, as you continue to plant new material in the different areas of the website. I thoroughly doubt that any classical singer could be so deeply honored as Lehmann is through this website and the Foundation that will support it. You have done something truly meaningful for the world with this project.. Judy, Iowa, USA

From Belgium I just visited your Lotte Lehmann site...and it's really terrific . Lotte Lehmann is my favorite female Lieder singer, so I was delighted to find all this information you make available. Unfortunately, I'm much too young to have heard her live. I can hardly explain why I like Lehmann so much: on the one hand I hear all these technical flaws, but on the other hand... I don't care. There is that "je ne sais quoi" in her voice that keeps me listening because it's *real* what she's doing...
Thanks for making this site ! Margo,

From California, USA The Lotte Lehmann site is beautifully organized; a fitting tribute to a great artist. I taped her final master classes in Boston - I believe in early 1963. I had hoped to find the date of the broadcast in the chronology of her biography, but it is not there. Nor did I see the master classes listed at your site. Did I miss the information? Regardless, do you have the date so that I can complete my annotations on the tape? Mike

[Sorry, I don't have any information on this particular masterclass, yet. I have written to Lehmann's biographer Beaumont Glass and he may know. The master classes will soon be added to the complete discography.]



			Lehmann Thoughts and Memories Ted Mignone: Memories of Lotte Lehmann Recitals at Town Hall -1947 to 1951. In 1947 I was 16, quite new to opera and unaware of lieder. When a few of the regular Metropolitan Opera standees asked me to go to a Lotte Lehmann lieder recital I agreed without realizing what was in store for me. I will never forget the impact of the first time. The feeling in the house was different from the Met performances. It seemed that every one wanted to be there. There were many people who knew each other so there were many greetings exchanged form middle-age and older Germans, teachers and students, Met opera standees, single men and musical celebrities. The anticipation buzz was high. When Lehmann walked on stage the applause was not only wonderfully loud but sustained. I looked around at the smiling faces looking up at a dear friend. I myself thought that she was my favorite Aunt (a lovely warm woman). The smile was infectious but it's the watery bright blue eyes which affected me most - all the way up from the rear balcony. Such a feeling of intimacy and friendliness. As she waited for Paul Ulanowsky to sit and arrange the music, she turned to the audience and smiled again -every one smiled back and laughed with her. By the time she began the first song I was her friend and she mine. I remember that impression not only because it was the first time I'd experienced something like this but also from my discussion of the event with my parents afterwards. When I told them that Lehmann ''sang to me, '' my father said, ''Al Jolson had the same effect on an audience.'' I understood that remark later in life when I saw some popular entertainers who were able to touch an audience in a personal way . Throughout the years I've seen many wonderful lieder recitals from Schwarzkopf to today's Hilmar . They held your interest with Lehmann's qualities of musicianship, tone of voice and communication of the text BUT none did it personally as if they were next to me singing it simply and to me. I know that this has been said by many people but I didn't know that then and after 55 years I still feel the same way when I think of her and when I listen to her recordings. Bruce Herman writes: when I was in my twenties in the Sixties, I went to see a film version of Der Rosenkavalier with Elizabeth Schwartzkopf and loved the opera. I had heard only that Lotte Lehmann was a famous Marschallen. I knew nothing of her, but borrowed a set of records from the library. Very poor quality and mono, of course. I can't explain the next part. The only other one it worked with for me was Caruso. I felt that Lehmann was right there in the room with me as I listened. Even through the really poor sound reproduction she reached me. I have been fitfully fascinated with her ever since. July 2002 From a letter of 10 May 2002, soprano Dorothy Warenskjold writes: "I didn't study with Lehmann -- at least, not formally. By that I mean that all her recitals were a kind of learning experience for me. She was one of only two singers that ever sent me out of the audituorium walking on air. I will never forget her farewell Town Hall recital....Early in my career, I was planning to go to New York to try for national management [and a mutual friend asked] if Lehmann would be willing to write a note recommending me to her manager, Marks Levine...(She had seen me do a recital in Santa Barbara...) At her request I came down from San Francisco to visit her in her home [in Santa Barbara]. I was fully prepared to sing for her but she assured me it wasn't necessary. She had heard me recetnly, she said, on the Standard Hour Radio Program. We had a delightful few hours together. And as I left she said she would be happy to contact Levine. A few weeks later, in New York, I had an appointment with Marks Levine...Well, I sang for him with the result that I was taken under contract....I was always very grateful to Lehmann for her kindness to me in those early days of my career....A few years later she came backstage to see me...after my first Sophie in Der Rosenkavalier." Sherman Zelinsky writes in a letter of 24 May 2002: "I had but two visits with Lehmann...the first at the Orrington [hotel] in May 1967after her last master class at Northwestern - the morning she was leaving for Europe. She really didn't then discuss politics in depth - though she did relate her Göring-lion story, adding just a few comments. My second visit with her was at Orplid at her open house for her 80th birthday. ..The bulk of my friendship with her was the correspondense we had with each other from 1967 until her deather in 1976. [Mr. Zelinsky then tells of the Goethe Bicentennial year of 1949 when Lehmann came to San Francisco to sing an all-Goethe program.] After singing the printed program there was quite thunderous applause requesting an encore. After coming to the platform several times, she finally held up her hands to quiet the qudience and announced in a rather sheepish tone of voice...'I don't know any more Goethe songs! So may I sing one of these over again?' I believe it was the Schumann Talismane. There was more applause; then with a smile on her face and a twinkle in her eye, she said something to the effect that, "It isn't Goethe, but maybe you will let me sing for you An die Musik - and sang it as never I'd heard her sing it before." Mme Lehmann gave a two master class at Mount Allison University which is located in Sackville, New Brunswick, Canada. I'm not sure now just how they managed to persuade her to come. The University is an excellent one but, just the same, not exactly located in Montreal or Toronto! I do remember she was en route to Europe. The master classes took place in January or February of 1962 if I remember correctly. I sang Schumann's Widmung. What is vivid, still, in my memory is how she coached a young soprano on the role of the Marschallin. It was spellbinding to see. Mme Lehmann was suffering from a heavy cold and had almost no voice because of it, yet when she demonstrated the intensity of the scene one quite forgot there was actually no voice coming out! Ron Murdock Professor Carleton Elliott, now retired, spoke about the event as follows: "It was organized by a wealthy pianist from Montreal named Eallin Ballin who was a friend of Lehmann. Bob Tweedy made the travel arrangements and the singers came from many places, bringing their own pianists. Lehmann worked with the pianists as well as the singers. I remember one song in particular. It was Schubert's Die Forelle and the singer was told not to be too emotional about the story, because it dealt only with a little fish. During the event Lehmann bid us remember the name of her then student, Grace Bumbry, who she said would make her mark." Sadly the master class was not recorded. From Syracuse New York: Having heard Lotte Lehmann sing, having had her as a friend, having coached Lieder and opera with her and her brother Fritz Lehmann for many years, [all this] taught me not only the art of singing but also the art of living. Jane Birkhead From Germany: I am the editor of the German National Discography. We have a special series "Discographie der deutschen Gesangsaufnahmen", [Discography of German Vocal Recordings] and you might consider adding a link to our website on your home page: http://www.lotz-verlag.de. 2 volumes have been published thus far. Lotte Lehmann will be covered in a future volume. I have visited your page, but did not find a Lotte Lehmann discography there. [It may be found in the Index section.] If you let me have your draft I may be able to add. Meanwhile all best wishes -Rainer E. Lotz http://www.lotz-verlag.de From Austria: (English translation below) Vielen lieben Dank für den Hinweis auf die neue Soundgallery. Ich habe sie mir soeben bei einem Freund mit einem Glasfasernetz-Internetzugang angesehen und angehört, doch meine ich, man müßte die Sache so auf die Seíten stellen, daß man die Musik auch speichern kann, um sie auch zu einem späteren Zeitpunkt abspielen zu können, nicht nur, wenn man Online ist. Ansonsten finde ich die Auswahl ganz ansprechend und ich werde morgen auch Frau Schuch darüber berichten. Mit freundlichen Grüßen aus Wien - G. Hnatek [Many thanks for the advice about the new Soundgallery. I have recently seen and heard it with a friend who has a fiber optic connection. But I think that it should be organized so that one could retrieve the sound for future use, not just to hear while Online. Otherwise, I find the choice completely acceptable and will tell Frau Schuch (a great Lehmann fan in Vienna) about it. With friendly greetings from Vienna -G. Hnatek] From Greece: Lotte Lehmann is one of my very special singers too! My favorite is her interpetation of Siegliende. How can one help not to like her... I think of her as the Muzio of the German repertory . Your site's content is excellent. I will gladly add it to my links for the November update. Keep in touch, GEORGE POLYZOIDES for FASOLT fasolt@hellasnet.gr> From France: (English translation below) Merci beaucoup pour ce site très complet, qui me sera très utile. Je l'ajouterai aux liens de mon site, et je le transmettrai à quelques amis qui éditent des annuaires. L'URL de mon site sur le lied et la mélodie au disque est: http://altern.org/liedmelo Merci beaucoup de parler de mon site. Amitiés, Olivier Gratzer Olivier. Gratzer@wanadoo.fr [Many thanks for this very complete site, which will be very useful for me. I will add it to the links of my site and refer it to some friends who edit some catalogs. The URL for my site on Recorded Lieder and Melodie is: http://altern.org/liedmelo Greetings, Olivier] From Iowa, USA What you have created on that website is modern magic, and it will help in a large way to insure the immortality of the beloved Lehmann as we all cross the line into the next millenium, one in which the whole world will increasingly unite and communicate through the Web. It is astonishing to behold how much material is arranged within the complex electronic corridors of that website, one with many doors not yet open to visitors. I ventured through it in awe. The initial white on black photo is absolutely stunning, a great opening (which later on might feature a vocal temptation as well?). Everything just shines with your love and expertise. It will be such fun to see how this "Lehmann Garden" develops, as you continue to plant new material in the different areas of the website. I thoroughly doubt that any classical singer could be so deeply honored as Lehmann is through this website and the Foundation that will support it. You have done something truly meaningful for the world with this project.. Judy, Iowa, USA From Belgium I just visited your Lotte Lehmann site...and it's really terrific . Lotte Lehmann is my favorite female Lieder singer, so I was delighted to find all this information you make available. Unfortunately, I'm much too young to have heard her live. I can hardly explain why I like Lehmann so much: on the one hand I hear all these technical flaws, but on the other hand... I don't care. There is that "je ne sais quoi" in her voice that keeps me listening because it's real what she's doing... Thanks for making this site ! Margo, From California, USA The Lotte Lehmann site is beautifully organized; a fitting tribute to a great artist. I taped her final master classes in Boston - I believe in early 1963. I had hoped to find the date of the broadcast in the chronology of her biography, but it is not there. Nor did I see the master classes listed at your site. Did I miss the information? Regardless, do you have the date so that I can complete my annotations on the tape? Mike [Sorry, I don't have any information on this particular masterclass, yet. I have written to Lehmann's biographer Beaumont Glass and he may know. The master classes will soon be added to the complete discography.]






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Lehmann Thoughts and Memories