(Lehar with his wife) (Lehar with his wife)
When in 1940 (30 April) the Vienna State Opera mounted ‘Das Land des Lächelns” for Lehar’s seventieth birthday featuring Franz Völker as Sou-chong, Fritz Löhner (click here) –Lehar’s librettist -had already been locked up for two years in the Buchenwald concentration camp. Löhner (1883-1942) nor his co-librettist Ludwig Herzer (click here) who was killed by the Nazi thugs a year before were mentioned in the programme notes . Löhner (original name Friedrich Löwy) kept on hoping that Lehar would get him free and in fact Peter Herz claims that Lehar did once speak about Löhner to Hitler but to no avail. Later on Lehar started to suppress Löhner’s fate perhaps also out of fear and self-protection as Lehar himself was married to Sophie Paschkis who was Jewish. Löhner’s wife and his two little daughters were killed in Maly Trostinec in September 1942. Löhner would die 2 months later in Auschwitz.
Lehar would never leave nor divorce Sophie. She died from a heart attack on 5 September 1947. Heartbroken Lehar would follow her a year later on 24 October 1948.
The most tragic episodes in the Lehar saga. But now back to our subject.
The Chinoiserie “Die gelbe Jacke” was created in Vienna’s Theater an der Wien on 9 February 1923 on a libretto by Victor Léon (click here). Its success was limited. Sou-chong was sung by Hubert Marishka more an actor than an operetta tenor. Six years later Lehar would revise it for Richard Tauber.
In the original version the separation between Lisa and Sou-chong is not definite as he becomes China’s ambassador in Vienna and a reconciliation with Lisa follows.
While reworking the “Yellow Jacket” Löhner pointed out sixteen bars which sounded for the first and last time just before the final curtain, and which Lehar had completely forgotten. Löhner considered those bars as the most beautiful the composer had ever written : an inspiration in the thousand, utterly spontaneous, supremely tuneful, perfectly harmonised – the ideal Tauber melody!
Lehar could scarcely grasp it but Löhner was right: the brief ‘arioso’ overlaid by the mass of the rest of the score, contained the main theme of the new work. Out of the material “Dein ist mein ganzes Herz” was newly composed in d-flat major and now came at the end of act two.
The revised version known as Das Land des Lächlens was created in Berlin’s Metropol Theater (click here) on 10 October 1929. The dialogues were shortened and the –now- unhappy ending was decisive for the change in the work’s fortunes. Other structural faults in the Yellow Jacket were also removed : the shape of the action was revised, the unnecessary ballast in costumes and staging disappeared, and with it the spun-out chorus and ballet sequences.
Dein ist mein ganzes Herz
Many singers –perhaps too many - recorded the song in various languages besides the original German though few actually sang it on stage. Here’s a discussion –at random - of the versions I’ve heard. One conclusion so far : the ‘aria’ seems to bring the best out of all the tenors who made a recording of it.
Naturally it goes without saying that RICHARD TAUBER (creator of the new version click here) is among the ones selected for the top ten list. He sings the piece-dedicated to him - as to the manner born and as THE Lehar tenor per se has the music in his blood. Tauber created 5 Lehar operettas and composed three operettas himself of which only Old Chelsea got a Cd release. The last time he appeared in the Land of Smiles was on 15th August 1942 in Wimbledon though he would still appear in an adaptation "Yours is my heart" at the Schubert theatre in NYC in 1946. Tauber also recorded versions in French and English.
!Click here to watch Tauber sing with Lehar accompaying him)
Lehar about Tauber in 1928
Als Musiker-
weit über dem Handwerk stehend, tiefgründig und von umfassenden Können
Als gottbegnadeter Sänger-
Die Stimme, die Ich beim Komponieren höre
Als Mensch
ein lieber, prächtiger Kerl; treu wie Gold und zuverlässig wie Stahl
(Richard Tauber-Franz Völker-Jean Löhe- Jan Kiepura)
A close runner up is the Rumanian tenor JOSEPH SCHMIDT (click here) with an enormous ease in phrasing, morbidezza, excellent enunciation and a voice colour out of the thousand.
JUSSI BJÖRLING (click here) sings the verse first in Swedish and then switches to German for his late recording of the piece in the famous Fledermaus gala under Karajan for Decca. Though the recording came late in his career it still has many fine virtues. Even better is his 1932 version in Swedish competely . Moreover there are few tenors around today who sing the piece as good as his son Rolf who also sings the piece in Swedish. (click here)
Without any doubt FRITZ WUNDERLICH (click here) makes it to the top ten list but so does the Hungarian SANDOR KONYA(click here). In the same league is NICOLAI GEDDA (click here) in his 1967 recording
PLACIDO DOMINGO recorded it for Deutsche Gramophone (click here) and it is a marvellous recording showing his vocal talent at his best in spite of some messy orchestral conducting.
The most popular post-war German tenor in the German speaking countries and the Benelux was definitely RUDOLF SCHOCK. Schock (click here) was also the incarnation of operetta for the general public and he recorded numerous recitals and operettas; most of them when his operatic career was already over. I initially learned my operetta trade through the Schock discography and therefore I still have a weakness for this great and warm personality yet the sheer quality of the voice is not good enough to have him end up with the top ten. American tenor JERRY HADLEY recorded two delightful operetta discs under the great Richard Bonynge. These Cd’s include operetta rarities by Eysler, Stolz, Korngold and Fall. His German is very good and so is his singing when not pressured. Where he occasionally needs to push in Dein ist mein ganzes Herz (click here) he doesn’t have to in Eysler’s Küssen is keine Sund which results in the finest recorded version of this aria at least. But Hadley is no contender for the top ten list.
ANTON DE RIDDER was the greatest post-war Dutch tenor whose career was mainly a German one. His German is quasi perfect and he sings the music with great musicianship and displays a fine tenor voice.
GIUSEPPE DI STEFANO (click here) actually sang the role for the first time on stage in Montreal in 1967 and toured the world with it. (click here to watch him sing it in Italian)
He sings an admirable version in his twilight years but it comes nowhere as close as his Lehar renditions from those early Swiss recordings where he sings a Paganini without much competition. Di Stefano sings in German and his German - while not perfect - is still the best German an Italian tenor of his generation provided (Bonisolli’s German live isn’t bad either and ending it with a smashing top C click here). Di Stefano is involved, knows what he’s singing about but the strain is there and the conductor Heinz Lambrecht doesn’t help much to improve things.
‘Rudolf Schock – Nicolai Gedda – Helge Roswaenge – George Gershwin and Franz Lehar)
A few years ago Membran, a German CD company specialised in cheap re-issued boxed sets of famous singers of yesteryear, issued a ten CD box celebrating PETER ANDERS’s centenary. Besides 80 previously unavailable recordings there’s also a late recording of our aria taken from the complete recording Anders made. The adjective late says it all.
Of the Tauber ‘voci paralelli’ tenors the Hamburg radio artist HERBERT ERNST GROH recorded only one strophe of the aria- and he does it rather well- in those querschnitte operetta recordings which also feature the earliest Elisabeth Schwarzkopf at age 24 (click here). Slightly better is the Antwerp born German tenor MARCEL WITTRISCH for HMV in 1929. (click here)
FRANZ VÖLKER sang Sou-chong on stage as early as 1929 in Frankfurt, he also recorded at least two versions of the aria (1929 and 1938 click here) besides recording Sou-chong’s other solo numbers and duets. His “Dein ist mein ganzes Herz” is full of rubato, great phrasing and no difficulties at all with the tessitura.
ROBERTO SACCA is a tenor I heard more than thirty years ago as a most wonderful Rinuccio at the Brussels Munt theatre and two years ago he upgraded his tenor to Eléazar. He recorded at least three fine tenor recitals in the early nineties which display his then fine lyric Italian voice. He copes rather well with Sou-Chong’s tessitura and gives a rendition to reckon with. And as a German of Italian origin his German is perfect.(click here)
Der Welt jüngster Operntenor – the world’s youngest opera tenor - that’s how Croatian tenor Kruno CIGOJ was announced on his first commercial opera recital. At age 19 he delivers the music -live !!- as a seasoned tenor with possibly the longest held top note at the end. I never understood why he never made an international career as the voice was of prime quality. (click here)
Catalan tenor Josep CARRERAS sings a fine version in good German and some pretty crooning but doesn’t make it to the list. (click here)
Gé(rard) KORSTEN was born in The Netherlands (1927) and at age 9 moved with his family to South Africa where he studied singing and became a celebrated tenor singing heavy weight roles such as Canio and Calaf but mainly made his reputation with the general public as a singer of popular songs and recording numerous recital discs. Tessitura wise Léhar doesn’t pose him any problems but the German has a slight accent and it isn’t quite on the same level as the version of that other Dutchman Anton de Ridder. (click here)
FRANCISCO ARAIZA (click here) was a lyric tenor who after a while also thought he had to sing more spinto roles including Chenier. The timbre was warm, unique and beautiful. His Lehar rendition is a fine one in fact better than his compatriot the hyperkinetic Rolando VILLAZON who hasn’t recorded the piece yet but who sang it regularly in concert all available on youtube. It’s not bad singing and I guess in the theatre he would have made a fine Sou-chong but if you watch the Berlin concert and compare him with the senior Domingo you’ll hear what I mean. That same concert also has one of the few sopranos having a go at the piece : Anna NETREBKO (click here). Elisabeth Schwarzkopf did sing the aria at a Richard Tauber memorial concert in 1948 at the Royal Albert Hall but didn’t record it. Youtube also has Francesca Patané. Helen TRAUBEL recorded it for RCA Camden but the first prize must go to the wonderful ANNA MOFFO ending the 'duet' on a high C with the Italian born Sergio FRANCHI. (click here)
CHARLES CASTRONOVO sang it live in Berlin in an Aids gala concert but his version is rather unappealing, it lacks brilliance and fervor.(click here)
Yes, there were talented Polish tenors after Kiepura (whose recording came too late in his career though he obviously knows his operetta trade) and before Beczala though I must admit I only know Ryszard KARCZYKOWSKI from this particular operetta CD recorded more than 20 years ago (Polskie Nagrania) and a Covent Garden Fledermaus broadcast. (click here) He sings the piece almost as to the manner born with good German. A very enjoyable disc. Karczykowski probably learned a lot from the conductor of the CD and of Volksoper fame : Rudolf Bibl.
One of the few tenors who also sang the role on stage is PIOTR BECZALA (click here) who couldn’t have had a better example as his teacher/coach Nicolai Gedda. It’s also obvious he enjoys the arioso but no he doesn’t make it to the list. Nor does Germany’s tenor darling Jonas KAUFMANN who obviously relishes in singing Lehar and he does so with great breath control, understanding of the music, some decent crooning but regrettably also a timbre lacking the necessary charm. Kaufmann also recorded a French version. (click here)
YOURS IS MY HEART ALONE / YOU ARE MY HEART'S DELIGHT
(Charles Craig as Sou-Chong)
RICHARD TUCKER is one of my favourite tenors. He’s the possessor of a personal timbre, a rocksure technique and an excellent tenor voice. Moreover when he sings in his native tongue there’s a sensibility at work which you don’t find in his Italian recordings fine as they may be (click here). His recording of Emmerich Kalman’s Gypsy Princess (issued by Yvonne Kalman) also shows what a superb operetta tenor he could have been. In 1963 he recorded Sou-Chong’s solo under the experienced hands of Franz Allers. There’s great style, perfect enunciation and an operatic approach which totally fits the music and yes Tucker makes it to the top ten. Tucker also recorded Lehar’s arias from Paganini and Schön ist die Welt all worthwhile seeking out. His brother-in-law recorded the song commercially in 1964 on his ‘Greatest love songs’ album but it can’t really compare to his earlier radio performances and the arrangement is pretty awful. A shame as JAN PEERCE's singing always appeals to me . (click here)
James Melton sang a fine radio version but AFIK never recorded it commercially. MARIO LANZA though did and just as in Tucker’s case the mannerism so apparent in his Italian recordings are totally absent. Lanza’s rendition makes it clear why he is America’s greatest tenor voice : Ray Sinatra’s conducting (and orchestration) though leaves much to be desired. (click here)
RICHARD “rolling r’s“ CROOKS who possessed an outstanding and elegant tenor voice recorded an agreeable rendition but after listening to Lanza and Tucker he fails to make the same impact. Crooks recording of Friederike’s O maiden, my maiden is much better than his Sou-Chong. Charles Kullman whose recording of Kunneke’s Lockende Flamme is an operetta desert island disc strangely enough didn’t record any Lehar as far as I could find out.
Bringing some Wagnerian grandeur to Lehar’s schmalz that’s what LAURITZ MELCHIOR does but the whole endeavour is spoiled by his heavily accented English. Mind you the voice is still impressive in 1946 and there is still sufficient heroic ring . He phrases with musicality, he doesn’t cheat, he copes with the stentorian outbursts with ease but the whole thing should have been done in German. (click here)
HARRY SECOMBE (click here) was a Welshman who was the possessor of a dashing lyric tenor voice but never made it to the operatic stage but what a superb artist he was and what fine recordings he realized throughout his career. Charles CRAIG had more power than Secombe but lacked the finesse of his compatriot in this aria who doesn’t eschew the vocal difficulties of the piece (click here). Craig sings it as 'love let me dream again'. (click here) More recent British tenor Alfie BOE recorded an underpowered rendition of the song. Robert NAYLOR ( a Carl Rosa tenor) was remembered for taking over Richard Tauber’s part in the operetta at short notice when performed at Drury Lane in 1931. Though he recorded the song I was unable to find a copy of it. The same goes for the Gilbert and Sullivan star Derek OLDHAM.
Swiss tenor MAX LICHTEGG sang operetta under Lehar himself yet strangely enough recorded the showpiece….in English only as “Yours is my heart’s delight” but in spite of Lichtegg being a superb and experienced operetta tenor his singing fails to grip the listener.
JE T’AI DONNE MON COEUR
Historical note : the French-language creation was in Ghent (Flanders) on the 1st of April 1932, France would follow in November with Willy Thunis in the title role..(click here)
(Alain Vanzo)
NOTE : Lehar himself travelled to Paris to conduct 'Le Pays du Sourire' on 9th January 1941 (cast includes tenor René Delançay and Ginette Catriens) Click here to watch the video !!!!!!!
No one I guess will be surprised that I selected ALAIN VANZO’s rendition amongst the top tenor versions. (click here) In fact he recorded at least two ‘highlight’ versions of the operetta and one complete version live for French Radio (click here). Vanzo also sang Sou-chong on several occasions in the theatre. In Geneva (1971) he sang the role opposite Stich-Randall and in a production by Lotfi Mansouri. Later he would perform the role in several French theatres. His last appearance on stage as Sou-chong was in 1992 in Limoges. Like his predecessors Vanzo stands for perfect enunciation but also great musicality and feeling for the music. But there’s also the quality of the voice, the personal timbre, the softness and the caressing of the lines but also bite when needed where other French tenors ‘cheat’. Alain Vanzo (like Schipa) also composed his own operetta. The aria “Mandoline” from his operetta “Pecheurs d’etoiles” is really worth discovering, sure it’s not equal to Lehar standards but then “il n’y a que Lehar pour battre Lehar.”
JOSE JANSON was a French matinée star tenor and a celebrated Sou-Chong and like practically all singers of his generation the owner of perfect enunciation (click here). He has the required feeling for the music with some nice mezza voce lines and a falsetto ending. He later exchanged his movie star looks for lots of weight and ended up in Casablanca where he died in 1967
TONY PONCET’s Sou-Chong (click here) must have made quite an impact in the theatre – he sang the role from 1961 till 1970 - but on record his version simply can’t make it to the top ten as the pure sound of the voice is not always agreeable and not to everyone’s (read my ) taste. His rendition under Etcheverry displays the stentorian timbre and a voice in his prime (recorded in 1957) and Poncet surprises us with an interpolated final high C(!) an act also repeated by Franco Bonisolli live in his last Vienna Musikverein concert which brought the house down.
MARCEL CLAUDEL was a very fine Walloon singer of Flemish origin who studied with Ernest Van Dijck and Laurent Swolfs. Like José Janson he sang the role on stage, in fact he gave more than 200 performances of Sou-Chong in France. Like most French tenors –Poncet excepted- he sings the role with a good dose of mezza voce and falsetto. He gives a nice version but transposes down the final lines and thus the whole thing eventually fails to grip.
Three years after the world première GEORGES THILL recorded the song (click here) and it must be one of the very first recorded French versions after Fred Gouin (1932). I’m a great admirer of Thill and it goes without saying he’s impressive enough in the piece but he too opts for a lower ending of the aria and he lacks Vanzo’s colouring of the music. Yet if Ottavio’s aria from Giuditta was under discussion Thill would be amongst my top ten. For Raoul JOBIN the recording –piano accompaniment only - came too late in his career though live it would surely have made a necessary impact. The same verdict applies to José LUCCIONI.
Much better is the recording by that other Corsican and Opéra-Comique stalwart GASTON MICHELETTI who provides sound musicianship besides a slighly tremelous tenor (click here)
Yusef Gandour-Bey (click here) better known as REDA CAIRE (1905-1963) was an Egyptian singer of immense popularity in France and also in Belgium but today hardly known anywhere by anyone. He sang light music, operettas and appeared in music-hall and several films. It’s a fine, honest “light” version on the same par as Janson and Claudel’s and -with again- a lower alternate ending. In the same vein is the recording of the Basque tenor André DASSARY (real name Deyhérassary) though the recording came too late in his career as it is in the version by the veteran Tino Rossi.
Special mention should go to a surprising and amazing recording by the American black baritone Jules BLEDSOE. The creator of Old Man River even sings it in French on a 1931 Ultraphone record and he’s pretty good at it too with excellent French. The recording was probably made when he was touring all over Europe to great acclaim. (click here)
French-Canadian tenor ANDRE TURP recorded the piece as early as 1952 , 4 years before his operatic debut as Roméo in New Orleans. (click here)
France has recently found two new promising tenor talents in Benjamin Bernheim and Julien BEHR. The latter recorded a version in 2018. It’s a fine rendition and he should surely make a great impact in the role in the theatre. (click here)
TU CHE M'HAI PRESO IL CUOR
(Giuseppe Sabbatini as Sou-Chong and Daniela Mazzucato as Lisa in Trieste)
Claudio VILLA, (click here) Italy’s successor to the even more legendary Carlo Buti and predecessor of the less talented Andrea Bocelli has a fine version, nothing to be ashamed of. MARIO DEL MONACO recorded the arioso just before his death. He is in remarkably good voice, less nasal and whining than in many of his later recordings but the accompaniment is so excruciating that it makes the whole thing barely listenable. Luciano VIRGILI was another talented pop tenor of the fifties, his rendition can be put alongside Villa’s though it has more bite, more power and some wonderful mezza voce. (click here) Yet the only Italian who makes it to the list is the underrated FLAVIANO LABO not even Pavarotti -good as he is- makes the same impact as the underrated tenor from Piacenza. (click here)
U HOORT MIJN HELE HART
There are at least two versions of the hit in my mother tongue (Dutch). The earliest recording is sung by JOZEF STERKENS , a once very popular tenor at the Koninklijke Vlaamse Opera (Royal Opera) in Antwerp and who created Paganini in Flanders in 1928. He also sang Florestan opposite Lotte Lehmann at the theatre. Sterkens's voice sounds occasionally taxed by the music and he goes for a pinched head tone for the top register, yet it does have some charm. His voice timbre is personal, he knows how to phrase and spin a line. But a serious contender for the top ten list he isn't. (click here) . Equally good is the rendition by ROBERT VERNAY a French speaking tenor from Wallonia (Liège), it's a live version made later in his career. The enunciation is very good and he scores a great success with the public. Vernay also sang Sou-Chong for three seasons at the Munt/Monnaie in the fitties, where it was then performed in French. (click here)
DU ÄR MIN HELA VÄRLD
As mentioned before Jussi Björling recorded a complete version in Swedish as early as 1932 for Swedish HMV but also Nicolai Gedda recorded a Swedish language version in 1953 for Swedish Odeon, later released on a 45 rpm and an LP MOAK 1001
SENINDIR BUTUN KALBIM
(Erol Uras as Sou-Chong)
I wonder if a Chinese version was ever recorded but Turkish tenor EROL URAS sang the first part of the aria in his native language for the 40th anniversary concert of his career. For the second part he switched to German. The voice isn’t fresh anymore and one can notice 40 years of singing spinto roles. A nice souvenir though of a once celebrated tenor of the Turkish operatic stage and a souvenir of the role he sang on stage at the Istanbul opera.
BARITONE VERSIONS:
No baritones makes it to the top list for the obvious reasons. Michel DENS (click here) is as expected a great interpreter with perfect enunciation of his lines. But he’s a baritone and strained by the higher tessitura of the aria and thus fails to make the necessary impact in the climaxes. The great baritone André BAUGE (1892-1966) was even more than Dens associated with operetta. While Baugé sang several opera roles at the Comique in Paris it would be his operetta and song interpretations which gave him real fame.
An exquisite singer in the French repertoire but he is - just like Dens - also beaten by Lehar’s opera-like score. (click here)
Thomas HAMPSON (excellent German click here) sounds pretty tenorish in the piece and he knows how to lighten his voice but by doing so the voice loses its warm baritone timbre in a 1999 recording made under the direction of Franz Welser-Möst. Ten years later Simon KEENLYSIDE also has a go at Sou-Chong. In a way he’s more successful than Hampson with the tessitura and he puts as much feeling in the music as Hampson does. A draw. (click here)
Robert MERRILL (in English of course) recorded the song in 1947 for RCA (click here) and he almost succeeds in making it sound like a baritone showpiece. Yet Robert WEEDE in 1941 for Columbia -with piano accompaniment only- is equally impressive What a great baritone he was. (click here)
Merrill, Weede, Hampson and the before mentioned Jules Bledsoe seem to be the only four American baritones though with a commercial recording as I couldn’t find any versions by Tibbett or John Charles Thomas.
The only (!!!) recording in Russian I’m aware about is sung by Soviet lyric baritone Vladimir Alexandrovich BUNCHIKOV (1902-1995 click here). It starts with the words: “Звуки твоих речей…” literally meaning: “Sounds of your speeches…” Bunchikov (real name Abramovich) possesses a well-produced flexible warm baritone , a real discovery. Lehar's works were often staged at the Leningrad Operetta Theatre and he was a household name before the Soviet period, during and after. Moreover singers such as GalinaVishnevskaya and Sergei Leiferkus started their operatic career at the Leningrad Operetta Theatre.
Vladimir Atlantow sang and recorded it in German.
(Compiled by Rudi van den Bulck, 2020 with additions from John Humbley and Juan Dzazopulos)