Fritz Wunderlich – Immortal Beloved

In a little over a decade, Fritz Wunderlich carved out a reputation as one of the most enchanting and lyrical tenors of the 20th century, all before his tragic death in 1966, shortly before his 36th birthday. Here was a singer of seemingly effortless charm and beauty of voice who was as at home in operatic roles such as Tamino in Mozart’s The Magic Flute as in the songs of Beethoven, Schubert and Richard Strauss. Wunderlich was ideal in the pastoral idyll of Beethoven’s song cycle An die ferne Geliebte (‘To a distant beloved’), caught live on this collection with pianist Heinrich Schmidt in 1963. Wunderlich is as peerlessly flexible in the selection of songs by Richard Strauss that round out the album, recorded with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra the year before. The ravishing “Morgen!” is performed with a touching ardour.