Ferdinand Frantz (1906-1959)
Ferdinand Frantz was among the extraordinary Wagnerian bass-baritones of the post-war years. He had the right vocal authority for the heroic role of Wotan a sizeable instrument with a weighty lower register and firm and powerful and solid top notes, moreover he possessed the stamina needed to sing Wagnerian roles on stage and did not lack the sensitivity to fine down his voice for the more poetic, intimate pages. Several of his most important roles were captured on both live and studio recordings during the years of his prime. Notable are two complete ring cycles performances recorded under Furtwangler (La Scala 1950 and Rai Rome 1954) and a studio Walkure always with Furtwangler (1953), Teleramund in studio with Jochum conducting and his Hans Sachs recorded twice with Rudolf Kempe (Dresden 1951 and Berlin 1956). He sang with the Vienna Staatsoper, Dresden's Semper Oper, Salzburg, La Scala, and, later, at Covent Garden. His Metropolitan Opera debut came on December 12, 1949, as Wotan in Die Walküre.

This extract is from the Berlin recording of Meistersinger, recorded for EMI in 1956, alongside Frantz were Rudolf Schock, Elisabeth Grummer, Gottlob Frick, Gerhard Unger and Benno Kusche as well as the very young Hermann Prey in the tiny role of the Nightwatch. This recording may have been surpassed by others from a technological point of view but the artistic quality, the sheer essence of this, perhaps Wagner's most elusive opera has never been so perfectly captured in all its facets as in this legendary recording.

Rudolf Kempe conducts the BerlinPhilharmonic

Wie duftet doch der Flieder
so mild, so stark und voll!
Mir löst es weich die Glieder,
will, dass ich was sagen soll.
Was gilt's, was ich dir sagen kann?
Bin gar ein arm einfältig' Mann!
Soll mir die Arbeit nicht schmecken,
gäbst, Freund, lieber mich frei,
tät' besser, das Leder zu strecken
und liess' alle Poeterei!

Und doch, 's will halt nicht geh'n:
Ich fühl's und kann's nicht versteh'n: -
kann's nicht behalten, - doch auch nicht vergessen:
und fass' ich es ganz, kann ich's nicht messen!
Doch wie wollt' ich auch fassen,
was unermesslich mir schien?
Kein' Regel wollte da passen,
und war doch kein Fehler drin.
Es klang so alt und war doch so neu,
wie Vogelsang im süssen Mai!
Wer ihn hört,
und wahnbetört
sänge dem Vogel nach,
dem brächt' es Spott und Schmach:
Lenzes Gebot,
die süsse Not,
die legt' es ihm in die Brust:
nun sang er, wie er musst',
und wie er musst', so konnt' er's, -
das merkt' ich ganz besonders.
Dem Vogel, der heute sang,
dem war der Schnabel bald gewachsen;
macht' er den Meistern bang,
gar wohl gefiel er doch Hans Sachsen!

So mild, so strong and full
is the scent of the elder tree!
It relaxes my limbs gently,
wants me to say something.
What is the good of anything I can say to you?
I'm but a poor, simple man.
If work is not to my taste,
you might, friend, rather release me;
I would do better to stretch leather
and give up all poetry.

And yet it just won't go.
I feel it, and cannot understand it;
I cannot hold on to it,
nor yet forget it;
and if I grasp it wholly, I cannot measure it!
But then, how should I grasp
what seemed to me immeasurable?
No rule seemed to fit it,
and yet there was no fault in it.
It sounded so old, and yet was so new,
like birdsong who heard a bird singing
and, carried away by madness,
imitated its song,
would earn derision and disgrace!
Spring's command,
sweet necessity
placed it in his breast:
then he sang as he had to;
and as he had to, so he could:
I noticed that particularly.
The bird that sang today
had a finely-formed break;
if he made the Masters uneasy,
he certainly pleased Hans Sachs well!