"We have in lieder the possibility of talking about very personal things, like love, and jealousy and faith and death. These are things we all have to cope with." The world-famous German baritone, Olaf Bar, bestknown for the large number of lieder recordings he has made with EMI, is describing his affinity with the form. "It has always been a central interest for me, because of the poetry, which is very private and romantic." Aptly, since 1997 marks the bicentenary of Schubert's birth, Bar will be performing Schubert's final set of songs, Schwanengesang at the opening night of a new season of the National Concert Hall/Irish Times Celebrity Concert Series at the NCH tonight. Bar is not unknown to Irish audiences, as he has already taken part in the festival Great Irish Houses, but Thursday will mark his first Dublin appearance.
Schubert's Schwanengesang ("Swan Song") comprises settings of poetry by Rellstab, Seidl and Heine and was only published after the composer's death. The editing was done by the publisher Haslinger, who also added the title. Bar argues that it is misleading to make any comparisons with the earlier cycles Die schone Mullerin and Winterreise: "You can see Schwanengesang as a collection of songs, and for musical reasons they are very strong and very deep. But as a cycle, as a story and a whole musical and psychological idea? I don't see it as a cycle". Bar, along with many other musicians and critics, finds the Heine settings particularly significant: "Schubert only set six poems of Heine's, and it's very interesting because his musical language changes totally. Some of the songs are very nearly impressionist, and it's all very strong music. I think Schubert may have been thinking about setting some more Heine poems and creating a new cycle, because the musical language is so different." One can only speculate on this, since Schubert died before any such work could be completed.
Bar still lives in his home town of Dresden, and it was as a member of the Dresden Boys' Choir that he had his first singing experience. He reflects: "Dresden was at that time in East Germany, so we didn't have much opportunity to learn about the international singing business. However, there were two singers in Dresden who were quite famous: Theo Adam and Peter Schreier. Peter Schreier was one of my favourites because he was singing, for instance, the evangelist in the St Matthew Passion and the St John Passion when I was in the chorus. That was a great influence, I would say. Also, when I was a student I had two lessons on interpretation with him."
The pivotal moment in Bar's early career came in 1983 when he won first prize in the Walther Gruener Lieder Competition: "It was the first time I was able to go to the West, and I was lucky enough to win. The good thing about this competition was not only the money - which was very important as an East German, to get some Western money - but the first prize meant a recital in the Wigmore Hall in London." The Wigmore concert impressed representatives from Covent Garden, who subsequently offered him the part of Harlequin in Strauss's Ariadne Auf Naxos. It also impressed EMI's representatives and led to his first solo recording.
For the Dublin concert, Bar will be accompanied by the Edinburgh-born pianist Malcolm Martineau. The accompanist is of particular importance in lieder performance, since great demands are often placed on the piano. Bar speaks highly of Martineau: "We have performed together recently at the Wigmore Hall and in France, one Mullerin, so we are trying to build our repertoire. We work together quite a lot, and he is in the great tradition of British accompanists, I have to say, because you think of Gerald Moore, Geoffrey Parsons, Graham Johnson, and now Malcom Martineau."
Away from the world of lieder, Bar has performed a vast range of music, including vocal works by Bach, Brahms, and Faure. He is also a regular operatic performer and has played many parts (from Papageno in The Magic Flute to Falke in Die Fledermaus). The baritone talks enthusiastically about operatic performance: "In my opinion it's much easier to do an opera than to perform lieder. I'm not talking about singing technique, but in a lieder performance you are just yourself. You have no costume, no wigs, no make-up, you have nothing. In my case I am just Olaf Bar, standing on stage. In an opera performance I can become a different person, and I love to act."
However, he complains of a tendency to categorise singers: "The sad thing is that when you have a contract with a recording company as I have, and when you've done 15 or 20 lieder recordings, people know you as a lieder singer. Promoters from opera houses don't like you because as a lieder singer you can't act - that's what they think. It's a pity because I love to be on stage. However, I am lucky enough to live in Dresden and in the Dresden opera house they know me very well, so I can do a lot of opera there."
When I ask if he does any teaching, Bar's response is emphatic and admirable: "No, I don't think I'm ready to do it, because it means you really have to take care of student singers. In a situation like mine, travelling around the world and taking care of a young singer - you are only seeing him twice a month and that's not enough for a young singer. If he wants to stay in the profession he needs proper teaching, which means you have to see him twice a week and not twice a month. That's what I think, and I would feel quite guilty if I were to teach under my present circumstances."
???ar is perhaps best known for the large number of lieder recordings which he has made with EMI, and he displays a clear affinity with the form. What is it about lieder that attracts him particularly? "It has always been a central interest for me because of the poetry, which is very private and romantic. I also think that in our times - especially with the presence of the media and that very public world - we have in the lieder the possibility of talking about very personal things, like love, and jealously, and faith, and death. These are things we all have to cope with."
Schubert, the first great lieder writer, produced songs that eschew all of the ornate, virtuoso elements so central to Baroque, Rococco, and even Classical vocal music. Hence, his songs demand a very different approach: "The difficulty about Schubert songs is their so-called `simplicity'. They seem to be very simple, but you must stay with the text and with the melody, not making yourself important but making the music and the text important. And that can be very difficult."
Finally, the Schubert anniversary. Bar is delighted at the high level of interest in Schubert which can be found all over Europe at the moment: "A few weeks ago I was in a small place in Spain, near Barcelona, and even there they have a Schubertiad. But while you can find his music every place this year, I only hope that this will go on for the next few years and that we don't forget about Schubert after 1997." ar, Schubert's legacy is quite safe.
Other concerts in the NCH/Irish Times Celebrity Series include Anne-Sophie Mutter (violin), October 2nd, Grigory Sokolov (piano), December 7th and Evgeny Kissin (piano), February 28th, 1998.
