Susanna (OPhoto: Rigmor Mydtskov)
The Concert Singen From the beginning Else Brems was among the tavourites of Radio Denmmk. Her voice was exceptionally well suited to this medium, whateverthe genre.At the populil concerts in the "New Theatre". for many years the domicile ofthe radio orchestra, to-day part ofThe Royal Theatre, she often sang in operettas, and at the impoftant classical concerts. especially the "Thursday night'' concerts, she was a regulil guest perfomer In 1942 EIse Brems sang Ravel's S hd hdrazade with Emest Ansemet on the podium. Later. she herself told how uneasy Ansermet had felt that a Danish singer had been chosen for these songs which are so closely interlocked with the French language. Ansermet, who was a heavy smoker, was mollified by a couple of packets of cigarettes, difficult to come by in a period of war and rationing. With her usual modesty, Else Brems did not reveal what he said when he had heard her: but the performance was a huge success. "How exquisitely her dark, soulful voice matched these songs; how sugge stive of mellow, tropical colours with a hint of temperament underlying the slow rhythm. It was marvellous", wrote the music critic Kai Flor. She sang the Shdhdrazade songs again in 1945 with the Radio Symphony Orchestra and ErikTuxen, and in 1947 with the Russim-Norwegian conductorlssay Dobrowen.The two songs recorded here from a private recording are probably from this pefomance (I,14&15). In 1953 she was awarded the distinguished Ingenio et Arti medal, and the very next day she was the soloist at a radio concert conducted by Paul Klecki in Brahms's A/to Rhapsody. She sang "with a moving expressiveness, illuminating every detail ofthe work" (I.I6). Else Brems was a frequent guest soloist in the other Scandinavian countries, as well as in Danish provincial towns, and in the Tivoli Gardens in Copenhagen. The Liedsinger. Throughout her career Else Brems adhered to the pattem set at her d6but in 1928: classical Italim and French arias, German lieder, mainly Schubert and Brahms, French songs, especially by Debussy, Faur6, and Ravel, and Danish romances by Peter Heise and PE.Lange- Miiller. Singers normally use the l8th-century Italian canzonetta for their warm-up only, but to Else Brems these meant much more. Indeed. she often used them as the principal items in her progrmme at orchestral concerts. As a representative of this genre, we have included here an old French aria, "L'Amour de moi", as a perfect example of her beautiful and carefully worked out phrasing (II,8). Anders Brems loved the German Lied, Schubert and Brahms in particular, and this love he transmitted to his daughter. Lied,lovers will krow how difficult the interpretation ofSchubert's songs is. They demand a sympathetic naturalness in voica and expression difficult to master by myone but an artist of EIse Brems's calibre. In 1955 she did her first and only LP-record with exclusively Brahms and Schubert songs. From this award-winning record is included here the "Liebesbotschaft" (II, t). "Der Lindenbaum" and 'Die Forelle" are both from a private recording of a radio transmission from about l950 (II,2&3), as are also two songs by Brahms (II,4&5), and two by Grieg (II.6&7). One of the results of her sojoums in Paris was her mastery of the French language and singing style. She contrnued her studies with the internationally recognized, Danish-born Povla Frijsh who was renowned for her interpretations ofFrench vocal music. Else Brems often included French songs in her lied programmes, also when she toured the Danish provincial towns, and in her radio perfomances. Sadly. in spite ofthis, we only possess recordings of the three
- Page 1 and 2: ELSE BREMS The DanishMezzo-Soprano
- Page 3 and 4: DACOCD 511 - CD 1 ELSE BREMS mezzo-
- Page 5 and 6: Antonin Dvoriik (1 84 l - I 904): F
- Page 7 and 8: Anonymous: [ 8 ] L'Amour demoi 2:44
- Page 9 and 10: Traditional Tune tiom Jutland: [23]
- Page 11 and 12: Brems igen til USA, hvor hun i New
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- Page 21 and 22: given many ptrts back home in Copen
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- Page 31 and 32: DACOCD 511 - CD 1 Georges Bizet: CA
- Page 33 and 34: CARMEN CARMEN Han er ej fomem og fi
- Page 35 and 36: [ 4 ] Mon coeur s'ouvre i ta voix M
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- Page 41 and 42: G.F. Hiindel: SAUL Charles Jennens
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- Page 47 and 48: Johannes Brahms: [ 4 ] Da unten in
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- Page 51 and 52: [10] Romance Paul Bourget: Ariettes
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- Page 55 and 56: [7] Genboens fgrste vise Sophus Bau
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