Zärtliche Liebe, Lied für Singstimme und Klavier WoO 123

The song "Zärtliche Liebe" (“Tender Love”), which Beethoven based on the poem "Beglückt durch dich" (Happy because of You) by the German hymn writer Karl Friedrich Wilhelm Herrosee, was probably composed around 1795, when Beethoven was living in the building known as the “Ogilvisches Haus.” The song, which is initially sung a capella, begins with a heartfelt “ich liebe dich” – “I love you.” In this recording from 1936, we hear the lyrical, elegiac voice of Lotte Lehmann, set against the subtle backdrop of a piano accompaniment by Ernő Balogh. The piece makes use of only the simplest musical tools, but this does not prevent a haunting love song from unfolding as the recording progresses.

The German singer Lotte Lehmann (1888–1976) first made her breakthrough as an opera singer, and joined the Vienna Court Opera (as the State Opera was then known) in 1916. Despite the best efforts of the Nazi regime to tie her to a German company, she continued to make regular guest appearances at American opera houses. However, it was as a lieder singer that she enjoyed her greatest success. She was the first singer ever to give a set at the Salzburg Festival composed entirely of lieder. Moreover, by including songs originally written for male singers in her repertoire, she became an example for a new generation of female performers. She is accompanied on this recording by Ernő Balogh (1897–1989). Balogh was born in Hungary and studied with Béla Bartók and Zoltán Kodály before emigrating to the United States in 1924, where he forged a successful career as a soloist and accompanist.
(Constanze Köhn)