Hans Buchhierl ~ Ombra Mai Fu

I recently heard this recording from 40 years ago on YouTube. I loved the boy soprano's voice, even though the recording quality isn't as good as we get nowadays. So I decided to do my own quick video slideshow to it, simply because I felt like it. :)

The singer:
Hans Buchhierl was born in 1961, in Wolfratshausen, district of Bad Tölz-Wolfratshausen, Bavaria, Germany.
He was a member of the Tölzer Knabenchor from 1968-1974.

Hans took part as a soprano soloist in several recordings of the Tölzer Knabenchor:

J.S. Bach: Christmas Oratorio (BWV 248) (1973).
Mozart: Krönungmesse C-Dur & Vesperae Solennes de Confessore (Recorded 1973 but Released 1974).
Mozart: Requiem KV 626 (1974)
Mozart: Mass in C 'Coronation' K.317 (1974)
Schubert: Deutsche Messe D872 (1974)
Halleluja: Festliche Musik mit dem Tölzer Knabenchor (1974).

To take part in that many recordings in a relatively short period, he was obviously a busy and hardworking lad, probably under considerable pressure throughout, prior to his voice breaking.

Hans Buchhierl is today the owner of HB-Invest and still lives in Wolfratshausen. He enjoys running most days, when he can, but not now competitively, as he once did. He only now sings in the company of friends, or "after a couple of beers", but listens to music quite a lot. Above all, (you'll be glad to know), he is successful and content in life.

Reviewers through the years have written about his singing: -
"Has there ever been a better boy soprano anywhere?"
"Unbelievable voice and musicality"
"Absolutely stunning piece of work."
"He introduces a degree of ecstasy and commitment which is unparalleled in any performance I have heard."
"He has some delightfully surprising nuances and skill in his singing.".
"Here is a 13 year old boy doing his own brave interpretations"... "Plays with lovely nuances, fortes, diminuendos, slight vibratos and glissandos."

And on YouTube comments: "Yes, not the world´s strongest treble voice, but I haven´t found anyone more beautiful. Hansi had a warmness in his voice and an understanding for what he was singing, which still today seems to be unequaled by a boy soprano. He had feeling for the music, had surprising nuance variations and his ambition was always to give something more than a piece sung right through. Yes, that small man was a true artist..." (YouTube username: "52sport6469")

I couldn't agree more.

Thank you, Hans Buchhierl, for what you gave to the world.

Orchestra: Members of Munich Philharmonic

Conductor: Gerhard Schmidt-Gaden

The song:
"Ombra Mai Fu" is the opening aria from the 1738 opera, Serse, by Georg Friedrich Händel.

The opera was a commercial failure, lasting only five performances in London after its premiere in the 19th century. However, "Ombra Mai Fu" was rediscovered and later became one of Handel's best-known pieces.

It was originally composed to be sung by a soprano castrato.

The title translates from the Italian as "Never was a shade". In the opera it is sung by the main character, Xerxes I of Persia, admiring the shade of a plane tree.

In the opera, the aria is preceded by a short recitativo accompagnato of nine bars, which sets the scene ("Frondi tenere e belle"):

Tender and beautiful fronds
of my beloved plane tree,
let fate smile upon you.
May thunder, lightning, and storms
never bother your dear peace.
Nor may you, by blowing winds, be profaned.

The aria itself is also short; it consists of 52 bars and typically lasts about four minutes.

Ombra mai fu (Never was a shade)
di vegetabile, (of any plant,)
cara ed amabile, (dearer and more lovely,)
soave più. (or more sweet.)

In 1906, Reginald Fessenden, a Canadian inventor and radio pioneer, broadcast the first AM radio program, which started with a phonograph record of "Ombra Mai Fu". The aria therefore was the first piece of music ever to be broadcast on radio.

Видео Hans Buchhierl ~ Ombra Mai Fu канала MessengerMagi