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Fritz Wunderlich: Life and Legend. (Deutsche Grammophon DVD B0007476-09; 58:00)
It was just over forty years ago, in the summer of 1966, that tenor Fritz Wunderlich died after an unfortunate tumble down the stairs of a friend's house. In that awful and absurd mishap the world lost one of its supreme artists just as he was about to make his much anticipated debut at the Metropolitan Opera. What glories awaited him there? What further triumphs were ahead of him on other major stages of the opera world? Those questions were rendered meaningless and unanswerable by his untimely death, which also anchored the legend which surrounds his name to this day.
This documentary directed by Thomas Staehler is aptly titled "Leben und Legende" (life and legend) because it seeks to probe beneath and beyond the legend of Fritz Wunderlich, widely regarded as the finest Mozart tenor of the twentieth century, to show us as much as can be known about who he really was and how he came to accomplish what he did in his sadly brief life.
This film is propitiously timed in that more than enough time has elapsed to allow a more objective analysis of Wunderlich's accomplishments; yet he is a recent enough figure that many of his colleagues and friends can still be called upon for comment. One sad exception is the late baritone Hermann Prey, one of Wunderlich's closest friends and most frequent collaborators, who is no longer with us. Fortunately, the documentarians were able to include archival footage of an interview with Prey done not long after his friend's death, in which he offers up heartfelt and perceptive comment on what made Wunderlich so great. One marvels that Prey was able to speak at all about his friend while in the midst of what had to be still fresh and raw grief.
There are many other artists who contribute richly to this documentary, including collaborators of Wunderlich such as Christa Ludwig, Brigitte Fassbaender, Ruth-Margret Pütz, and Anneliese Rothenberger. Of less immediate value-but interesting all the same-are comments of two contemporary singers, Thomas Hampson and Rolando Villazon....