Thorne, South Yorkshire Thorne is a market town and civil parish in the City of Doncaster in South Yorkshire, England. It was historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire until 1974. It has a population of 16,592, increasing to 17,295 at the 2011 Census. Histo ...

Royal Academy of Music The Royal Academy of Music (RAM) in London, England, is the oldest conservatoire in the UK, founded in 1822 by John Fane and Nicolas-Charles Bochsa. It received its royal charter in 1830 from King George IV with the support of the first Duke of ...

University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna The University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna (german: link=no, Universität für Musik und darstellende Kunst Wien, abbreviated MDW) is an Austrian university located in Vienna, established in 1817. With a student body of over three thousa ...

Lied In Western classical music tradition, (, plural ; , plural , ) is a term for setting poetry to classical music to create a piece of polyphonic music. The term is used for any kind of song in contemporary German, but among English and French s ...

accompanist Accompaniment is the part (music), musical part which provides the rhythmic and/or harmony (music), harmonic support for the melody or main themes of a song or instrumental piece. There are many different styles and types of accompaniment in ...

Christa Ludwig Christa Ludwig (16 March 1928 – 24 April 2021) was a German mezzo-soprano and occasional dramatic soprano, distinguished for her performances of opera, lieder, oratorio, and other major religious works like masses, passions, and solos in symp ...

Bernarda Fink Bernarda Fink (born 29 August 1955) is an Argentine mezzo-soprano. Born in Buenos Aires to Slovene parents who immigrated from Yugoslavia, Fink studied at the Instituto Superior de Arte del Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires. She won First Prize at th ...

Gundula Janowitz Gundula Janowitz (born 2 August 1937)"Janowitz, Gundula"
by

Vesselina Kasarova Vesselina Kasarova ( bg, Веселина Кацарова; born 18 July 1965) is a Bulgarian operatic mezzo-soprano. Early life and education Kasarova was born in the central Bulgarian town of Stara Zagora. Under the communist regime she studie ...

,

Marjana Lipovšek Marjana Lipovšek (born 3 December 1946) is a Slovenian opera and concert singer (mezzo-soprano). The daughter of composer Marijan Lipovšek, she was born in Ljubljana, Slovenia. She retired in 2017 and now lives in her family house in Ljubljana. ...

,

Jessye Norman Jessye Mae Norman (September 15, 1945 – September 30, 2019) was an American opera singer and recitalist. She was able to perform dramatic soprano roles, but refused to be limited to that voice type. A commanding presence on operatic, concert ...

,

Deborah Polaski Deborah Polaski (born May 26, 1949, in Richland Center, Wisconsin) is an American opera and concert singer (soprano). She has specialized in dramatic soprano roles and also sings mezzo-soprano roles occasionally. Biography After being educated ...

,

Thomas Quasthoff Thomas Quasthoff (born 9 November 1959) is a German bass-baritone. Quasthoff has a range of musical interest from Bach cantatas, to lieder, and solo jazz improvisations. Born with severe birth defects caused by thalidomide, Quasthoff is , and has ...

, Ildikó Raimondi,

Peter Schreier Peter Schreier (29 July 1935 – 25 December 2019) was a German tenor in opera, concert and lied, and a conductor. He was regarded as one of the leading lyric tenors of the 20th century. Schreier was a member of the Dresdner Kreuzchor conduct ...

,

John Shirley-Quirk John Stanton Shirley-Quirk CBE (28 August 19317 April 2014) was an English bass-baritone. A member of the English Opera Group during 1964–76, he gave premiere performances of several operatic and vocal works by Benjamin Britten, recording these ...

and

Deon van der Walt Deon van der Walt (28 July 1958 – 29 November 2005), was a South African tenor. Van der Walt studied singing at Stellenbosch University and made his debut as Jaquino in Beethoven's ''Fidelio'' at the Cape Town Opera before he had graduated ...

. He also accompanied

Cheryl Studer Cheryl Studer (born October 24, 1955) is an American dramatic soprano who has sung at many of the world's foremost opera houses. Studer has performed more than eighty roles ranging from the dramatic repertoire to roles more commonly associated ...

,

Elīna Garanča Elīna Garanča (born 16 September 1976) is a Latvian mezzo-soprano. She began to study singing in her hometown of Riga in 1996 and continued her studies in Vienna and in the United States. By 1999 she had won first place in a significant compe ...

,

Petra Lang Petra Lang (born 29 November 1962) is a German opera singer. Beginning as a mezzo-soprano, from 2012 a soprano, she is known for her interpretation of music by Richard Wagner and Gustav Mahler. She made an international career in both opera an ...

, Andreas Schmidt,

Peter Seiffert Peter Seiffert (born 4 January 1954) is a German tenor. Biography Born in Düsseldorf, Seiffert studied at the Musikhochschule in Düsseldorf and made his debut in 1978 at the Deutschen Oper am Rhein, Düsseldorf/Duisburg. In 1979, he was ...

, Petra-Maria Schnitzer,

Janina Baechle Janina Baechle (born 1969) is a German operatic mezzo-soprano. She was a member of the Vienna State Opera from 2004 to 2011, and has appeared internationally. Life Baechle was born in Hamburg and grew up in Southern Germany. She studied musi ...

and

Iris Vermillion Iris Vermillion (born 1960) is a German operatic mezzo-soprano. A member of the Deutsche Oper Berlin from 1988, she has enjoyed an international career, appearing in Amsterdam with Nikolaus Harnoncourt and at the Salzburg Festival, among others. ...

. He has recorded numerous disks - including Schubert Lieder with Gundula Janowitz and Thomas Quasthoff, Brahms-Lieder with Marjana Lipovšek, Deborah Polaski, Deon van der Walt, Doris Soffel and

Michael Volle Michael Volle (; born 1960) is a German operatic baritone. After engagements at several German and Swiss opera houses, he has worked freelance since 2011. While he first appeared in Mozart roles such as Guglielmo, Papageno and Don Giovanni, he m ...

as well as recitals with

Maria Venuti Maria Francesia Anna Venuti (born 7 March 1941) is an Australian actress, entertainer and author, who has appeared in numerous stage, television shows and film productions, over 50 years. Venuti is a singer, as well as an accomplished pian ...

and Deon van der Walt. Supported by the , he founded a song festival with the singer

Ulf Bästlein Ulf Bästlein (born 1959 in Flensburg, Schleswig-Holstein) is a German bass-baritone and doctor of philology (Germanist and classical philologist). Bästlein attended lessons for singing at the University of Music and Performing Arts Graz. Reco ...

in

Husum Husum (, frr, Hüsem) is the capital of the ''Kreis'' (district) Nordfriesland in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. The town was the birthplace of the novelist Theodor Storm, who coined the epithet "the grey town by the sea". It is also the home of ...

. His Rossini-CD with

Cecilia Bartoli Cecilia Bartoli, Cavaliere OMRI (; born 4 June 1966) is an Italian coloratura mezzo-soprano opera singer and recitalist. She is best known for her interpretations of the music of Bellini, Handel, Mozart, Rossini and Vivaldi, as well as for her ...

and his accompaniment to Christa Ludwig's "Farewell to Salzburg" received international recognition. Since 1999, Spencer has also been working as a professor for Lied interpretation at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna.o.Univ.-Prof. Charles Spencer (Institut für Gesang und Musiktheater)
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Recordings

*

Brahms Johannes Brahms (; 7 May 1833 – 3 April 1897) was a German composer, pianist, and conductor of the mid-Romantic period. Born in Hamburg into a Lutheran family, he spent much of his professional life in Vienna. He is sometimes grouped with ...

, lieder -

Marjana Lipovšek Marjana Lipovšek (born 3 December 1946) is a Slovenian opera and concert singer (mezzo-soprano). The daughter of composer Marijan Lipovšek, she was born in Ljubljana, Slovenia. She retired in 2017 and now lives in her family house in Ljubljana. ...

(1993, Sony) * Chopin and

Pauline Viardot Pauline Viardot (; 18 July 1821 – 18 May 1910) was a nineteenth-century French mezzo-soprano, pedagogue and composer of Spanish descent. Born Michelle Ferdinande Pauline García, her name appears in various forms. When it is not simply "Pauli ...

, Mélodies - , mezzo-soprano (29–31 March / 15 June 1999, Hyperion CDH55270) *

Liszt Franz Liszt, in modern usage ''Liszt Ferenc'' . Liszt's Hungarian passport spelled his given name as "Ferencz". An orthographic reform of the Hungarian language in 1922 (which was 36 years after Liszt's death) changed the letter "cz" to simpl ...

** melodies, vol. 1 -

Janina Baechle Janina Baechle (born 1969) is a German operatic mezzo-soprano. She was a member of the Vienna State Opera from 2004 to 2011, and has appeared internationally. Life Baechle was born in Hamburg and grew up in Southern Germany. She studied musi ...

, mezzo-soprano (6–12 January 2009,

SACD Super Audio CD (SACD) is an optical disc format for audio storage introduced in 1999. It was developed jointly by Sony and Philips Electronics and intended to be the successor to the Compact Disc (CD) format. The SACD format allows multiple aud ...

Marsyas MAR 1807-2) ** melodies, vol. 2 - , baritone (5–11 January 2009, Marsyas MAR 1806-2) * ''Rossini Recital'' -

Cecilia Bartoli Cecilia Bartoli, Cavaliere OMRI (; born 4 June 1966) is an Italian coloratura mezzo-soprano opera singer and recitalist. She is best known for her interpretations of the music of Bellini, Handel, Mozart, Rossini and Vivaldi, as well as for her ...

(1991, Decca) *

Schubert Franz Peter Schubert (; 31 January 179719 November 1828) was an Austrian composer of the late Classical and early Romantic eras. Despite his short lifetime, Schubert left behind a vast ''oeuvre'', including more than 600 secular vocal wor ...

** 15 lieder -

Gundula Janowitz Gundula Janowitz (born 2 August 1937)"Janowitz, Gundula"
by

Thomas Quasthoff Thomas Quasthoff (born 9 November 1959) is a German bass-baritone. Quasthoff has a range of musical interest from Bach cantatas, to lieder, and solo jazz improvisations. Born with severe birth defects caused by thalidomide, Quasthoff is , and has ...

, bassbarytone (1995, RCA) ** ''

Winterreise ''Winterreise'' (, ''Winter Journey'') is a song cycle for voice and piano by Franz Schubert ( D. 911, published as Op. 89 in 1828), a setting of 24 poems by German poet Wilhelm Müller. It is the second of Schubert's two song cycles on Müller' ...

'' - Thomas Quasthoff, baryton-basse (1998, RCA) *

Schumann Robert Schumann (; 8 June 181029 July 1856) was a German composer, pianist, and influential music critic. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest composers of the Romantic era. Schumann left the study of law, intending to pursue a career a ...

,

Liszt Franz Liszt, in modern usage ''Liszt Ferenc'' . Liszt's Hungarian passport spelled his given name as "Ferencz". An orthographic reform of the Hungarian language in 1922 (which was 36 years after Liszt's death) changed the letter "cz" to simpl ...

,

Brahms Johannes Brahms (; 7 May 1833 – 3 April 1897) was a German composer, pianist, and conductor of the mid-Romantic period. Born in Hamburg into a Lutheran family, he spent much of his professional life in Vienna. He is sometimes grouped with ...

, ''Dichterliebe : Lieder nach Gedichte von Heinrich Heine'' -

Deon Van der Walt Deon van der Walt (28 July 1958 – 29 November 2005), was a South African tenor. Van der Walt studied singing at Stellenbosch University and made his debut as Jaquino in Beethoven's ''Fidelio'' at the Cape Town Opera before he had graduated ...

, tenor (26–29 July 1994, Nightingale Classics) * Schumann: ** lieder and duets - Petra Maria Schnitzer (soprano), Peter Seiffert (tenor) (20–21 November 2001, Orfeo) ** lieder, op. 35 et 90 -

Paul Armin Edelmann Paul Armin Edelmann (born 1968) is an Austrian operatic baritone. He received first musical training as a member of the Wiener Sängerknaben. After five years as an ensemble member at the Theater Koblenz, he has worked as a free-lance singer base ...

, baritone (2014, Capriccio C5172) * Melodies set on poems by

Theodor Storm Hans Theodor Woldsen Storm (; 14 September 18174 July 1888), commonly known as Theodor Storm, was a German writer. He is considered to be one of the most important figures of German realism. Life Storm was born in the small town of Husum, on th ...

- Ulf Bästlein, barytone (2004, MDG) *

Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classical ...

,

Britten Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten (22 November 1913 – 4 December 1976, aged 63) was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He was a central figure of 20th-century British music, with a range of works including opera, other ...

,

Zemlinsky Alexander Zemlinsky or Alexander von Zemlinsky (14 October 1871 – 15 March 1942) was an Austrian composer, conducting, conductor, and teacher. Biography Early life Zemlinsky was born in Vienna to a highly diverse family. Zemlinsky's grandfath ...

Eisler Eisler is a Jewish surname of German origin that may refer to: * Barry Eisler, American novelist * Brenda Eisler, Canadian long jumper * Georg Eisler, Austrian painter * Gerhart Eisler, German journalist and politician * Hanns Eisler, Austrian compo ...

, Weill… melodies - Thomas Michael Allen, tenor (2014, Capriccio)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Spencer, Charles English classical pianists Male classical pianists Classical accompanists Academic staff of the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna 1955 births Living people Musicians from Yorkshire