Ernestine Schumann-Heink, Schubert: Die Forelle (Two versions: 1911 & 1929)

German contralto Ernestine Schumann-Heink (1861-1936), one of the great singers from the so-called "Golden Age of Opera", in Schubert's Die Forelle (The Trout), D. 550. This video presents two versions, the first was recorded in 1911, and the second in 1929. Both recordings are made for the Victor label. The translation of the sung text by Lionel Salter is provided as follows: In a limpid brooklet the skittish trout darted about in joyous haste like an arrow. I stood on the bank and in quiet contentment watched the merry little fish bathing in the clear stream. An angler with his rod stood on the bank and cold-bloodedly watched the fish disporting itself. So long as the water remains clear, I thought, he will not catch the trout with his rod. But at last the thief tired of waiting. Maliciously he mudded the brook, and before I realised it, his rod quivered with the fish writhing on it, and I, my blood boiling, gazed at the victimized creature. The following biographical profile of Schumann-Heink comes from Cantabile-subito (www.cantabile-subito.de): "Ernestine Schumann-Heink was born as Tini Rössler in Prague. Among her teachers was Giovanni Battista Lamperti. She made her début at the Dresden opera as Azucena in 1878 which was not very successful because of her lacking stage experience. But there were hopeful signs in her singing. In the next season she made consistent progress in vocal technique and soon she began to reveal a unique individuality in her vocal category ...