Sebastian Peschko
Encyclopedia
Sebastian Peschko was a German classical pianist specialised in the art form of lied
er and as such was partner to some of the foremost lyrical singers of the 20th century.
Sebastian Peschko was born in Berlin
as son of the organist and private lecturer Paul Peschko. From 1927 to 1933 he studied at the Hochschule für Musik (today: Berlin University of the Arts
), since 1930 supported by a Bechstein
scholarship. During that period he was a student of the great Edwin Fischer
. In 1933 Peschko won the prestigious Mendelssohn-Award. From 1934 until 1950 he toured and played alongside Germany's foremost lyric baritone singer, Heinrich Schlusnus
, all over the world.
Peschko was highly regarded as the piano partner of many eminent singers, amongst many others: Theo Altmeyer
, Erna Berger
, Walter Berry, Rudolf Bockelmann
, Grace Bumbry
, Franz Crass
, Lisa Della Casa
, Karl Erb
, Nicolai Gedda
, Agnes Giebel
, Ernst Haefliger
, Ilse Hollweg, Werner Hollweg, Heinz Hoppe, Christa Ludwig
, Maria Müller
, Hermann Prey
, Ruth-Margret Pütz, Walther Pützstück, Erna Sack
, Hanna Schwarz
, Franz Völker
, Bernd Weikl
and Marcel Wittrisch
.
From early onwards Peschko developed the status of the lieder-pianist from one of a mere subordinate/supporter to that of an equal partner of the singers. He didn't simply provide a layer of sound but rather built and created the foundation for each lied. His big, strong hands were those of a sculptor in which the keys turned into building material. Out of this sound material the lied was created, every one different according to situation, density and cadence of sounds and words. Artistically Peschko was a genuine person of the quiet sounds, and of seemingly fragile, yet insistent and durable creation, a maestro of the finest nuances.
Peschko also played chamber music
; best known are his projects with violinist Georg Kulenkampff
and cellists Enrico Mainardi
and Hans Adomeit.
From 1953 to 1958 Peschko was responsible for lieder, choir and church music at Radio Bremen
. In 1958 Rolf Liebermann
created a new department, lieder, at the Norddeutscher Rundfunk
especially for Peschko. There Peschko would finally settle down and work for the next decades. Amongst being producer, creative artist and journalist he also invented the well known format: "Meister des Liedes" (Masters of lieder). Many famous singers of the 20th century performed for this program.
Peschko performed as tutor for lieder interpretations at the Mozarteum in Salzburg
in the early 1970s.
Peschko composed the musical arrangements for 4 poems by Christian Morgenstern
, which are best known for being performed by singer Helen Donath
and pianist Klaus Donath all over the world.
In 1974 Peschko received one of the highest German badges of honor, the Federal Cross of Merit for his special artistic achievements.
Very early the baritone Thomas Quasthoff
was recognized and supported by Peschko.
Peschko died in Celle
, Germany in 1987. Peschko had 3 daughters (Franziska Johanna, Julia) and one son (Peter). Also he had one adopted son Pedro. World-famous dancer and choreographer Susanne Linke
is the niece of Sebastian Peschko.
Lied
is a German word literally meaning "song", usually used to describe romantic songs setting German poems of reasonably high literary aspirations, especially during the nineteenth century, beginning with Carl Loewe, Heinrich Marschner, and Franz Schubert and culminating with Hugo Wolf...
er and as such was partner to some of the foremost lyrical singers of the 20th century.
Sebastian Peschko was born in Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
as son of the organist and private lecturer Paul Peschko. From 1927 to 1933 he studied at the Hochschule für Musik (today: Berlin University of the Arts
Berlin University of the Arts
The Universität der Künste Berlin, UdK is a public art school in Berlin, Germany, one of the four universities in the city...
), since 1930 supported by a Bechstein
C. Bechstein Pianofortefabrik
C. Bechstein Pianofortefabrik AG is a German manufacturer of pianos, established in 1853 by Carl Bechstein.-Before Bechstein:...
scholarship. During that period he was a student of the great Edwin Fischer
Edwin Fischer
Edwin Fischer was a Swiss classical pianist and conductor. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest pianists of the 20th century, particularly in the traditional Germanic repertoire of such composers as J. S. Bach, Mozart, Beethoven and Schubert...
. In 1933 Peschko won the prestigious Mendelssohn-Award. From 1934 until 1950 he toured and played alongside Germany's foremost lyric baritone singer, Heinrich Schlusnus
Heinrich Schlusnus
Heinrich Schlusnus was Germany's foremost lyric baritone of the period between World War I and World War II. He sang opera and lieder with equal distinction.-Career:...
, all over the world.
Peschko was highly regarded as the piano partner of many eminent singers, amongst many others: Theo Altmeyer
Theo Altmeyer
Theo Altmeyer was a German classical tenor. Although he was a successful opera singer, he is chiefly remembered for his work as an oratorio soloist...
, Erna Berger
Erna Berger
Erna Berger , was a prominent German coloratura lyric soprano. She is most famous for her Queen of the Night and her Konstanze....
, Walter Berry, Rudolf Bockelmann
Rudolf Bockelmann
Rudolf Bockelmann was a German dramatic baritone and Kammersänger. He built an international career as an outstanding Wagnerian singer but damaged his reputation during the 1930s by joining the Nazi Party.-Biography:Bockelmann, the son of a village schoolmaster, was born at Bodenteich near Celle...
, Grace Bumbry
Grace Bumbry
Grace Bumbry , an American opera singer, is considered one of the leading mezzo-sopranos of her generation, as well as a major soprano for many years...
, Franz Crass
Franz Crass
Franz Crass is a German bass.A native of Wipperfürth, Crass studied with Gerda Heuer in Wiesbaden and with Professor Clemens Glettenberg at the Hochschule für Musik in Köln. He won numerous competitions throughout Germany in the 1950s...
, Lisa Della Casa
Lisa Della Casa
Lisa Della Casa is a Swiss soprano most admired for her interpretations of major heroines in major operas by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Richard Strauss, of German lieder, and for her great beauty. She was dubbed “the most beautiful woman on the operatic stage”...
, Karl Erb
Karl Erb
Karl Erb was a German tenor vocalist who made his career first in opera and then in oratorio and lieder recital. He excelled in all these genres, and before 1920 gave classic performances of key roles in modern works, and created lead roles in those of Hans Pfitzner...
, Nicolai Gedda
Nicolai Gedda
Nicolai Gedda is a Swedish operatic tenor. Having made some two hundred recordings, Gedda is said to be the most widely recorded tenor in history...
, Agnes Giebel
Agnes Giebel
Agnes Giebel is a German soprano. She was born in Heerlen, in the Netherlands, where she lived the first years of her life. She studied at the Folkwang Hochschule in Essen and made her first public appearance as a singer in 1947. Her career lasted until the 1990s during which she established a...
, Ernst Haefliger
Ernst Haefliger
Ernst Haefliger was a Swiss tenor.Haefliger was born in Davos, Switzerland and studied at the Zürich Conservatory. He studied with Fernando Capri in Geneva and Julius Patzak in Vienna....
, Ilse Hollweg, Werner Hollweg, Heinz Hoppe, Christa Ludwig
Christa Ludwig
Christa Ludwig is a retired German mezzo-soprano, distinguished for her performances of opera, Lieder, oratorio and other major religious works like masses and passions, and solos contained in symphonic literature...
, Maria Müller
Maria Müller
Maria Müller was a Czech-Austrian operatic soprano.Müller was born in Terezín, Bohemia. She studied in Vienna with Erik Schmedes, and debuted in Linz in 1919 as Elsa in Lohengrin...
, Hermann Prey
Hermann Prey
Hermann Prey was a German lyric baritone. He is most famous for lieder and for light comic baritone roles in opera.-Biography:...
, Ruth-Margret Pütz, Walther Pützstück, Erna Sack
Erna Sack
Erna Sack was a German coloratura soprano of exceptional talent.-Biography:Erna Sack was born in Spandau, Berlin. Her maiden name was Weber, and as a child her voice attracted attention both at school and in the church choir in which she sang. In 1921, Erna married Hermann Sack...
, Hanna Schwarz
Hanna Schwarz
Hanna Schwarz , is a German mezzo-soprano and contralto opera singer.She studied psychology and voice in Hamburg and continued at the Folkwang Hochschule and at the Musikhochschule Hannover. She made her debut in 1970, in the role of Maddalena in Verdi's Rigoletto, at the Staatsoper Hannover...
, Franz Völker
Franz Völker
Franz Völker was a dramatic tenor who enjoyed a major European career...
, Bernd Weikl
Bernd Weikl
Bernd Weikl is an Austrian operatic baritone, best known for his performances in the operas of Richard Wagner.- Early career :...
and Marcel Wittrisch
Marcel Wittrisch
Marcel Wittrisch was a popular German operatic tenor.Wittrisch was born in Belgium to a German family, and subsequently studied in Munich, Leipzig and Milan. His career began in Halle, Saxony-Anhalt in 1925 in a production of Hans Heiling by Marschner at the Halle Opera House...
.
From early onwards Peschko developed the status of the lieder-pianist from one of a mere subordinate/supporter to that of an equal partner of the singers. He didn't simply provide a layer of sound but rather built and created the foundation for each lied. His big, strong hands were those of a sculptor in which the keys turned into building material. Out of this sound material the lied was created, every one different according to situation, density and cadence of sounds and words. Artistically Peschko was a genuine person of the quiet sounds, and of seemingly fragile, yet insistent and durable creation, a maestro of the finest nuances.
Peschko also played chamber music
Chamber music
Chamber music is a form of classical music, written for a small group of instruments which traditionally could be accommodated in a palace chamber. Most broadly, it includes any art music that is performed by a small number of performers with one performer to a part...
; best known are his projects with violinist Georg Kulenkampff
Georg Kulenkampff
Georg Kulenkampff was one of the world's most prominent concert violinists, one of the best-known German virtuosi of the 1930s and 1940s. Widely considered one of the finest violinists of the 20th century, Kulenkampff was known for his interpretations of works from the Romantic period...
and cellists Enrico Mainardi
Enrico Mainardi
Enrico Mainardi was an Italian cellist, composer, and conductor.At the age of thirteen, in 1910, Mainardi had already begun his career as a cello virtuoso who toured the concert halls of Europe...
and Hans Adomeit.
From 1953 to 1958 Peschko was responsible for lieder, choir and church music at Radio Bremen
Radio Bremen
Radio Bremen , Germany's smallest public radio and television broadcaster, is the legally mandated broadcaster for the city-state of Bremen...
. In 1958 Rolf Liebermann
Rolf Liebermann
Rolf Liebermann , was a Swiss composer and music administrator born in Zurich, and associated with several different musical genres. His output included chansons, classical, and light music. His classical music often combines myriad styles and techniques, including those drawn from baroque,...
created a new department, lieder, at the Norddeutscher Rundfunk
Norddeutscher Rundfunk
Norddeutscher Rundfunk is a public radio and television broadcaster, based in Hamburg. In addition to the city-state of Hamburg, NDR transmits for the German states of Lower Saxony, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and Schleswig-Holstein...
especially for Peschko. There Peschko would finally settle down and work for the next decades. Amongst being producer, creative artist and journalist he also invented the well known format: "Meister des Liedes" (Masters of lieder). Many famous singers of the 20th century performed for this program.
Peschko performed as tutor for lieder interpretations at the Mozarteum in Salzburg
Salzburg
-Population development:In 1935, the population significantly increased when Salzburg absorbed adjacent municipalities. After World War II, numerous refugees found a new home in the city. New residential space was created for American soldiers of the postwar Occupation, and could be used for...
in the early 1970s.
Peschko composed the musical arrangements for 4 poems by Christian Morgenstern
Christian Morgenstern
Christian Otto Josef Wolfgang Morgenstern was a German author and poet from Munich. Morgenstern married Margareta Gosebruch von Liechtenstern on March 7, 1910...
, which are best known for being performed by singer Helen Donath
Helen Donath
Helen Jeanette Donath is an American soprano with a career spanning fifty years.- Biography :She was born in Corpus Christi, Texas and studied at Del Mar College in Corpus Christi and with Paola Novikova in New York....
and pianist Klaus Donath all over the world.
In 1974 Peschko received one of the highest German badges of honor, the Federal Cross of Merit for his special artistic achievements.
Very early the baritone Thomas Quasthoff
Thomas Quasthoff
Thomas Quasthoff is a German bass-baritone. Although his reputation was initially based on his performance of Romantic lieder, Quasthoff has proven to have a remarkable range from the Baroque cantatas of Bach to solo jazz improvisations.-Biography:Quasthoff was born in Hildesheim, Germany, with...
was recognized and supported by Peschko.
Peschko died in Celle
Celle
Celle is a town and capital of the district of Celle, in Lower Saxony, Germany. The town is situated on the banks of the River Aller, a tributary of the Weser and has a population of about 71,000...
, Germany in 1987. Peschko had 3 daughters (Franziska Johanna, Julia) and one son (Peter). Also he had one adopted son Pedro. World-famous dancer and choreographer Susanne Linke
Susanne Linke
Susanne Linke is a German dancer and freelance choreographer important in the development of Tanztheater in Germany and contemporary dance internationally.-Career:...
is the niece of Sebastian Peschko.
Partial discography
- 1975: Heinrich Schlusnus sings lieder by Franz SchubertFranz SchubertFranz Peter Schubert was an Austrian composer.Although he died at an early age, Schubert was tremendously prolific. He wrote some 600 Lieder, nine symphonies , liturgical music, operas, some incidental music, and a large body of chamber and solo piano music...
accompanied by Sebastian Peschko (TELDECTeldecThe Teldec is a German record label in Hamburg, Germany. Today the label is a property of Warner Music Group.-History:...
) - 1977: Heinrich Schlusnus sings lieder by Robert SchumannRobert SchumannRobert Schumann, sometimes known as Robert Alexander Schumann, was a German composer, aesthete and influential music critic. He is regarded as one of the greatest and most representative composers of the Romantic era....
accompanied by Sebastian Peschko (Deutsche GrammophonDeutsche GrammophonDeutsche Grammophon is a German classical record label which was the foundation of the future corporation to be known as PolyGram. It is now part of Universal Music Group since its acquisition and absorption of PolyGram in 1999, and it is also UMG's oldest active label...
) - 1994: Lisa Della Casa sings lieder by Richard StraussRichard StraussRichard Georg Strauss was a leading German composer of the late Romantic and early modern eras. He is known for his operas, which include Der Rosenkavalier and Salome; his Lieder, especially his Four Last Songs; and his tone poems and orchestral works, such as Death and Transfiguration, Till...
accompanied by Sebastian Peschko (Sbt) - 1999: Heinrich Schlusnus sings lieder accompanied by Sebastian Peschko (Preiser)
- 2002: Erna Berger sings lieder accompanied by Sebastian Peschko (Orfeo d'Or)
- 2002: Lisa Della Casa lieder & arias, accompanied by Sebastian Peschko (EMIEMIThe EMI Group, also known as EMI Music or simply EMI, is a multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major...
-ElectrolaElectrolaElectrola was a record label founded in Berlin in 1925 by the Gramophone Company. In March 1931 Electrola, along with its parent label and Carl Lindström Company parent Columbia Graphophone Company, merged to form the Electric & Musical Industries Ltd. . The German EMI unit was first called...
) - 2004: Grace Bumbry – early recordings (pianist: Sebastian Peschko) (Deutsche Grammophon)
External links
- Edward de Decker (bass) sings – accompanied by Sebastian Peschko – 1942 in Berlin „De Schelde“ from Peter Benoit http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FtMIh4w4anI
- Heinrich SchlusnusHeinrich SchlusnusHeinrich Schlusnus was Germany's foremost lyric baritone of the period between World War I and World War II. He sang opera and lieder with equal distinction.-Career:...
(bariton) sings – accompanied by Sebastian Peschko – 1944/45 in the ruins of Berlin lieder - by Richard Strauss and Hugo WolfHugo WolfHugo Wolf was an Austrian composer of Slovene origin, particularly noted for his art songs, or lieder. He brought to this form a concentrated expressive intensity which was unique in late Romantic music, somewhat related to that of the Second Viennese School in concision but utterly unrelated in...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ed6-Qr7i8XE - Heinrich Schlusnus sings – accompanied by Sebastian Peschko Sebastian Peschko (piano) – 1944/45 "Der Soldat", Op. 40, no. 3, von Robert Schumann http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xq6AIzhlG2g
- "Alinde" by Franz Schubert performed 1942; Heinrich Schlusnus is accompanied by Sebastian Peschko http://www.dra.de/online/hinweisdienste/musik/2002/august6.html#hoerzitat
- Heinrich Schlusnus (bariton) sings – accompanied by Sebastian Peschko (piano) – "Ständchen" from Franz Schubert (Film), 1951 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JrqArqNegzs