Ernst Haefliger

Not much commented upon, but I think of great importance, is the death of tenor Ernst Haefliger at the age of 87. There was an obituary in my local paper, but to my knowledge none has appeared in the NY Times. Perhaps it is because he didn't have a great American career and yet his importance can't be denied.

Although he sang opera at the Deutsche Opera Berlin for two decades, he will most associated with the Bach Evangelists and that is how it should be. He was the premier Bach interpreter from the time of Karl Erb until Peter Schreier. He did not have the beautiful liquid voice that Wunderlich had for example, but it was an appreciable talent, as Karl Richter rightly recognized in his several recordings of the Bach Passions and Cantatas. Later on he finally appeared under the Met's aegis as the Speaker in two performances of Schoenberg's Gurrelieder, one at Carnegie Hall and one in Japan.

I treasure the 1958 Richter recording of the St. Matthew Passion, with the incomparable Irmgard Seefried, Hertha Töpper and Kieth Engen, not to mention a relatively young Fischer-Dieskau. This set the standard for an era and while there are certainly more HIP accounts now, this has not lost its timelessness.

Update: The NY Times has now posted an obituary on its website (twice actually).