![Souzay, Gérard. (1918-2004) [Mertens, André. (1904?-1963)] Signed Photograph](http://www.schubertiademusic.com/cdn/shop/files/Souzay_Gerard_Mertens_SP_14351_001.jpg?v=1722188759)
Souzay, Gérard. (1918-2004) [Mertens, André. (1904?-1963)]. Signed Photograph.
The important musical manager André Mertens began his career as the directory of the State Ministry of Fine Arts in Germany, before fleeing to the USA in 1933. There he became the founder of Columbia Artists Management and played an important role in developing the careers of artists such as Leontyne Price and Renata Tebaldi. In the post-war years, he also served as a link between the musical worlds of the USA and Europe, facilitating American tours for European orchestras under Karajan, Walter, Bernstein, and others, and recommending young American artists for European opera houses. After his death in 1963, his work was continued by his wife Clara, who also made several generous institutional bequests in his name, including the André Mertens Galleries for Musical Instruments at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Signed photograph of the French baritone, regarded as one of the very finest interpreters of mélodie, inscribed to impresario and Columbia Artists manager André Mertens. One corner crease; overall in fine condition. 8 x 10 inches (20.7 x 25.5 cm).
"In mélodies [Souzay] was the heir of Bernac, but he devoted almost as much time to lieder and was acclaimed in Germany as elsewhere for his idiomatic interpretations of Schubert, Schumann and Wolf, among others. His voice was a warmly expressive high baritone, slender but firm and flexible, an ideal instrument for a singer of such highly developed sensibility; but that very quality sometimes led to a note of preciosity in his interpretations. His recordings of Die schöne Müllerin and Dichterliebe, and his earlier discs (now on CD) of mélodies by Duparc, Fauré, Debussy, Ravel and Poulenc, disclose the best of his art." (Martin Cooper/Alan Blyth, New Grove Online.)
Souzay, Gérard. (1918-2004) [Mertens, André. (1904?-1963)]. Signed Photograph.
The important musical manager André Mertens began his career as the directory of the State Ministry of Fine Arts in Germany, before fleeing to the USA in 1933. There he became the founder of Columbia Artists Management and played an important role in developing the careers of artists such as Leontyne Price and Renata Tebaldi. In the post-war years, he also served as a link between the musical worlds of the USA and Europe, facilitating American tours for European orchestras under Karajan, Walter, Bernstein, and others, and recommending young American artists for European opera houses. After his death in 1963, his work was continued by his wife Clara, who also made several generous institutional bequests in his name, including the André Mertens Galleries for Musical Instruments at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Signed photograph of the French baritone, regarded as one of the very finest interpreters of mélodie, inscribed to impresario and Columbia Artists manager André Mertens. One corner crease; overall in fine condition. 8 x 10 inches (20.7 x 25.5 cm).
"In mélodies [Souzay] was the heir of Bernac, but he devoted almost as much time to lieder and was acclaimed in Germany as elsewhere for his idiomatic interpretations of Schubert, Schumann and Wolf, among others. His voice was a warmly expressive high baritone, slender but firm and flexible, an ideal instrument for a singer of such highly developed sensibility; but that very quality sometimes led to a note of preciosity in his interpretations. His recordings of Die schöne Müllerin and Dichterliebe, and his earlier discs (now on CD) of mélodies by Duparc, Fauré, Debussy, Ravel and Poulenc, disclose the best of his art." (Martin Cooper/Alan Blyth, New Grove Online.)