Rosemarie Ammende-Haaf & Martin Cooke
Vorwort in deutsche Sprache bitte runter scrollen
To celebrate
ten years of music making Rosemarie Ammende-Haaf and Martin Cooke
recorded vocal music spanning three centuries and two continents
We both felt it was time to record for posterity our musical collaboration over
the past ten years.
This also coincided with my long-held dream to present a programme embracing
the music and culture of
Germany, my adopted homeland and Australia, the land of my birth.
Our selections include Lieder from Rosemarie's late husband, the noted Munich composer
Dietrich Ammende
In 1998 I
had the pleasure of meeting Rosemarie Ammede-Haaf,
who was preparing a programme of her late husband's Lieder for a concert for
the Munich Musicians' Association.
Dietrich Ammende was a noted 20th century Munich composer of German Lieder.
His vocal and orchestral works have been performed by internationally renowned
singers
such as Hans Hotter, Karl Schmitt-Walter and Keith Engen and leading German
orchestras such as the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra and the Munich Philharmonic
Orchestra.
Keith Engen performed his works as part of the
Munich Opera Festival recital series in the historic Cuvilliés Theatre,
Munich's original royal opera house.
The breadth
of Ammende's compositions extended from the Romantic era,
through to the Impressionistic and Expressionistic periods and even to the borders
of tonality.
According to the Neue Musikzeitung - New Music Newspaper obituary of 1981,
"Ammende can be numbered without a doubt amongst the most original creators
of Lieder of our time."
Keith Engen
wrote of the composer: "Dietrich Ammende was and is a creative musician
who poured wonderful poems into the most beautiful tones. That is a great deal
in our incomplete world."
I felt a deep
rapport with Dietrich Ammende and his Lieder
from the moment I began to study his compositions.
This marked the beginning of a close musical and personal friendship
with his widow Rosemarie, which continues to this day.
We have presented numerous concerts with varied programmes
and composers, often performing the works of Dietrich Ammende.
In
2007 I had the good fortune to meet two outstanding Australian composers:
Phillip Wilcher and George
Palmer.
George Palmer (b.1947) is the composer of - amongst many other works
- the mass "Benedictus Qui Venit" which was commissioned by the Archdiocese
of Sydney
for the visit of His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI to Australia for World Youth
Day 2008.
This composition was performed at the papal mass at Randwick Racecourse in Sydney
in front of 250,000
people and seen by millions around the world on international television.
George Palmer has composed a song cycle "Letters From A Black Snake"
setting five extracts from the original letters of Ned Kelly,
Australia's most notorious criminal of the 19th century.
Kelly was hanged in Melbourne Gaol in 1880 and has become an important part
of Australian folklore.
It is interesting and ironic to note that the composer who has been able to
express musically the heart
of the person of Kelly in such a humane and compassionate manner is a judge
of the Supreme Court of New South Wales today.
George Palmer
Phillip Wilcher
Phillip
Wilcher (b.1958) is a noted Australian composer whose piano and orchestral works
have been performed throughout Australia and regularly broadcast on radio and
television by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Phillip's latest CD acknowledges
that "his work encompasses a broad stylistic range from Romantic to Impressionistic
to Contemporary. He consistently creates unique and atmospheric pieces. His
music illustrates the importance of preserving traditional concepts with an
emphasis on lyricism and melody, all within a uniquely broad stylistic framework".
Many years ago as a young student I won an important Australian vocal competition
"The Violet Somerset Memorial Award" for German Lieder, performing
songs by Robert Schumann and most importantly Franz Schubert, whose Lieder have
accompanied me throughout my singing career. This occasion marked the beginning
of my passion for the art form of German Lieder singing.
Today
I have a deep affinity with all four composers represented on our recording.
Rosemarie and I hope that our selections will give the listener as much pleasure
as we have had preparing this wonderful and challenging programme.
We presented
the fruits of our labours in a special concert on the release of our CD
on Australia Day 26th of January 2009
in the festival hall of the Künstlerhaus Munich.
1998 hatte ich das Vergnügen Rosemarie Ammende-Haaf kennen gelernt zu haben die mich im Auftrag des Tonkünstlerverbandes angerufen hatte. Frau Ammende-Haaf hat mich gefragt ob ich Lieder von ihrem Mann, der namhaften Münchner Komponist Dietrich Ammende im Konzert singen möchte.
Beim einstudieren den meisterhaften Lied-Kreationen Dietrich Ammendes fühlte ich mich ab dem ersten Augenblick zutiefst angesprochen.
Die Spannweite von Ammendes Schaffen reicht von der Romantik bis zum Impressionismus, Expressionismus, zuweilen bis zu den Grenzen der Tonalität. Zu den Interpreten des Liedschaffens Ammendes gehörten zahlreiche Sängergroßen wie Hans Hotter, Annelise Kupper, Richard Holm, Karl Schmitt-Walter, Richard Holm und Keith Engen sowie das Sinfonie Orchester des Bayerischenrundfunks und die Münchener Philharmoniker. Ammende "zählt doch ohne Zweifel zu den originellsten Liedschöpfern unsere Tage der auch in anderen Schaffenszweigen, wie am Klavier, einiges zu sagen hatte". Neue Musikzeitung, März 1981.
Der Bassist Keith Engen schrieb: "Dietrich Ammende war und ist ein schöpferischer Musiker, der wunderbare Gedichte in schönste Töne gegossen hat. Das ist sehr viel in unserer unvollkommenen Welt."
Die Begegnung mit Rosemarie Ammende-Haaf war der Beginn einer bis heute anhaltenden, musikalischen Zusammenarbeit und engen Freundschaft. In den letzten Jahren haben wir viele Konzerte mit verschiedenen Programmen, inklusiv die Ammende Lieder, zusammen präsentiert.
Es war immer mein Traum ein musikalisches Programm zusammen zustellen in dem ich deutsche Lieder und Art Songs aus meiner ersten und zweiten Heimat präsentiere.
Vor einem Jahr hatte ich das Vergnügen zwei Australische Komponisten kennen gelernt zu haben: Phillip Wilcher und George Palmer.
George Palmer ist der Komponist der Messe "Benedictus Qui Venit". Diese Komposition ist ein Auftragswerk das zum Papstbesuch Benedikt den XVI am Welt Jugend Tag 08 in Sydney und vor Millionen von Zuschauern im internationalen Fernsehen aufgeführt wird.
George Palmer hat den Liedzyklus "Briefe einer schwarzen Schlange" komponiert wobei er Auszüge aus den Originalbriefen des berüchtigtsten Verbrechers in Australien, Ned Kelly verwendet. Ned Kelly wurde 1880 hingerichtet und ist ein Teil Australischer Geschichte vergleichbar mit Bayerns "Räuber" Matthias Kneißl. In diesem Zusammenhang möchte ich erwähnen dass George Palmer im beruflichen Leben Oberlandesrichter des Bundesstaates New South Wales ist.
Phillip Wilcher (geb.1958) ist ein namhafter Komponist dessen Werke in Australien viel aufgeführt werden (Australian Broadcasting Corporation und Fernsehen). Sein vor kurzem erschienenen CD notiert:" seine Arbeit entspricht einen breiten stilistischen Umfang von Romantik bis Impressionismus bis das Zeitgenössische. Er kreiert einmalige und atmosphärische Stücke. Seine Musik zeigt die Wichtigkeit traditionelle Konzepte mit Betonung auf Lyrik und Melodie zu konservieren, all dies innerhalb einem einmaligen, breiten Rahmen.
Mit zwei Lieder von Robert Schumann und vor allem Franz Schubert, dessen Lieder mich meine ganzen Karriere begleitet haben, habe ich als junger Student seinerzeit einen wichtigen australischen Lied Wettbewerb- den "Violet Somerset Memorial Award" gewonnen. Dies war der Beginn für meine Begeisterung für die deutsche Liedkunst.
Heute empfinde ich eine tiefe Verbundenheit mit allen oben genanten Komponisten.
Rosemarie und ich hoffen unser Programm macht Ihnen eben so viel Freude wie wir es beim Erarbeiten zunehmend empfunden haben.
Ursula Mann - Martin Cooke - Rosemarie Ammende
im Konzert KOM Olching
OLCHING
Lake Olching in winter
Photos by Hannah
and in late summer
photos by Hannah
Zubin Mehta
General Music Director
of the
BAVARIAN STATE OPERA
Munich
1998-2006
wonderful memories
During the Three Orchesters
Concert
Munich Olympic Park
for the opening of the FIFA
World Cup
Munich June 2006
PEOPLE - FAMILY - FRIENDS
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The role Brian Phillips played in teaching Pat Donnelly and myself stagecraft, professionalism and artistry is inestimable |
Pat Donnelly as Go-To (r) and myself as Pish Tush (l)
in the Mikado for the G&S Society in 1974 and 1975 at the Sydney Opera
House
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Evelyn Hall de Izal my first teacher from 1973-1980
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Franco Izal baritone and teacher of my mother in the
1940's. He is seen here with his childhood friend Dom Moreno OSB, Benedictine
monk and composer from the abbey of New Norcia in Western Australia
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The late Norman Tonge taught me in 1980 and prepared
me for the Sydney Conservatorium. Norman was a father figure in my life
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Professor Valerie Collins-Varga my teacher at Sydney
Conservatorium from 1981-1985 together with the late Judy Board who passed
away in 2000
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Conducting my last mass at St Patrick's Church Hill
in Sydney where I was choirmaster from 1981-1985 and in 1988
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Salzburg Cathedral
photo: Hannah Cooke
where I have been a soloist since 1993 and love singing the most. To the left
is the Kollegienkirche with the round dome where I sang the title role in Elijah
together with the Salzburger Liedertafel, Singakademie Dresden and the Orchestra
of the Dommusik (Mozarteum Orchestra)
Salzburger Dommusik Chor und Orchester
The Salzburg Cathedral Choir in concert under the direction of
Domkapellmeister Professor János Czifra
 The late Werner Baer MBE outstanding pianist, organist, musicologist and coach together with the late Ken Neate Australia's most distinguished international tenor. Ken was my teacher from 1985 until his death in 1997 |
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 Donald Munro, my teacher in 1988 and myself on my wedding day 30.12.1989 in Germany |
The Fortress of Salzburg
photo: Hannah.Cooke
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Zubin Metha General Music Director of the |
Australia's distinguished pianist and accompianist
David Miller |
Farewell concert of the St Aloysius College Touring Choir
in 1995.
The German leg of the tour was outstanding:
the boys were wonderful ambassadors for Australia, the school and their families
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Joan Lily Cooke nee Boots |
Official "Kick Off" |
The late Frau Dr Helga Kratwohl (1930-2000) and my friend
and tenor Michael Howard
prior to our recital in the
Max Joseph Hall of the Residence in Munich September 1987
Helga was a wonderful friend of our family and generous benefactor to many young
artists
 Hannah with Placido Domingo back stage after the first act of Carmen Munich Opera Festival 1997 |
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