This sent chills down my back! It's my first time hearing a woman's voice singing Erlkonig, and I never thought it could sound as powerful as this. Awesome video--thanks for sharing.
I've only ever heard this by men or baritone-bass singers. It's nice to hear it soprano-- it's a nice change of pace. This is gorgeous is the most creepy way possible. I loved it.
I love this woman. She has it all. Sheer talent, totally natural, down to earth, incredible power, great great beauty, and most of all absolute class. If anyone depicts royalty, it is this one.
This songs brings me to my knees everytime. Shubert's epic craftmenship of musical artistry, combined with the dark romatismn of Goethe and a brilliant soloist draws my heart to heaven.
This is one of th best performances I´ve heard of this song. You can really feel the energy coming out of her. Not to mention her face throughout the song. She is really lost in her role. The orchestral arragements are just as glorious as her voice. Thanks for posting
Probably one of the best interpretations of this piece I have ever seen/heard. Anne Sofie von Otter does a phenomenal job of capturing the audience's attention and make subtle changes in her demeanor to go from one character to another (narrator, son, father, erlkonig)... WOW!
Well put! Many people nowadays would overlook this, or many other "classical" genre pieces. Not many realize that insane beauty of a performance like this. The incredible poetic style of a literary great, one of the greatest lieder composers of all time, a world-class mezzo, conductor, and orchestra. It gives the informed listener unending chills.
bone chilling..this is the best performance of this song I have heard and seen of this song to date. First of all I have not heard anyone sing this song in such a high key. Her diction and stage presence were fantastic...BRAVA
i just got chills!!! one of the best performances i have ever seen! Von Otter is BRILLIANT and sings this piece wonderfully...magnificent singing and acting
my God. I could listen to her over and over again. Full of emotions, the best interpretation... How is she changing between the three characters.... Great
Never fails to move me, but his rendition is the finest I have ever heard. I play it over and over .... magnificent. THANK YOU so much for posting it. What a fine person you must be ...
Holy freaking crap. This woman is amazing. I'm a soprano, and i was just looking up a recording on here of Erlkonig so I could do a theory assignment, and I've never heard her sing... this is incredible! VERY inspiring... I'm going to look up more music by her :-) Thanks so much for posting this!
this is an absolutely incredible interpretation of this piece. she is unbelievably genious here and the orchestra and conducting- amazing. it moved me to tears.
This song is literally the only reason I am glad I took music theory in college. Cause this is such a wonderfully haunting and sad piece. I cry every fucking time I hear it.
Oh my god, I had tears in my eyes. I just did a (much slower!) rendition of this for my senior recital. This is, by far, one of the better renditions of this song.
This is fantastic...nothing to add, nothing to criticize...just perfect! Both, piece and performance, make accelerate my pulse...Hearing this, I feel truly alive.
Bravo ! Pour moi, c'est la meilleure version de ce chant parumi les versions chantees par des femmes. La voix, la technique, l'interpretation et meme, l'expression de la figure d'Anne Sofie von Otter, en plus, le son effayant des violons, tout ca m'a vraiment fait peur. Cette video est merveilleuse !
I can't get over how amazingly epic the ending is. That tonicized neopolitan leaves you feeling like the ending will be happy, and all will end well. Then the text...and the V7-i at the end...Genius. The way the text and music work together in this piece is incredible.
Ich liebe diese Musike und den Gedicht von Goethe. Das ist so haftend. Bravo. J'adore cette musique. Le poème à l'origine de Goethe est très beau et très prenant. Un grand bravo pour cette mise en musique qui n'est pas des moindres.
I saw Otter yesterday in Tel Aviv (with the Israeli Philharmonic Orchestra) singing Schubert, including Erlkonig. She was amazing! Not an easy task to juggle between the three roles. Bravo!!!!
Thank you, Elizabeth. Anne Sofie von Otter is exactly the sort of person who is loved and appreciated in New Zealand where I come from. We appreciate exactly the qualities you mention, class, ability and a down to earth nature. I think New Zealand is very like Sweden in the attitudes of the people. I think the Swiss are similar also.
Her soft voice and the even more dramatic orchestra really brings out the contrast between the child/father's desperation and the erlking's manipulative crooning
this is the reason why one should learn what one is singing! Her faces are amazing, and i believe that the only way one can truly develop the emotion and height needed for this piece is to understand what one is saying. This is amazing!
My most favorite scene is at 3:13 When she crys "Mein Vater, Mein Vater", I can feel the son's fear. I stretched my hand to rescue the boy, but "Das Kind war tot!!!"
Wow! To watch her performance while reading a translation of the lyrics really brings the story to life. What a gifted artist - making the music her own while delivering it seamlessly from the perspectives of the Narrator, the well-meaning father, the terrified child, and the seductive, murderous Elfking. A real tour de force!
@Nicebrass21 Actually, that's all supposition based on Schubert being a confirmed bachelor and the degree of affection expressed in his letters to his male friends. But back in the Romantic era, men weren't afraid to express passionate regard for one another in very flowery terms. They shared beds, kissed each other hello and goodbye and even good morning. Especially for someone as unloved as Schubert, those friendships were precious, but we really don't know if they were sexual in nature.
holy crap.. that was the most intense song i have evvvver listened to. my Advanced Ladies choir is singing this in our next concert (in german also). it is such a difficult piece, but WOW the orchestra and soloist were the most amazing combination i have ever heart. bravo! :)
This poem is so complex or perhaps clairvoyant. It would be so challenging to sing the different voices, so I feel insulted that some rascals have 'down-voted' this. I do not know German, but Goethe is like Shakespeare, and please, this woman sings with great passion and talent, so just listen, and look at the translations. The Elfking is like any ghost or unseen enemy with mysterious power over us, like a political leader or infectious disease, and is meant to be interpreted metaphysically, which as an American, I know nothing about. The Elfking seduces the child or the ignorant and is like a false prophet or leader to beware of. The tragedy is that the father does not believe the observations and intuitions of the small child, but that in the end, the simplest solution is the truth, and the child is clairvoyant and can see the evil for what it is.
Another interpretation is that the father is right. The horse is running fast through the forest to get them home, and the father keeps his sick son as warm as he can. The son is feverish and in delirium. The father tries to calm him. He finally goes even faster to get home, but too late: his son is already dead.
Lol, when I heard this song for the first time..I laughed..I thought it was kinda ridiculous; so much emotions. But now, 4 years later, I really appreciate this piece. This woman is very good!
Who rides, so late, through night and wind? It is the father with his child. He has the boy well in his arm He holds him safely, he keeps him warm. "My son, why do you hide your face in fear?" "Father, do you not see the Elf-king? The Elf-king with crown and cape?" "My son, it's a streak of fog." "You dear child, come, go with me! (Very) beautiful games I play with you; Many colorful flowers are on the beach, My mother has many a golden robe." "My father, my father, and do you not hear What the Elf-king quietly promises me?" "Be calm, stay calm, my child; Through dry leaves the wind is sighing." "Do you, fine boy, want to go with me? My daughters shall wait on you finely; My daughters lead the nightly dance, And rock and dance and sing to bring you in." "My father, my father, and don't you see there The Elf-king's daughters in the gloomy place?" "My son, my son, I see it clearly: There shimmer the old willows so grey." "I love you, your beautiful form entices me; And if you're not willing, then I will use force." "My father, my father, he's touching me now! The Elf-king has done me harm!" It horrifies the father; he swiftly rides on, He holds the moaning child in his arms, Reaches the farm with great difficulty; In his arms, the child was dead.
Her singing is very dramatic & fantastic. I imagined that I was riding parallelly with the father and the son who was chased by the erlking. VERY THRILLING !!!
I heard this for the first time during class when I was 14 years old and I didnt like it. But now Im 19 and I have more recognition for good pieces of music, this singer is also truly talented.
Very powerful, continuous, intense performance. And I don't think there's any problem with a woman singing this. I've sung songs written for soprano and alto before simply because it was a song i really liked. The fact that this song is written from a man's perspective simply serves to give her more reason to delve deeper into the meaning and relate it to herself somehow.
Her Erlkoning is seductive and scary as f**k! And how she throw to our face the last word, "dead"... 😭 Yeah, I tried other version of this piece, but I always end up coming here again. This is clearly the most powerfull version of this one.... ❤❤
I must have watched this a million times by now. The conductor's face at around 3:10 never gets old. Yes! It's so intense! I love this performance.
Wow. I never imagined this sung by a soprano, but the pitch contrast with the instruments is actually awesome.
Yes,but why soprano?.. As I know she is a mezzo
i guess Im kind of randomly asking but does anyone know of a good site to watch new movies online?
@Andrew Emerson Try Flixzone. You can find it on google =)
@Andrew Emerson I use flixzone. You can find it by googling :)
@Andrew Emerson I watch on flixzone. Just google for it =)
This sent chills down my back! It's my first time hearing a woman's voice singing Erlkonig, and I never thought it could sound as powerful as this. Awesome video--thanks for sharing.
I've only ever heard this by men or baritone-bass singers. It's nice to hear it soprano-- it's a nice change of pace. This is gorgeous is the most creepy way possible. I loved it.
If you want to see a very creepy version, check this one out: ruclips.net/video/nH2KNdXySuE/видео.html
This orchestral arrangement is amazing.
It is Hector Berlioz's orchestration.
I love this woman. She has it all. Sheer talent, totally natural, down to earth, incredible power, great great beauty, and most of all absolute class. If anyone depicts royalty, it is this one.
The best version of Erlkonig ever - thanks to Anne Sofie and Claudio!
This is bloodcurdling! You can really feel the child feel the Elf King
This songs brings me to my knees everytime. Shubert's epic craftmenship of musical artistry, combined with the dark romatismn of Goethe and a brilliant soloist draws my heart to heaven.
This is one of th best performances I´ve heard of this song. You can really feel the energy coming out of her. Not to mention her face throughout the song. She is really lost in her role. The orchestral arragements are just as glorious as her voice. Thanks for posting
Probably one of the best interpretations of this piece I have ever seen/heard. Anne Sofie von Otter does a phenomenal job of capturing the audience's attention and make subtle changes in her demeanor to go from one character to another (narrator, son, father, erlkonig)... WOW!
Ms.Von Otter is the best soprano!! Brilliant performance!!! Thank you so much for uploading!!
Wow!
Gänsehautfaktor!!!!!
Eine der besten Schubert-Lieder Interpretationen die ich je gesehen habe!!!!!!
Well put! Many people nowadays would overlook this, or many other "classical" genre pieces. Not many realize that insane beauty of a performance like this. The incredible poetic style of a literary great, one of the greatest lieder composers of all time, a world-class mezzo, conductor, and orchestra. It gives the informed listener unending chills.
bone chilling..this is the best performance of this song I have heard and seen of this song to date. First of all I have not heard anyone sing this song in such a high key. Her diction and stage presence were fantastic...BRAVA
Lovely.. right on the mark with precision and passion!
astonishing performance. I watch this video since it was uploaded and still give me chills.
I can't get enough of this,I keep listening to it over and over... Breathtaking!!!!
16 years later, and this is still my favorite performance of this song, the sopranos voice is impeccable here
i just got chills!!! one of the best performances i have ever seen! Von Otter is BRILLIANT and sings this piece wonderfully...magnificent singing and acting
Nicht von dieser Welt! Phantastisch!
Bravissima!
This piece is so emotive, the poem alone makes me weep, the song and music sends great shivers of fear.
Diese unheimlich schöne Interpretation von Anne Sofie von Otter ist die Beste aller Zeiten! Punkt!
my God. I could listen to her over and over again. Full of emotions, the best interpretation...
How is she changing between the three characters.... Great
This is one of the best performances I´ve seen of this piece and in general. Everytime I see it it just blow my mind. Pure pasion. Thanks for posting
Sublime.. Schubert, Berlioz, Otter, Abbado, sublime
Absolute Perfektion. Gänsehaut und Träne jedes Mal, wenn ich dies höre, d.h. jeden Tag wenigstens ein Mal.
She has a really beautiful voice, and Abbado is such a good interpretor of this music!
Thanks for uploading.
Never fails to move me, but his rendition is the finest I have ever heard. I play it over and over .... magnificent. THANK YOU so much for posting it. What a fine person you must be ...
What an incredible performance. You can literally feel and see each character as she performs.
This is gorgeous! The lyrics made me afraid of the dark when I was little...
Holy freaking crap. This woman is amazing. I'm a soprano, and i was just looking up a recording on here of Erlkonig so I could do a theory assignment, and I've never heard her sing... this is incredible! VERY inspiring... I'm going to look up more music by her :-)
Thanks so much for posting this!
This is just amazing. She has 4 different voices. I am just, without words.
I get the chills every time around 3:00 into the piece...from then on is mind-blowing!
Absolutely amazing. How she is able to give every person its own sound and the different ways she behaves... really absolutely amazing...
this is an absolutely incredible interpretation of this piece. she is unbelievably genious here and the orchestra and conducting- amazing. it moved me to tears.
This song is literally the only reason I am glad I took music theory in college. Cause this is such a wonderfully haunting and sad piece. I cry every fucking time I hear it.
Powerful! Best interpretation I've heard... von Otter really sang the song as it really supposed to be.... Great orchestral arrangement as well....
The singer has a great feeling! Almost made me cry now when i know what it is about and how it ends ):
She has it all, and above all, CLASS!
Dude.... this is so awesome. I never get tired of watching this. Ann Sofie is an incredible musician, and in this video, a most engaging storyteller.
Oh my god, I had tears in my eyes. I just did a (much slower!) rendition of this for my senior recital. This is, by far, one of the better renditions of this song.
This is fantastic...nothing to add, nothing to criticize...just perfect! Both, piece and performance, make accelerate my pulse...Hearing this, I feel truly alive.
this is incredible! What a voice. It must have been difficult for the orchestra to maintain that tone of staccatos for so long.
yes, he's got a great look throughout. He always seems so into it when he conducts.
Bravo ! Pour moi, c'est la meilleure version de ce chant parumi les versions chantees par des femmes.
La voix, la technique, l'interpretation et meme, l'expression de la figure d'Anne Sofie von Otter, en plus, le son effayant des violons, tout ca m'a vraiment fait peur. Cette video est merveilleuse !
I can't get over how amazingly epic the ending is. That tonicized neopolitan leaves you feeling like the ending will be happy, and all will end well. Then the text...and the V7-i at the end...Genius. The way the text and music work together in this piece is incredible.
Sono letteralmente colpito da questa fantastica esecuzione che si staglia tra le varie ed è espressiva bella e fedele.
Ich liebe diese Musike und den Gedicht von Goethe. Das ist so haftend.
Bravo.
J'adore cette musique. Le poème à l'origine de Goethe est très beau et très prenant. Un grand bravo pour cette mise en musique qui n'est pas des moindres.
I saw Otter yesterday in Tel Aviv (with the Israeli Philharmonic Orchestra) singing Schubert, including Erlkonig.
She was amazing! Not an easy task to juggle between the three roles. Bravo!!!!
i get shivers down my back every single time i listen to this... :)
Thank you, Elizabeth. Anne Sofie von Otter is exactly the sort of person who is loved and appreciated in New Zealand where I come from. We appreciate exactly the qualities you mention, class, ability and a down to earth nature. I think New Zealand is very like Sweden in the attitudes of the people. I think the Swiss are similar also.
Wow... simply wow. I've listened to this song hundreds of times, but this is the first time I've gotten goosebumps to such a degree it hurt!
Fantastic, like a roller coaster - even more impressive than a single piano and voice
Amazing voice!
I just LOVE her voice. I love her.
I don't understand German but she sings with so much emotion. So I found the translation and understood what it means. AMAZING!
Her soft voice and the even more dramatic orchestra really brings out the contrast between the child/father's desperation and the erlking's manipulative crooning
this is the reason why one should learn what one is singing! Her faces are amazing, and i believe that the only way one can truly develop the emotion and height needed for this piece is to understand what one is saying. This is amazing!
My most favorite scene is at 3:13
When she crys "Mein Vater, Mein Vater", I can feel the son's fear.
I stretched my hand to rescue the boy, but "Das Kind war tot!!!"
The most stunning rendition of this piece. Thanks.
B R A V A. I think Ms Otter captured each character successfully, and deliciously. Can't wait to learn this piece next semster!!!!
Wow! To watch her performance while reading a translation of the lyrics really brings the story to life. What a gifted artist - making the music her own while delivering it seamlessly from the perspectives of the Narrator, the well-meaning father, the terrified child, and the seductive, murderous Elfking. A real tour de force!
She’s really got it!, 😱 Schubert would love this performance and wonder why he didn’t write it for a soprano lol
Wow! Now THAT is a brilliant interpretation! She really colors each voice differently, and the effect is haunting!
Amazing, the raw emotions this evokes.
Wow...simply mesmerizing. She can really portray each character beautifully. I'm impressed!
@Nicebrass21 Actually, that's all supposition based on Schubert being a confirmed bachelor and the degree of affection expressed in his letters to his male friends. But back in the Romantic era, men weren't afraid to express passionate regard for one another in very flowery terms. They shared beds, kissed each other hello and goodbye and even good morning. Especially for someone as unloved as Schubert, those friendships were precious, but we really don't know if they were sexual in nature.
Grande Sofia ,le pone toda la fuerza , corazón y expresión.......insuperable , le ayuda mucho el deutsch ....desde P. Montt Chile
Magnifique. Superbe voix et superbe interprétation
oh thank you so much for this lied, i like it so much that i can't have a day without listening it 2 or 3 times a day!
holy crap.. that was the most intense song i have evvvver listened to. my Advanced Ladies choir is singing this in our next concert (in german also). it is such a difficult piece, but WOW the orchestra and soloist were the most amazing combination i have ever heart. bravo! :)
Intense! My hair is standing on end!
Anne Sofie is BRILLIANT--this is amazing
Simply friggen amazing
This poem is so complex or perhaps clairvoyant. It would be so challenging to sing the different voices, so I feel insulted that some rascals have 'down-voted' this. I do not know German, but Goethe is like Shakespeare, and please, this woman sings with great passion and talent, so just listen, and look at the translations. The Elfking is like any ghost or unseen enemy with mysterious power over us, like a political leader or infectious disease, and is meant to be interpreted metaphysically, which as an American, I know nothing about. The Elfking seduces the child or the ignorant and is like a false prophet or leader to beware of. The tragedy is that the father does not believe the observations and intuitions of the small child, but that in the end, the simplest solution is the truth, and the child is clairvoyant and can see the evil for what it is.
Another interpretation is that the father is right. The horse is running fast through the forest to get them home, and the father keeps his sick son as warm as he can. The son is feverish and in delirium. The father tries to calm him. He finally goes even faster to get home, but too late: his son is already dead.
Wow, this is by far the best I have ever hear from Frau Von Otter!
Such intensity and investment.
Sehr gut!
Brava!
Bravo! Schubert done properly is magnificent! Makes my toes curl
Hey, what about to watch the video again?
Wonderful voice! Wonderful performance!
Roy Thomas
Funny faces aside, Claudio Abbado in one of the world's leading maestros...fantastic! ;-)
Lol, when I heard this song for the first time..I laughed..I thought it was kinda ridiculous; so much emotions. But now, 4 years later, I really appreciate this piece. This woman is very good!
i love, i love, i love, i love! It's just incredibly wonderful!
The beautiful thing is that she not only sings but performs the various parts from deep within...
oh man, i'd love to hear that! the vma's were great entertainment, and that would be many times better.
Who rides, so late, through night and wind?
It is the father with his child.
He has the boy well in his arm
He holds him safely, he keeps him warm.
"My son, why do you hide your face in fear?"
"Father, do you not see the Elf-king?
The Elf-king with crown and cape?"
"My son, it's a streak of fog."
"You dear child, come, go with me!
(Very) beautiful games I play with you;
Many colorful flowers are on the beach,
My mother has many a golden robe."
"My father, my father, and do you not hear
What the Elf-king quietly promises me?"
"Be calm, stay calm, my child;
Through dry leaves the wind is sighing."
"Do you, fine boy, want to go with me?
My daughters shall wait on you finely;
My daughters lead the nightly dance,
And rock and dance and sing to bring you in."
"My father, my father, and don't you see there
The Elf-king's daughters in the gloomy place?"
"My son, my son, I see it clearly:
There shimmer the old willows so grey."
"I love you, your beautiful form entices me;
And if you're not willing, then I will use force."
"My father, my father, he's touching me now!
The Elf-king has done me harm!"
It horrifies the father; he swiftly rides on,
He holds the moaning child in his arms,
Reaches the farm with great difficulty;
In his arms, the child was dead.
Her singing is very dramatic & fantastic.
I imagined that I was riding parallelly with the father and the son who was chased by the erlking.
VERY THRILLING !!!
Sencillamente espectacular!!! Gracias por subir este video :)
Mr. Abbado and von Otter transfered this song into a little opera. Amazing
I heard this for the first time during class when I was 14 years old and I didnt like it. But now Im 19 and I have more recognition for good pieces of music, this singer is also truly talented.
Very powerful, continuous, intense performance. And I don't think there's any problem with a woman singing this. I've sung songs written for soprano and alto before simply because it was a song i really liked. The fact that this song is written from a man's perspective simply serves to give her more reason to delve deeper into the meaning and relate it to herself somehow.
Sublime ! Une magnifique interprétation !
this is amzing version. love it thank you. german opera at its best
I have never heard this performed before but had to memorize the poem for my German class. Amazing
Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful!
very good and amazing voice.
I cannot help feeling her excellence.
Googygok, you are absolutely right about that!!
It doesn't get any better.
I love the eerie feel of this song
the child died at last
i love the change of the music and i like the voice of the girl :)
it is phenomenal... great orchestra, what synergy!
My theory teacher told me that this piece was meant for a low male singer. But this is a wonderful video of a female singing it!
Her Erlkoning is seductive and scary as f**k! And how she throw to our face the last word, "dead"... 😭
Yeah, I tried other version of this piece, but I always end up coming here again. This is clearly the most powerfull version of this one.... ❤❤
The face she makes at the end actually chills my bones!!