Anni Gies - Czernik: Wie Machst du das, O Nachtigall? 1975, High E-flat

THE SONGBIRD: I am unable to provide much biography for this singer, Anni Gies. This recording is extracted from a recital disc from the mid-1970s made in Germany on a small independent label. The only information provided on the disc is that she worked as a concert and theater soloist in Bad Neustadt an der Saale and on tour with her husband, the conductor on this disc, Walter Otto Boehm.

THE MUSIC: Willy Czernik (1901 - 1996), born in Dresden, became a conductor, arranger, and composer of operetta and film music. After graduating from the Dresden conservatory, he conducted at the opera houses in Frankfurt, Braunschwieg, Dresden, and Bamberg, and in 1948 led symphony orchestras in German cities. His best-known composition is the tarantella "Chi sa" (recorded by Erna Sack, Rita Streich and Renate Holm). I believe this birdsong, "Wie machst du das, O Nachtigall?" was written and published in the early 1960s, with text by Franz Baumann.