Eduard Künneke (1885-1953) was a German composer of operas and operettas. His 1935 operetta Die große Sünderin (The Great Sinner) has a tenor aria that still finds its way into ther recitals and recordings of German tenors. Here are two recording of “Das Lied vom Leben des Schrenk”, the first by the late and greatly lamented Fritz Wunderlich (1930-66) and the second by Jonas Kaufmann, happily still with us.

The aria, which sounds like it should be in an opera, has a high tessitura and thus makes considerable demands on the tenor’s upper range. These two singers are the greatest German tenors of the post war era. Both interpretations are splendid. Kaufmann is a spinto with style and accordingly has a bigger sound than that of Wunderlich who was a pure lyric tenor.

Die große Sünderin Das Lied vom Leben des Schrenk Wunderlich

Die große Sünderin Das Lied vom Leben des Schrenk Kaufmann