The online guide to Lehar’s aria DEIN IST MEIN GANZES HERZ
Read Interesting facts and hear great YouTube videos about the famous Aria “DEIN IST MEIN GANZES HERZ”.
If you want to hear more about the opera LAND DES LÄCHELNS, click on the link to the opera portrait
The aria – synopsis and background
Synopsis: Lisa, the daughter of Count Lichtenfels is a fun-loving woman. The Chinese Prince Sou-Chong, who lives as a diplomat in Vienna, has fallen in love with Lisa. But he knows that this liaison is actually impossible. This pain oppresses him, but the chinese culture obliges him to to hide it. It forces people to always smile. Lisa invites the prince for a cup of tea. The two enjoy the time together and flirt gallantly with each other. The prince receives a letter forcing him to leave for China immediately. He assumes an important position in the government. He has realized that he does not fit into the western world, but he also has to admit that he has to leave behind someone he loves. The two recognize their mutual love and decide to go to China together. There Lisa has to recognize the gap between their cultures, which is depressing her. Sou-Chong tries to cheer her up and conjures up the love that has brought them together. The head of the family Tschang, demands that the prince marries four Manchu women according to the laws of the country, Lisa would then be the fifth wife. The prince begins to realize the hopelessness of the situation. Lisa is unhappy in a foreign country and is full of longing for her home in Vienna. Once again the Prince tries to comfort her and conjures up his love.
This song was already present in Lehars previous work “die gelbe Jacke”, but was hardly noticed. In the remake called “Land des Lächelns” (Land of Smiles) this song became a golden number. The tenor Richard Tauber must surely be given a lot of credit for this. Tauber had already collaborated with Lehar in 4 operettas in the 1920s and the songs that Lehar tailored to Tauber were usually prominently placed in the second act and were given the nickname “Tauber Lieder”. The Tauber song “Dein ist mein ganzes Herz” is the most well-known of them, and one of the most famous tenor pieces ever.
The orchestra introduces this aria with a melancholic chromatic chord:
Lehar skilfully draws the melancholy mood of Sou-Cheng with characteristic successive falling tones.
Lehar purposefully leads the aria to the high A flat. Lehar wrote many arias into the throat of tenor Richard Tauber (see more below). His most beautiful register was the middle register and his weakness were the high tones above the A flat. Therefore this aria does not go beyond this tone.
In the middle section Lehar brings far eastern colouring into the orchestra with pentatonic scales:
The following passage moves in Tauber’s chocolate register, the middle register.
The first part is repeated and the aria closes with beautiful D flat. In tenor recital this final note becomes a high A flat for reasons of effect.
Written for a lyric tenor
The role of Sou-Chong is written for a lyric tenor. The lyric tenor has a soft, melting voice. The voice must be rich and agile in melodic creation. He can reach the high notes with ease and create a beautiful sound. The lyrical tenor must be able to sing both intimate pieces and more exciting pieces convincingly.
The Aria – the text of DEIN IST MEIN GANZES HERZ
Dein ist mein ganzes Herz!
Wo du nicht bist
kann ich nicht sein
So, wie die Blume welkt
wenn sie nicht küsst
der Sonnenschein!
Dein ist mein schönstes Lied
weil es allein aus der Liebe erblüht
Sag mir noch einmal
mein einzig Lieb
oh sag noch einmal mir
Ich hab dich lieb!Wohin ich immer gehe
ich fühle deine Nähe
Ich möchte deinen Atem trinken und betend dir zu Füssen sinken
dir, dir allein!
Wie wunderbar ist dein leuchtendes Haar! Traumschön und sehnsuchtsbang ist dein strahlender Blick
Hör ich der Stimme Klang, ist es so wie MusikDein ist mein ganzes Herz!…
All of my heart is yours alone
Where you are not, I cannot be.
Just like a flower withers
If it’s not kissed by the sunshine!Yours is my finest song
Because it blossoms from love alone.
Tell me one more time, my only love,
Oh, one more time say to me:
“I love you!”
Wherever I may go,
I feel your presence.
I want to drink your breath
And fall to your feet praying
Just for you alone! How wonderful
Is your brilliant hair!
Beautiful like a dream and anxiously wistful
Is the bright glance of your eyes.
When I hear your voice
It sounds like music to me.All of my heart is yours
Where you are not, I cannot be.
Just like a flower withers
If it’s not kissed by the sunshine!
Yours is my finest song
Because it blossoms from love alone.
Tell me one more time, my only love,
Oh, one more time say to me:
“I love you!”
Famous interpretations of DEIN IST MEIN GANZES HERZ
The artistic partnership between Tauber and Lehar was highly symbiotic. In 1920 Richard Tauber sang an operetta by Lehar for the first time and reaped immediate success. Lehar suffered from the decline of the operetta genre. With Tauber he could match the early successes of the Merry Widow. Richard Tauber was one of the great entertainment stars during his lifetime and this aria made him a legend. Singing in operettas, the broad middle class opened up to him and he became mainstream.
Lehar was clever enough to adapt the singing voice of Sou-Chong in close cooperation with Richard Tauber. Lehar could emphasize the strengths of Tauber’s voice (the beautiful middle register, the beautiful dark timbre) and bypass the weaknesses of the voice (especially the top notes).
Dein ist mein ganzes Herz – Tauber
In a second recording we hear Joseph Schmid. His interpretation touches the listener instantly. Schmidt was a contemporary of Tauber. Fischer commented in his book “great voices”: “Something resonates in his voice that directly addresses centres of feeling”.
Dein ist mein ganzes Herz – Schmidt
A touching interpretation by Fritz Wunderlich.
Dein ist mein ganzes Herz – Wunderlich
Pavarotti, immensely lyrical and voluptuous. For an additional effect, Pavarotti, Domingo, Villazon and co. occasionally end the aria with a high a flat (instead of a d flat).
Tu m’hai preso il cor – Pavarotti
The title was recorded in English language by many jazz and swing musicians like Glen Miller, Benny Goodmann, Bing Crosby and, and, and Frank Sinatra.
Yours is my heart alone – Sinatra
Peter Lutz, opera-inside, the online opera guide to the aria “DEIN IST MEIN GANZES HERZ ” from the opera Land des Lächelns (land of smiles) from Franz Lehar.
Wo sind die deutsche Versionen?