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RENATE & DANIEL BEHLE - GENERATION -
Oliver Schnyder, piano
That the children of famous singers later become singers themselves is a phenomenon that does not occur so seldom. In this respect, Renate and Daniel Behle find themselves in an illustrious line of ancestors: Christa Ludwig’s parents were both singers, and throughout her life her mother remained her sole teacher (and was also the most important mentor for Renate Behle). Similarly, Willi Domgraf-Fassbaender was the only singing teacher of his daughter Brigitte Fassbaender. The Kollo family is meanwhile singing in at least the fourth generation, and the Viennese singer Ruthilde Boesch taught not only her son Christian, but also her grandson Florian. But the way to assuming the parents’ profession is different every time. Something like an ‘awareness of the guild’ is probably the exception in classical singing.
In the meantime Renate Behle is officially retired, as she herself says. And even if she still performs major roles on the stage, her timetable is now generous enough to revive old passions with more free time. Indeed, now she can watch and hear how the next generation goes its way. Meanwhile, her son Daniel is in great demand as a tenor on the great opera and concert stages of the world. Both singers relate how their first joint recording came about.
Renate Behle: ‘I have always wanted to avoid any appearance that Daniel makes a career or derives any advantages due to me, the established singer. Indeed, sometimes it seemed to me to be rather a disadvantage for Daniel that I was so well-known. For this reason, we have deliberately eschewed joint appearances. He was to make it alone – and that is just what he has done.’
