The 5th piece of “Kusatsu Music Archive” is Spohr’s “Wach auf” from ‘Six German Songs’ Op.103 No.6. Mitsuko Shirai sings, Hartmut Höll plays piano and Karl Leister plays clarinet.
Mitsuko Shirai, a world-famous lieder singer who was active mainly in Germany, first appeared at the 3rd Kusatsu Festival in 1982. She left a significant mark on the history of the festival with teaching of vocal masterclass and her overwhelming popularity at concerts. This performance was accompanied by Hartmut Höll who has been a long-time partner of Mitsuko Shirai as the “Lieder Duo” and is highly regarded. Also, the great clarinet player, Karl Leister plays with obbligato, and an ideal collaboration was made in Kusatsu.