Franz Peter Schubert: Auf dem Wasser zu singen (1823), D774
Judit Zsovár – soprano
Fanni Edőcs – fortepiano
Live recording: Budapest, 10 October 2012

Poem by Graf Friedrich Leopold zu Stolberg-Stolberg:
Mitten im Schimmer der spiegelnden Wellen
Gleitet, wie Schwäne, der wankende Kahn;
Ach, auf der Freude sanft schimmernden Wellen
Gleitet die Seele dahin wie der Kahn;
Denn von dem Himmel herab auf die Wellen
Tanzet das Abendrot rund um den Kahn.

Über den Wipfeln des westlichen Haines
Winket uns freundlich der rötliche Schein;
Unter den Zweigen des östlichen Haines
Säuselt der Kalmus im rötlichen Schein;
Freude des Himmels und Ruhe des Haines
Atmet die Seel’ im errötenden Schein.

Ach, es entschwindet mit tauigem Flügel
Mir auf den wiegenden Wellen die Zeit.
Morgen entschwinde mit schimmerndem Flügel
Wieder wie gestern und heute die Zeit,
Bis ich auf höherem strahlendem Flügel
Selber entschwinde der wechselnden Zeit.

Cover painting: Édouard Manet: La Seine à Argenteuil (1874)
CC: This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ or send a letter to Creative Commons, PO Box 1866, Mountain View, CA 94042, USA.

Schubert: Auf dem Wasser zu singen – Judit Zsovár, Fanni Edőcs

Judit Zsovár (soprano) & Simplicissimus Ensemble (art. dir.: Zsombor Németh)
Live Concert Recording: Budapest, Óbudai Társaskör, 7 October 2021
Mastering: Dávid Dinya

George Frideric Handel: Alcina (HWV 34) – “Ah! Ruggiero crudel / Ombre pallide”

George Frideric Handel: Ezio (HWV 29) – “Misera, dove son / Ah! non son io che parlo”

Background painting (partial view): Judit Zsovár: Girl Asleep (2024)

Monteverdi: L’incoronazione di Poppea - Hor che Seneca è morto (Poppea)

Judit Zsovár - soprano, Pál Mezei - piano (2010)
Poem by Paul Heyse 

Auf die Nacht in der Spinnstub’n,
Da singen die Mädchen,
Da lachen die Dorfbub’n,
Wie flink gehn die Rädchen!

Spinnt Jedes am Brautschatz,
Dass der Liebste sich freut.
Nicht lange, so gibt es
Ein Hochzeitgeläut.

Kein Mensch, der mir gut ist,
Will nach mir fragen;
Wie bang mir zumut ist,
Wem soll ich’s klagen?

Die Tränen rinnen
Mir übers Gesicht—
Wofür soll ich spinnen?
Ich weiss es nicht!

Brahms: Mädchenlied (Op. 107/5)

Judit Zsovár - soprano, Pál Mezei - piano (2010)
Poem by Marianne von Willemer 

Wie mit innigstem Behagen,
Lied, empfind’ ich deinen Sinn!
Liebevoll du scheinst zu sagen:
Dass ich ihm zur Seite bin.

Dass er ewig mein gedenket,
Seiner Liebe Seligkeit
Immerdar der Fernen schenket,
Die ein Leben ihm geweiht.

Ja, mein Herz, es ist der Spiegel,
Freund, worin du dich erblickt,
Diese Brust, wo deine Siegel
Kuss auf Kuss hereingedrückt.

Süsses Dichten, lautre Wahrheit,
Fesselt mich in Sympathie!
Rein verkörpert Liebesklarheit
Im Gewand der Poesie.

Schumann: Lied der Suleika (Op. 25, No. 9)

Judit Zsovár - soprano, Pál Mezei - piano (2010)
Poem by Eduard Mörike 

Lass, o Welt, o lass mich sein!
Locket nicht mit Liebesgaben,
Lasst dies Herz alleine haben
Seine Wonne, seine Pein!

Was ich traure, weiss ich nicht,
Es ist unbekanntes Wehe;
Immerdar durch Tränen sehe
Ich der Sonne liebes Licht.

Oft bin ich mir kaum bewusst,
Und die helle Freude zücket
Durch die Schwere, so mich drücket
Wonniglich in meiner Brust.

Lass, o Welt, o lass mich sein!
Locket nicht mit Liebesgaben,
Lasst dies Herz alleine haben
Seine Wonne, seine Pein!

Wolf: Verborgenheit (Mörike-Lieder, No. 12)

Judit Zsovár – soprano, Melinda Danilás-Tóth – classical guitar
Live concert performance (Budapest, 2010)

Al paño fino, en la tienda,
una mancha le cayó;
Por menos precio se vende,
Porque perdió su valor.
¡Ay!

De Falla: El paño moruno (Siete canciones populares españolas, No. 1)

Judit Zsovár is a soprano, composer, creative artist and musicologist (PhD); author of the book entitled Anna Maria Strada, Prima Donna of G. F. Handel (Berlin/New York: Peter Lang, 2020). Born in Hungary, she is coming from a  family of musicians and started to play the piano at the age of five. Later, she received extended training at the conservatory not only in this instrument, but also in music theory as well as singing. In 2006, she graduated with a Master of Music degree in Musicology at the Liszt Academy Budapest, and earned her doctorate at the same institute in 2017. Judit has presented her research results combined with her singing in cities including Vienna, Salzburg, Graz, Innsbruck, Hamburg, Helsinki, London, Birmingham, Madrid, Trondheim, Bern, Lugano, Český Krumlov and Budapest. 
   She studied SINGING with Marek Rzepka (Leipzig/Krakow) as well as coach Stephen Hopkins (Vienna State Opera), and has participated in masterclasses held by Roberta Invernizzi, Katalin Halmai, Júlia Hamari, Krisztina Laki, Malcolm Bilson, Luca Pianca, Vittorio Ghielmi, Marcello Gatti and Margit Legler. She was a member of the Erkel Opera Studio (Budapest, 2009-2012), where she sang Mozart and Cimarosa roles. Judit appeared as a soloist at various prestigious venues, such as the Vienna Konzerthaus (Mozarteum Orchestra Salzburg under Ivor Bolton), the Helsinki Music Centre, the Händel-Haus Halle, the Handel & Hendrix in London, the ÖGM Vienna, the Mozarteum University Salzburg, the Zagreb Academy of Music, the Budapest Music Center, the Nádor- as well as Liszt Halls (Budapest) and at the Óbudai Társaskör (with the Simplicissimus Ensemble). Future engagements include concerts in cities like Venice or Trondheim. Her repertoire extends from Renaissance to contemporary music. 
   Regarding her activity as a COMPOSER, jazz and improvisation projects with Bobby McFerrin and Roger Treece (VOCAbuLarieS tours, 2010-2011) turned her musical thinking around and inspired Judit to develop her own compositional style. She composed (many times to her own poems) art songs, song cycles, chamber music; solo pieces for piano, harpsichord, viola da gamba and French horn; orchestral and choral works, a cantata, a concerto, as well as a full-evening opera (to her own libretto). Her work for mixed choir, a musical setting of her own poem called Speed of Light (2021) is going to be premiered by the World Choir for Peace conducted by Nicol Matt.
As a MUSICOLOGIST, Judit collaborated (2016-2019) to the project of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, on the Viennese Kärntnertortheater’s repertoire reconstruction (1728–1748), led by Dr Andrea Sommer-Mathis, and assisted Dr Reinhard Strohm with the upcoming volume of the Halle Handel Edition’s Scipione. Currently, she is co-editor (2022-) of La sorella amante for the Hasse-Werkausgabe (Hasse Gesellschaft Bergendorf, Germany), as well as member of the WoVen research team (Women, Opera and the Public Stage in Eighteenth-Century Venice; www.ntnu.edu/music/woven). She has published several studies in six languages, inter alia in the Händel-Jahrbuch 62 (2016), the Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani 94 (2019) and in Grove Music Online (2025, 2026). Judit held the Handel Institute Research- as well as Conference Awards (2015), and was granted the Zoltán Kodály Scholarship (2015), the German Academic Exchange Service Scholarship (DAAD, 2014), as well as the Scholarship of the Hungarian State (2004/2005).
   Furthermore, Judit is an evolving PAINTER: apart from various sold paintings, her still life with Baroque instruments became the cover for Mensa Sonora (2021), album of the Simplicissimus Ensemble,  her portrait of G. F. Handel decorated a concert flyer, not to mention that of Anna Maria Strada, appearing on the cover of her own book.
   She is also interested in learning and speaking foreign languages such as English (C2), German (C1), Italian (C1), French (B2) and Spanish (B2).

Brahms: Mädchenlied (Op. 107/5)

Judit Zsovár

Related tracks