“With this recital Christian Gerhaher confirms his pre-eminence in Lieder, and bids fair to equal or surpass his fellow baritones by dint of his attractively warm, firm tone and his complete understanding of the songs. In Dichterliebe he fully enters into the melancholic, romantic world of the rejected lover, projecting the love and sorrow in a committed yet unexaggerated manner. It's hard to imagine a reading by a voice of his kind that could possibly surpass his inspired performance – and that includes even the legendary Fischer-Dieskau. He makes as good a case as possible for the SixPoems and Requiem, though it's hard to breathe life into the broken-backed ballad that is DieLöwenbraut. On the other hand, Gerhaher arrestingly enacts the melodrama of Belsatzar, biting consonants to the fore; the sadness of Derarme Peter benefits from the same thoughtful approach as Dichterliebe. Huber supports his partner with finely honed playing. The recording could not be better balanced or more immediate. This is, in every respect, a winner.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010
“Gerhaher's Dichterliebe sets a new standard for intelligent leider singing. Like Olaf Bar, Gerhaher has an impeccable touch with consonants; singing through them and connecting and shaping the subsequent vowels eloquently. His musicality is evident, but the text is pre-eminent. Gerold Huber's accompaniment is equally rewarding; beautifully pitched, fluid playing. An excellent recital.” The Independent on Sunday
“Though the Scottish Fantasy, with its wealth of traditional melodies, ripely presented, is firmly based in the repertory, most of Bruch's other concertante works for violin are largely unknown. Here's one of the most ambitious, the Serenade, dating from 1900, 20 years after the Fantasy. Its breadth and weight belies the lightweight title. It's a warm and fluent work in Bruch's high-Romantic style, built on clearly defined themes that lack only the last degree of memorability of the Fantasy. The third of the four movements, a dreamy, lyrical Notturno, comes nearest to matching the Fantasy's natural glow, but the other movements have striking moments, too. Bruch had the idea of putting this substantial work among his numbered concertos but changed his mind. Maxim Fedotov gives a warm, thrusting performance of both the Serenade and the Fantasy. He may be a little short on the mystery and tenderness, but his bravura playing, helped by fullblooded accompaniment from Dmitry Yablonsky, makes the results consistently compelling.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010
“These performances pack a tremendous visceral punch … among the most musically intelligent recordings of these celebrated pieces to grace the catalogue.” (Chicago Tribune)
“Arnaldo Cohen's playing blazes with the risk-taking, spontaneity and urgency of a live concert. His Funérailles is a truly great performance, perfectly structured, a real sense of angry desolation, and the central 'cavalry charge' emerging more logically from its context than in any other account. In the Rhapsody, he provides the requisite bravura thrills but also does Liszt the honour of eschewing the vapidity which so many bring to it. Vallée d'Obermann emerges as an inspired dramatic tone poem, to which Cohen adds the element of white-hot improvisation; in colour and temperament he yields little to Horowitz's famous RCA recording (nla). The Liszt Sonata, Cohen's second recording, mingles narrative and textual clarity with a musical maturity and heady virtuosity in the Richter class.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010
I. Allegro
Building a Library
