Mahler: Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen (4 songs, complete) (Songs of a Wayfarer)

“the mezzo-soprano on excellent form in a fascinating programme … Katz is a consistently birlliant accompanist and the programme is as absorbing as it is enterprising. Nobody who admires this singer should hesitate for a moment.” International Record Review, December 2012

“rich, ardent singing of Mahler’s Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen.” The Times, 29th September 2012 ***

“[Totenfeier is] an intriguing piece, rendered here with typical panache by the Orchestra of The Age of Enlightenment, and accompanied by Sarah Connolly's poised delivery of Mahler's four "Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen".” The Independent, 3rd November 2012 ***

“Jurowski’s wonderful orchestra play like angels, the narrow-bore brass incredibly present but never strident. Jurowski also understands the Mahler idiom, with elegant, restrained string portamenti in the work’s reflective moments. Magical. And so is Sarah Connolly’s vocal in the Lieder eines Fahrenden Gesellen, her voice perfectly attuned to the colours made by the OAE’s winds.” The Arts Desk, 17th November 2012

“The OAE's period instruments emphasise [Totenfeier]'s rawness, just as they point up the anguished detail of the accompaniments to the Lieder eines Fahrenden Gesellen, in which mezzo Sarah Connolly allows the words and Mahler's treatment of them to speak for themselves, without unnecessary gilding.” The Guardian, 22nd November 2012 ****

“While Connolly's dark vocal hues fully convey Mahler's melancholy, her singing offers few of the glimpses of joy that ultimately makes the music far more tragic. Beyond that, however, the OAE provide seomthing all too rare in the Mahler catalogue...this is a recognisable portrait of Mahler as a young man, rather than an elder composer of 10 symphonies looking backwards.” Gramophone Magazine, December 2012

“The sound of even so vast an array of period instruments in full cry is slimmer than a modern orchestra but it has a clarity and visceral impact in this live recording that is startlingly effective...[Connolly] is very fine indeed, sailing effortlessly into her upper register but always with a rich and creamy sound” International Record Review, December 2012

“Jurowski brings Mahler's tragic worlds - both cosmic and human - alive with incomparable vividness...Details leaps out in the fine balance of the Wayfarer Songs, too. Sarah Connolly holds her own against the orchestra's briefly raised voice here...but finds all the introspection Mahler could wish for as bright morning ebbs away in the second song.” BBC Music Magazine, January 2013 *****

“[Graham's] contribution is unquestionably the highlight. She brings great depth of feeling to Liebst du um Schönheit (If you love for beauty) and Um Mitternacht (At Midnight). Indeed, I can’t think of a finer contemporary female interpreter of these songs on disc. Please, someone, record her in the other two cycles.” Sunday Times, 19th September 2010 ***

“'Um mitternacht' works best, with gleaming voice complemented by superb San Francisco clarinets and trumpets - glorious recorded perspectives, too, as ever from this source.” BBC Music Magazine, November 2010 **/***

“From the opening bars of the Wayfarer songs, Hampson demonstrates his mettle as a gifted storyteller, his warm, legato tones awash with dramatic colour. Susan Graham's mezzo brings similar tonal and dramatic light and shade to the Rückert-Lieder. The orchestra has this music just as sussed.” Classic FM Magazine, November 2010 *****

“It is unusual to hear a baritone sing "Urlicht" or indeed "Wo die schönen Trompeten blasen", but that Housman-like tale is here most sympathetically unfolded...[Hampson's] is a performance of terrific presence and power.” Gramophone Magazine, November 2010

“Christian Gerhaher has always seemed an exceptionally profound and understanding singer and he proves that with this remarkable exploration of Mahler's songs...never over-emoting but keeping a beautiful, even line afloat often on the tiniest wisps of sound.” The Observer, 13th December 2009

“Gerhaher is today’s Lieder interpreter par excellence. The German baritone’s range of colour, velvet timbre and natural intelligence recall a golden age of artistry.” Financial Times, 12th December 2009 ****

“Christian Gerhaher has always seemed an exceptionally profound and understanding singer and he proves that with this remarkable exploration of Mahler's songs...never over-emoting but keeping a beautiful, even line afloat…” The Guardian, 13th December 2009

“With every disc he makes, the German baritone Christian Gerhaher emerges more and more clearly as the true heir to the Lieder-singing legacy of Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau...Every song is explored with a perfect mixture of musical tact and illumination” The Guardian, 14th January 2010 *****

“[Gerhaher's] finest achievement to date — indeed, one of the greatest programmes of this composer’s lieder ever committed to disc...Gerold Huber is an equal partner, painting the piano parts in a rich palette of instrumental colours. For once, one hardly misses Mahler’s orchestrations. Utterly memorable.” Sunday Times, 31st January 2010 *****

“…outstandingly imaginative piano playing of Gerold Huber. He counterpoints voice and piano with the subtext within the settings, often with revelatory results. Both Gerhaher and Huber pace the Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen perfectly, balancing the songs' emotional lights and deep shadows, their sense of wonder and of yearning. A glinting and newly honed knife-blade pierces the soul in the third song, colouring it with an Expressionist angst.” BBC Music Magazine, March 2010 *****

“Gerhaher and Huber immerse you so successfully in their interior world that you barely register the orchestra’s absence...Huber achieves pianistic miracles of colour and timing, and to call this a mature partnership barely begins to address the depth of their mutual understanding...might I humbly suggest that this could be the finest Mahler you’ll hear all year? Absolutely essential.” Andrew McGregor, bbc.co.uk, 25th March 2010

‘Van Beinum’s performance has a fizzing brilliance, humour and pin-point precision that is hard to beat. A terrific disc.’ International Record Review

“This disc shows Stephan Genz entering his fourth decade with all the light suppleness and ardour of his youthful recordings, but now with darker colours and firmer bass ballast folding into his baritone. His intuitive musical partnership with Roger Vignoles is as sentient and perceptive as ever; and together they uncover the dark, sensual mysteries of the late-Romantic response to the natural world” BBC Music Magazine

“Stephan Genz's voice and style place him above his many noted contemporaries. His mellifluous baritone recalls that of a young Thomas Hampson, but his understanding of the Lieder genre is even more penetrating, as this Mahler recital reveals. Each song is shaped as a whole yet with subtleties of phrase and word-painting that seem inevitable in every respect, especially as the chosen tempi always seem the right ones.
Performing and listening to these songs with piano is inevitably a more intimate experience than when they are heard in their orchestral garb.
The pair's rapport is evident throughout. Memorable are the the poise and stillness of 'Ich atmet' einen Linden duft' from the Rückert-Lieder, the eloquent sadness of 'Nicht Wiedersehen' and the restrained sorrow of the whole of Kindertotenlieder.
Not a hint of sentimentality, such a danger in Mahler, spoils the experience of the composer's deeply felt emotions.
Hyperion's recording, beautifully balanced, catches the true quality of Genz's voice and the refinement of Vignoles's playing. This disc is an experience not to be missed by any lover of Mahler and/or of Lieder.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010

“The performance are radiant and deeply understanding from both singer and pianist, well caught in atmospheric recording. A heart-warming record.” Penguin Guide, 2010 ****