Schubert: Auf dem See, D543 (Goethe)

“Arleen Auger brings her special quality of chaste intimacy to gentle, small-scale performances of 23 of Schubert's most popular songs” BBC Music Magazine, October 2010 ***

“Goerne… and Schneider offer grave and solemn performances of Goethe's Mignon and Harper songs, before ending on a higher note, celebrating the eternal joy of love in 'Willkommen and Abschied'.” BBC Music Magazine, February 2009 ****

“Battered by Bryn Terfel dramatics, the ears cried out for a pure dose of lieder from a master of the craft. Matthias Goerne… seems to own a different shade of baritonal colour for every syllable Schubert wrote. The voice is sweet and serene, even at fff, and the shifts that Goerne applies to the changing of seasons and the fickleness of love are done with enviable delicacy. More reticent than Fischer-Dieskau or Thomas Quasthoff to bend a line for expressive emphasis, when Goerne takes a liberty the effect is breath stopping… T his is not an album to gorge at one go. Take it two songs a night before bedtime, and it might see you through to the end of recession.” Norman Lebrecht, Evening Standard CD of the Week

“Goerne used to record for Decca, but it apparently had no interest in his 12-volume Schubert compendium, so the less ruthlessly commercial Harmonia Mundi comes to the rescue, for which the France-based company deserves the highest praise. From a vocal point of view, few male singers, even Fischer-Dieskau, command such a rich palette of colours as Goerne does here…he goes where Dieskau never ventured: he includes two of Mignon's songs, Heiss' mich nicht reden and Nur wer die Sehnsucht kennt, as well as the Harper trilogy… In the middle Harper song, Mayrhofer's Nachtstück and Nähe des Geliebten (Nearness of the Beloved), Goerne approaches the sublime and captures perfectly the wry wit of Goethe's sly dig at water-nymphery, Der Fischer, in which the surprise encounter of an angler with a "moist woman" is wryly underlined by Schubert. Luxury support from Deutsch and Schneider sets the seal on an outstanding issue.” Sunday Times Classical CD of the Week

“This promises to be a landmark series, up there with Hans Hotter and Fischer-Dieskau.” The Observer

“Here elegy, fatalism and death-longing predominate and in such repertoire Goerne's mellow, darkly rounded timbre, expressive diction and care – rare in Lieder singers today – for a true, 'bound' line are well nigh ideal. Even at the most anguished fortissimo, his tone never grows harsh or hectoring. Perfectionism like Goerne's has inevitably provoked charges of over-calculation.
Some might protest at the ultra-slow tempo for Du bist die Ruh. Yet Goerne's beauty of tone and phrasing (founded on seemingly superhuman reserves of breath), and a rapt intensity that rises to spiritual radiance in the final verse are mesmerising. At a more conventional tempo, he sings An die Musik as a simple, sincere confession of faith, with affectionate touches of rubato (and how eloquently Helmut Deutsch's left hand duets with the voice). Elsewhere Goerne's unsentimental tenderness can illuminate little-known songs that seem ordinary on the printed page – Abschied von der Harfe, say, or the quasi-operatic lament Der Sänger amFelsen. He even appropriates, successfully, two of Mignon's songs, giving one of the most desolate and – in the central section – disturbed performances of Nur wer die Sehnsucht kennt you will hear.
True to form, Goerne makes an uncommonly melancholy serenader in An die Laute and DesMädchens Liebeslauschen, which never smiles. Yet he can lighten up, as in the story-telling of DerFischer and Wie Ulfru fischt. Like Deutsch on the first disc, Eric Schneider fully matches Goerne in acumen and command of colour, not least in a performance of Nachtstück of mingled grandeur, mystery and compassionate gentleness.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010

“Goerne's virtuoso vocal sculpting draws you into the inner landscape of each song, his warm, expressive baritone shaping detail often understated by lesser artists. This promises to be a landmark series, up there with Hans Hotter and Fischer-Dieskau.” The Guardian, 12th October 2008

“The clear, unfettered lyrical mezzo of Bernardo Fink makes this a winning new Schubert recital…” BBC Music Magazine, October 2008 ****

“This superlative disc, worthy of 10 stars establishes the mezzo Bernarda Fink as one of today’s great artists. The simplicity of her approach to Schubert is part of her magic. No arch mannerisms, no exaggerated emotion, but no lack of passion and insight. On every track you will find inspiration working at full intensity. She has the poise of a Ludwig. Even in the best known songs, she brings a fresh sense of adventure. Gerhard Huber is he accomplished pianist.” Sunday Telegraph

“[Fink's] Schubert springs directly from the eloquence of her diction, her understanding of the text and the velvet-like beauty of her exquisite mezzo-soprano. Nobody who loves Schubert should forgo the pleasures of this fine singing and playing. One of the records of the year, no doubt” Sunday Times, 24th August 2008 *****

“We're conscious throughout of a great voice superbly controlled, though [Fink] doesn't give nearly enough attention to words or expressive detail.” Tim Ashley, The Guardian, 12th September 2008 ***

“Supported by Huber's faultless articulation, Fink's tender tone and perfect diction relect every nuance of emotion in the modulations of 'Im Frühling' and 'Dass sie hier gewesen'” The Independent, 7th September 2008

“One of the most versatile, as at ease in Baroque repertoire as in music from Handel and Mozart to Schumann, Fink's rich, warm voice boasts the perfect blend of colour and clarity.” The Observer

'Rarely can one find a recording where every single aspect - repertoire, performance and production - is perfect. This is. Highest imaginable recommendation' (In Tune, Japan)

“Fischer-Dieskau is on top of his form...the spectrum of emotion takes on a new glow as each song begins...A treasurable disc” Penguin Guide, 2010 edition ***

“The interpretation of Schubert's Lieder comes no better than this..." Gramophone

“The interpretation of Schubert's Lieder comes no better than this, a recital taken from three different broadcast sources, catching Dame Janet at the absolute peak of her powers. Most of the songs are by poets who moved the composer to his most noble inspiration. As several Schubert specialists have commented, for each he reserved a particular style, in response to their very different manner, and Baker catches the precise meaning of each.
Of the Schiller settings, the operatic expression of Amalia and the dreamy rapture of the praise of Laura (here the singer achieves one miraculous pianissimo effect) are perfectly caught. Best of all is that wonderful song, Die Götter Griechenlands, where longing is so movingly expressed. All seven Mayrhofer settings find Baker truly at one with the poet's high-minded self-communing on the meaning of life, and with his underlying fatalism.
Most notable are the calm assurance and serenity she brings to Der Sieg, the resigned isolation found in Abendstern, and the holy fire of Auflösung, the last two masterpieces that the singer did so much to make popular.
As Gerald Moore once pointed out, Baker liked the stimulus of the different ideas she received from different pianists. Here Isepp, Parsons and the young Graham Johnson provide just that, completing pleasure in a recital that goes to the heart of the chosen material: as ever one realises that Baker was, above all, a singer of conviction. The absence of any texts or translations is the only blot on a superb issue.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010