Schubert: Prometheus, D674 (Goethe)

The Ensemble BonaNox present the next volume of their interpretations of the four elements; Fire. Their previous volume, Water obtained great reviews. (German booklet only)

Dietrich Henschel, acknowledged as one of today’s foremost interpreters of the lied, records a stunning programme of Schubert lieder, including his posthumously issued collection of lieder known as ‘Schwanengesang’, accompanied by award-winning pianist, Fritz Schwinghammer. The recital touches on the very essence of the Romantic soul, somewhere between bitter dreams and heartrending sorrows.

Schwanengesang, a collection of 14 songs published shortly after his death, are considered some of Schubert’s most tragic songs, offering the listener an arresting concentration of the composer’s imaginative universe and his obsessions: departure, the death of the beloved, amorous reveries. The set of songs accompanying this great cycle, sees Schubert explore one of the prevailing features of early German Romanticism: a longing for a better world, one that is lost forever. In doing so, he draws on the mythological poems of Goethe, Schiller and Mayrhofer.

German baritone Dietrich Henschel is acknowledged as one of today’s foremost interpreters of the lied, and is invited all over the world with the pianists Fritz Schwinghammer, Helmut Deutsch and Michael Schäfer. His substantial discography features lieder and song cycles by Mahler, Wolf, Schubert, Korngold, and Beethoven, as well as Busoni’s Doktor Faust which won a Grammy Award.

This recording of Schubert lieder features many of his most popular works in the genre including Die Forelle (The Trout), Erlkönig (The Earl King), Der Tod und das Mädchen (Death and the Maiden), and the title track An Die Musik (To Music). The bass-baritone soloist is the noted Bach specialist Klaus Mertens, and the fortepiano is played by Ton Koopman’s wife and regular musical partner Tini Mathot.

The German bass-baritone Klaus Mertens has made a name for himself as one of the most prominent and sought-after interpreters of the Baroque oratorio, and has recorded the great vocal works of Johann Sebastian Bach with numerous conductors. A soloist on more than 140 CDs and DVDs, he was a regular collaborator on the critically-acclaimed complete recording of Bach Cantatas by Ton Koopman and the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra & Choir. He has also recorded Schubert’s great song-cycle Wintereisse for Challenge.

The keyboard player Tini Mathot enjoys a close collaboration with her husband and former teacher, Ton Koopman. Together they give recitals and perform in chamber music projects in the major concert halls of Europe, the United States and Japan. Tini Mathot regularly appears as a soloist together with Ton Koopman in concertos for two (or more) harpsichords and orchestra, and alongside him has recorded double concertos by J.S. Bach, C.P.E. Bach, J.F. Reichardt and C. Schaffrath with the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra.