Schubert: Lachen und Weinen, D777

The Lied is at the heart of Schubert’s output. Throughout his short life, and right up to the weeks immediately before his death, he took a keen interest in every aspect of this genre, which constituted the most intimate expression of the German psyche, of which Schubert was from very early on well placed to act as a vehicle for its sentiments and its torments (love, friendship, pain, loneliness), ranging widely across its joys and its sorrows in all their subtle shadings. Schubert composed quickly, occasionally writing as many as nine or ten Lieder in a single day, with a prodigious fluency that won the admiration of Schumann.

A born song-writer, he loved to perform his own Lieder, accompanying himself on the piano; he admitted that he could get carried away by singing for hours on end. In Schubert’s songs, the voice is always the focus of attention, while the piano accompaniment provides a psychological backdrop. Less discriminating in his choice of poems than Schumann or Wolf, Schubert was more interested in verbal colouring and the emotional content of a text than in its literary value, and although his some six hundred Lieder are in a wide range of forms – from simple strophic songs to dramatic scenas – they are still characterised by their exceptional simplicity, freshness and spontaneity of utterance.

The pieces selected for this recording mark out the milestones of a brief, rich and critically important career as a song composer, ranging in time from 1814 to 1826.Alongside the classic Schubert themes found here, such as deliverance and night, death, flight from the world and hope, we also encounter poets who were more than merely fixed stars in the composer's cosmos, including Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, the writer he most often set, and Johann Baptist Mayrhofer.We can hear for ourselves a captivating, evocative musical language. It speaks of the constant struggle of an individual, his bitterness, his longing, and his desire for deliverance. Yet, however deeply Schubert bathed in this Romantic current, throughout his life art remained for him the only key that might perhaps lead to a 'better world'.And so, in 1817, he took up a text by his friend Franz von Schober to compose an ode to the all-placating 'blessed art' in An die Musik D547: music, which for Schubert, as he wrote to Schober in 1818, was nothing less than 'my beloved'. Bernarda Fink, has sung in numerous opera productions and has made over fifty recordings with a repertoire ranging from Monteverdi to Brahms and Bruckner, many for harmonia mundi and with René Jacobs. She has been flatteringly referred to as the natural successor to the late Lorraine Hunt Lieberson and to both [the living] Brigitte Fassbaender and Dame Janet Baker. Gerold Huber studied with Friedemann Berger and Helmut Deutsch in Munich, then attended Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau's lied class in Berlin. In addition to his regular appearances with Christian Gerhaher, he also performs with Ruth Ziesak, Cornelia Kallisch, Diana Damrau and Franz-Josef Selig and has also performed with the Artemis Quartet.

Two musical titans in the classical world, British tenor Ian Bostridge and Norwegian pianist Leif Ove Andsnes, both major EMI Classics artists, are brought together once again in a 2CD compilation celebrating their great contribution and commitment to Schubert for the label. As well as featuring specially selected lieder and piano fragments from their critically acclaimed Bostridge / Andsnes Schubert Sonata and Lieder series, the album also includes five newly recorded lieder never previously released by Bostridge. Their partnership was described by The Times as "one of the most inspired of record-company matchmakings: the two musicians really do test and try each other at every turn, as well as being mutually supportive…” Firmly established in the opera house, concert hall and recital room, and much sought after internationally as one of the finest of his generation of tenors, Ian Bostridge is today one of the leading Schubert lieder interpreters, repertoire that he openly states as his first love. Ian’s passion for lieder dates back to early studies at his school in England. Ian explains: ‘I had a wonderful German teacher at my school who got me into German lieder and that has been the thing that has really made me a musician – the lieder.’

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.

Jana Büchner’s selection of lieder traces the evolution of the song from Mozart and Schubert all the way through to Hensel and Mendelssohn.

The works deal with the joys and sufferings of love, hence “Thoughts of Love”. Included are lieder with horn obligato and Lewy’s song (1802 - 1881) is thought to be a premiere recording.

The bonus recital in this collection was recorded in Berlin in 1956.