SCHUBERT SCHWANENGESANG D957

 

1.         Liebesbotschaft             

2.         Kriegers Ahnung                       

3.         Frühlingssehnsucht

4.         Ständchen                                

5.         Aufenthalt                                 

6.         In der Ferne

7.         Abschied                                  

8.         Der Atlas                                  

9.         Ihr Bild

10.        Das Fischermädchen      

11.        Am Meer

13.        Der Doppelgänger         

14.        Die Taubenpost

 

BEETHOVEN AN DIE FERNE GELIEBTE, OP.98

15         Auf dem Hügel sitz’ ich spähend

16         Wo die Berge so blau

17         Leichte Segler in den Höhen                   

18         Diese Wolken in den Höhen

19         Es kehret der Maien, es blühet die Au’     

20         Nimm sie hin denn diese Lieder

 

 

Following the tremendous acclaim for their live recording of Winterreise, Alfred Brendel & Matthias Goerne perform another great Schubert song cycle – Schwanengesang.

 

Live from the Wigmore Hall in London - famous as one of the World's most important chamber music auditoriums

 

The second part of the concert is devoted to Beethoven's equally well known song cycle An die ferne Gebiebte. Two outstanding interpreters of German Lied recorded in the creation of a live performance in a legendary accoustic.  Recorded: Wigmore Hall (5 & 7 November 2003 from live concerts)

 

The rapport between these two major artists from very different generations is one of the wonders of the current concert circuit. This recording, made live at the Wigmore Hall in London a couple of years ago, finds both Goerne and Brendel on top form and in repertoire they both understand profoundly.

The Beethoven cycle, six poems on the subject of the lost beloved and a deeply hoped-for return to intimacy, is performed with remarkable sensitivity to the numerous changes of tone and texture, singer and pianist extracting every nuance from the music and words.

The Schubert quasi-cycle Schwanengesang, too, receives a masterly performance. Again, not a word or note is left unexplored, yet it is all done with such style and taste. In the month that we celebrate Fischer-Dieskau’s accomplishments in the field of Lieder singing, it’s good to be reminded that the art lives in on this outstanding young German baritone.

Gramophone

 

Matthias Goerne and Alfred Brendel - who works sparingly with singers - form one of the most rewarding of Lieder partnerships. Inspired by Brendel's luminous cantabile, Goerne gives a moving performance of An die Ferne Geliebte, embracing extremes of dreamy introspection and excited ardour.

With his intensity of line and vast palette of colour, the baritone is no less compelling in the Romantic longing and world-weariness of Schubert's Swansong. He finds a touch of iron for the burdened anguish of "Der Atlas". "Am Meer" grows from trancelike absorption to appalled self-awareness; and he creates an uncanny haunted stillness at the opening of "Die Stadt" (Brendel's touch in the chill, hazy arpeggios is a miracle in itself) and "Der Doppelgänger".

Seekers of jauntiness in "Abschied" or roguish charm in "Fischermädchen" should look elsewhere. Here, and in "Ständchen", Goerne yearns and rues rather than smiles. But his thoughtfulness and eloquence, and Brendel's wonderfully sentient playing, bring their own rich rewards.

This revelatory recital was recorded live at London's Wigmore Hall in November 2003, and follows last year's release of the Goerne-Brendel Winterreise as one of my discs of 2005.

Richard Wigmore, Telegraph

 

Decca 4756011