RICHARD STRAUSS Lieder

 

Zueignung, Nichts, Die Nacht, Wer hat's getan, Befreit, Allerseelen,

Ruhe, meine Seele, Cäcilie, Heimliche Aufforderung, Morgen!

Freundliche Vision, Ich liebe dich, All mein Gedanken,

Du meines Herzens Krönelein, Ach Lieb, ich muss nun scheiden!

Ach weh mir unglückhaftem Mann, Die Frauen sind oft fromm und still,

Traum durch die Dämmerung, Nachtgang, Wozu noch, Mädchen,

Breit' über mein Haupt, Schön sind, doch kalt die Himmelssterne,

Wie sollten wir geheim sie halten, Hoffen und wieder verzagen,

Mein Herz ist stumm, Ich trage meine Minne, Sehnsucht, Schlechtes Wetter

 

Jonas Kaufmann (tenor)

Helmut Deutsch (piano)

 

The great importance of lieder within Strauss' creative output can be seen from the sheer number of works he composed in the genre: 187 songs with piano, plus those with orchestra. Only after Salome, did song production take a back seat, but even then without losing significance. With the exception of the Heine setting, all the songs on the present CD date from the fertile period of composition of 1885-1900.

 

Jonas Kaufmann studied with James King, Hans Hotter and Josef Metternich and won first prize in the Nuremberg Meistersinger Competition in 1993. From 1994 to 1996 he was a company member at the Saarbrücken Staatstheater, where he sang the major roles for lyric tenor. Since 2001 he has been a member of the Zurich Opera, where he has appeared in such parts as Tamino, Tito, Idomeneo, Faust, Florestan, Parsifal, Hoffmann and Don José. He has also sung in the world's foremost opera houses, including London and New York, where his Alfredo (Traviata) was much acclaimed.

 

Strauss’s songs are usually regarded as the preserve of the soprano voice (many of his earlier lieder were written for his wife, Pauline de Ahna). It’s strange that so few tenors have recorded this repertoire, since most of the poets Strauss set were male and the “voice of the poet” is masculine, too. Here, in a thrilling recital debut on disc, the outstanding young German tenor offers a selection of 28 lieder, some of them Strauss’s best-loved works in the genre: he opens (oddly) with Zueignung (Dedication), often given as an encore, but many of the favourites are here. Kaufmann’s tenor is big-boned and passionate, resplendent at the top, yet he can rein his voice in for the intimacies of Ruhe, meine Seele and Morgen. His diction is exemplary and he creates an individual tone for each song, not least the self-mocking irony of Ach weh mir unglückhaftem Mann (Woe is me, unhappy man) and Schlechtes Wetter (Bad weather). His pianist, Helmut Deutsch, is one of lieder’s most experienced, and he revels in Strauss’s flamboyant writing. An essential disc for lovers of art-song.

Times, Five stars

 

Harmonia Mundi HMC901879