SCHUBERT Willkommen und Abschied

 

Heidenröslein D257, Schlummerlied D527, Wiegenlied D867, Geheimes D719, Ganymed D544, Auf der Bruck D853, Der

Fischer D225, Dass sie hier gewesen D775, Bei dir allein D866, Der Schiffer D536, Willkommen und Abschied D767, Der

Wanderer D493, Im Walde D834, Wandrers Nachtlied D224, Der Einsame D800, Der Winterabend D938, Herbst D945,

Romanze aus Rosamunde D797, Nachtstück D672

 

Werner Güra (tenor)

Christoph Berner (fortepiano Rönisch)

 

As Christoph Berner writes in his booklet note:

"Our intention in the selection of Schubert songs heard on this recording is to depict the life of a fictional Romantic. One of the characteristics of the Romantic personality is that it sees external impressions of the natural world as a reflection of our inner nature (and vice versa); that is to say that, when the poet speaks of ‘rushing water’, ‘dark forests’, ‘autumn winds’ and so on, these are invariably also images of momentary psychological states. This rapprochement and engagement with nature runs like a constant thread through the programme of this recital. We begin with childhood: hence maternal security and childish naivety still predominate in the first songs.

After this we follow the Romantic into foreign territories; we imagine him as a wanderer, a seeker after the meaning of life. For the first time he perceives the natural world around him as hostile. This culminates in the phrase that perhaps best describes the Romantic attitude to life: ‘I am a stranger everywhere.’ The songs 'Der Einsame' and 'Der Winterabend' show us the Romantic in his maturity: he has made his peace with the world, and looks back on his life with a mixture of contentment and gentle melancholy.

Born in Munich, Werner Güra has a reputation especially as an interpreter of lieder. His recordings for harmonia mundi, including the great cycles of Schubert, Schumann and Wolf and vocal ensembles by Brahms and Schumann, have all been widely acclaimed.

 

Harmonia Mundi HMC902112