Das Marienleben

"Classical album of the week: The great German song cycles of the first half of the 20th century can be counted on the fingers of one hand, and Hindemith's Das Marienleben certainly belongs among them, alongside Mahler's Kindertoten- and Rückert-Lieder, Schoenberg's Das Buch der Hängenden Gärten, and Hanns Eisler's Hollywood Songbook. Yet Marienleben is probably the least often performed of all of them ... As a whole the power of the cycle is unmistakable, and every morsel of it is thrillingly conveyed by Banse and Helmchen ... Hindemith's vocal writing makes enormous demands ... but Banse makes light of them, whether it's the dramatic intensity and almost mezzo-like richness required in some of the songs or the shining, soaring lyricism of others. Helmchen makes total sense of the piano accompaniments too, whether naggingly motoric, fiercely dissonant or neoclassically correct. It is a glorious achievement all round".

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"This song cycle traces the story of Mary from birth to death. Juliane Banse, despite a slight edge to her voice, gets to grips with every word of Rilke's poetry".

"Med et tonesprog, der veksler mellem fintfølende ekspressionisme og bombastiske toneridt, er det ikke blot en tour de force for de udøvende, men også for den lyttende. Til gengæld har Paul Hindemiths "Das Marienleben" karakter af en tryllekreds, der langsomt kryber ind under huden på den tålmodige lytter ... Den tyske sopran Juliane Banse er en ekspressiv sanger, der former musikken med stor forståelse for de enkelte sanges dramaturgi, men hendes vokale udtryksregister er desværre ikke godt nok til helt at forløse det meget omfattende værk ... Dette til trods fremstår Hindemiths og Rilkes "Das Marienleben" på denne udgivelse som sælsomt berørende kunst med et stærkt åndeligt indhold".

"CD des Monats: Banse singt und interpretiert sensationell ... Und Helmchen ist mit wunderbarem Spiel eher Mitgestalter denn Begleiter. Eine exemplarische Aufnahme, ein Präzedenzfall".