Orchestral songs
Franz Liszt
Keywords
Reviews (13)
Presto classical
d. 17. Sep. 2021
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Katherine Cooper
d. 17. Sep. 2021
"Recording of the week: The Petrarch Sonnets find Kaufmann in absolute peak vocal form, cresting the top Cs with ease ... The macabre, unsettling Die drei Zigeuner is another real highlight, with Kaufmann characterising the three gypsies quite brilliantly, and Deutsch working uncanny magic in the long, quasi-improvisatory introduction ... This is quite the finest recording Kaufmann's made for Sony, and a testament to one of the greatest Lieder partnerships of our time".
MusicWeb international
2008 July
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Michael Cookson
2008 July
"I was highly delighted with these assured performances from the outstanding soprano Ruth Ziesak and her impeccable accompanist Gerold Huber. Recorded in Cologne, the sound quality achieved by the Berlin Classics engineers is excellent".
MusicWeb international
2020 March
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Göran Forsling (f. 1942)
2020 March
"In all four Julia Kleiter's beautiful singing and keen articulation of the texts ennobles the songs ... Collectors of this Liszt series can safely add this latest issue to their collections, which more and more stands out as one of the most valuable surveys of the song repertoire".
Klassisk
2022, nr. 64
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Jeppe Rönnow
2022, nr. 64
"De fleste af Liszts mange lieder er ikke helt vellykkede, men dem som er, er til gengæld små mesterværkder ... Jonas Kaufmann har taget liederne til sig, og det er vist ikke gjort bedre i andre tilgængelige indspilninger. Hans stemme tolker og indoptager Liszts musik og de tyske digte, så de smelter sammen, og både klaverakkompagnementet og pianistens velskrevne cd-noter bidrager til, at lytteren kommer på rejse i en svunden romantik, som har været negligeret i et stykke tid".
BBC music magazine
2021 November
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Paul Riley (musikanmelder)
2021 November
"In any event, Freudvoll und Leidvoll is a well-schosen anthology, perhaps spurred on by Kaufmann's longstanding pisnist Helmut Deutsch, a 'Lisztomaniac' form his teenage years ... Well chosen certainly, but some will find Kaufmann's sense of scale uncomfortable at times. He rarely resists the temptatione to rev to full vocal throttle ... Dramatic, impassioned, but more La Scala Milan than Wigmore Hall ... At its most larger-than-life, a thrilling recording not for the faint-hearted; but it's also a heart-on-sleeve reminder of Liszt's abiding versatility".
Fono Forum
2021 November
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Christoph Vratz
2021 November
"Dieses Album mit 20 Liedern von Franz Liszt ... Hier kann er [Jonas Kaufmann] seine vokalen Fähigkeiten mühelos unter Beweis stellen: sein kraftvolles Forte, eine, wo nötig, leicht metallische Prägnanz in der Tonfärbung und umgekehrt viel Wärme ... Deutsch begleitet gewohnt sicher, als Duo harmonieren beide ohnehin wie aus dem Effeff".
BBC music magazine
2008 August
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George Hall (musikanmelder)
2008 August
"Ruth Ziesak's selection of 21, including some of the best known, forms a good introduction to their varied merits, and her strong interpretative skills ... stand her in good stead".
Diapason
2020 mars
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Sylvain Fort
2020 mars
BBC music magazine
2020 March
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Rebecca Franks
2020 March
"This excellent series continues with a selection performed exquisitely by soprano Julia Kleiter. At the programme's heart are Liszt's unmissable four settings of Victor Hugo".
BBC music magazine
2015 April
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George Hall (musikanmelder)
2015 April
"In excellent sound, it all adds up to a delightful sequence of discoveries".
The gramophone
2021 Awards
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David Patrick Stearns
2021 Awards
"Songs of the legendarily charismatic Franz Liszt would seem - at least in theory - a great fit for magnetic Heldentenor Jonas Kaufmann. However, a number of elements conspire to keep this album from being all that it could have been ... Any number of full-throated moments ... jump out at the ear with an effect that's more aggressive than heroic. Kaufmann does scale back his voice succesfully but more fragile songs become pallid".
The gramophone
2020 February
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Tim Ashley
2020 February
"Editor's choice: The performances here blaze with conviction. Kleiter's tone is wonderfully even and exceptionally beautiful over a wide vocal range, and her commitment is never for a second in doubt ... Drake is similarly at his best here ... A marvellous disc and a great recital in its own right, this is arguably the finest instalment of the series to date. Do listen to it".
The gramophone
2015 April
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Richard Wigmore
2015 April
"Vurdering: Editor's choice" - "The ever-rewarding song partnership of Gerald Finley and Julius Drake are persuasive advocates across the whole spectrum of Lisztian styles".