Lieder

"Recording of the month: In line with the title of the album, Marianne Beate Kielland sings the majority of the songs simply and rather conversationally. There is a natural and intimate atmosphere about the whole disc, very beautiful singing and a deceptive feeling of artlessness ... She is firmly established as one of the leading mezzo-sopranos of her time. The present disc only confirms her greatness ... Marianne Beate Kielland, who follows the principle "less is more", comes closer to the true Mozart than anyone else I have heard. With the support of Nils Anders Mortensen's listened-in accompaniment ... this is now a first recommendation for a single CD with Mozart's songs".

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"Kielland's and Mortensen's performance of Mozart's songs has an intimate feeling to it, a subtlety and simplicity that make the recording very attractive, perfectly fitting the idea of a house concert and the title of the album Whispering Mozart ... This whole recording could be described as a highlight from beginning to end ... There is a perceptible rapport and an elegant, appealing dialogue between the voice and the piano. Whispering Mozart is a truly wonderful work and I have no doubt it will pleasingly 'whisper' in your ear for many hours to come".

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"Recording of the week: Pordoy and Devieilhe both do a wonderful job of emphasising the kinship between Mozart and Strauss's approach to song-making, bringing an almost Classical clarity and elegance to the earlier Strauss Lieder and subtly spotlighting the harmonic surprises in Mozart songs like Einsamkeit and Abendempfindung ... All in all, this is a very special song-recital indeed, remarkable as much for Pordoy's contribution as for Devieilhe's".

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"What we hear is Mozart-singing not appreciably different in style from other singers of recent years - except , that is, for the distinctive beauty of Marianne Beate Kielland's voice ... While most Mozart Lieder discs have been recorded by sopranos or occasionally tenors, Kielland is a mezzo who can draw upon darker, more deeply rooted colours ... She is able to bring a deeper seriousness into play, giving weight to the heartfelt feelings ... There is little or nothing here not to like ... Whisper is softly, but Kielland may be the safer choice".

"Lieder recitals such as this are a reminder of what's often missing in others: hallmarks include clean vocalism, unaffected treatment of the text and sequencing that's more intuitive than high-concept ... Single-composer sameness is avoided by breaking up this Richard Strauss recital with similarly lyrical Mozart ... With Mozart's elegance and Strauss' literary sophistication highlighting each other, the songs seem to be on a higher artistic level than previously thought ... Long a natural Mozart singer, Devieilhe has acquired a more Straussian depth of tone while maintaining her trademark clarity that also reveals her great comprehension of the music".

"Güra er nok tidens bedste tenor i den stolte tyske lied-tradition. Hans lyse, præcise stemme er perfekt egnet til at give en tekst videre, og han går forstandigt i kødet på ordene med stor ekspressivitet ... Pianisten spiller på et historisk klaver, men ... der mangler aldeles ikke klangskønhed og udtrykskraft. Der musiceres kort sagt med overlegen beherskelse på denne cd".