Songbook, vol. 2

"What then has a young soprano, who here makes her CD debut, to offer against such competition? Quite a lot, actually ... She contributes with a fresh, unscathed voice of considerable beauty and a willingness to find adequate nuances. Her piano and pianissimo singing is lovely throughout ... The freshness is so natural and I just had to reprise all seven at once ... I look forward to hearing more from Harriet Burns and I already have in my pile of un-listened discs a twofer with Robin Tritschler".

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"It almost goes without saying that this is a well-planned recital for a recording debutant's disc, giving her room to show different sides of her musical personality, and yet play to her strengths. Those strengths include an intrinsically appealing basic sound, control of line and tone, and identification with what she is singing about ... Graham Johnson is as reliable, and often as inspired, as we have long come to expect ... Tenor Robin Tritschler's contributions to four of the Deutsche Volkslieder are a considerable asset ... and this is a strong addition to an invaluable series".

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"Renée Fleming here offers an appetising programme of Lieder ... In relation to the Brahms songs ... I admired the delicacy of Hartmut Höll's pianism and Fleming's creamy voice ... Fleming conveys successfully the eagerness of Ständchen and she's in sumptuous voice for Mondnacht. The song I enjoyed most of all was Die Mainacht, which is gorgeously sung. Here Renée Fleming conveys a sense of longing and her long phrases give great pleasure ... The Mahler songs were recorded live and, once again, there is much to enjoy in Fleming's singing ... There is, then, a good deal to enjoy in this recital by Renée Fleming ... This album will give pleasure to the admirers of a distinguished singer".

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"Recommended: It is surprising Austrian mezzo Sophie Rennert has not cropped up more on disc; she won the 2014 International Mozart Competition in Salzburg, was a member of Konzert Theater Bern 2014-16, and has since established an international reputation. Graham Johnson, of course, need no introduction, and everything one associates with him - the intelligence, the high musicality, the technical perfection - is here in spades".

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"This well-filled disc is the tenth and last in Hyperion's series of all Brahms's piano-accompanied songs ... Young Austrian mezzo-soprano Sophie Rennert ... has a well-schooled high mezzo-soprano, beautiful and capable of both rhythmical lilt and dramatic exuberance ... As a whole her interpretations are well up to the general standard of this series and collectors should with confidence invest in this final issue ... Did I write that his [Graham Johnson] accompaniments are just as masterly as they have ever been? They certainly are! Congratulations to Graham and Hyperion".

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"Recommended: Anna Lucia Richter ... has changed to mezzo-soprano pitch. Her voice has preserved its beauty, and at the somewhat darker-hued pitch it is now an ideal instrument for Brahms's songs ... But Anna Lucia Richter wouldn't be Anna Lucia Richter if she didn't also deliver well-considered interpretations based on a thorough understanding of the texts in the bargain ... The whole album is a gem and a valuable addition to the Brahms discography - which certainly isn't meagre - and I wouldn't mind a sequel. Ammiel Bushakevitz is an excellent accompanist".

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"Recommended: Here indeed is the ensuing volume, this time with Tritschler having top billing and Harriet Burns the walk-on part in five songs. The programme, as with others in the series, is broadly chronological and covers much of the composer's song-writing career ... We seem to have a selection that focuses on the lyrical and folk-like, thus playing to several of Robin Tritschler's particular strengths, not least a certain fresh directness of interpretation ... Much is achieved though Tritschler's care for line and tone and word-meaning, without seeming on first hearing to do much more than deliver what is written ... Of course he is blessed with the most appealing vocal charm, instantly recognisable, and an instinctive feeling for style. But here the honey-toned Irish troubadour comes of age as a great lieder singer ... Almost every song on this disc is ideally realised ... Very highly recommended".

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"Recommended: With singing of such distinction as we encounter here, even the more obscure songs come to life, and Graham Johnson's accompaniments further heightens the listening experience ... If I add that reading Graham's all-embracing notes on each of the songs further enhances the value of this issue, there is no need for me to apologize for the Recommended tag".

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"Vurdering: Presto disc of the week" - "The four starry singers are perfectly cast, sparking off one another like a top-notch string quartet and achieving that rare feat of blending seamlessly when required but also contrasting quite beautifully throughout. And most appealingly of all, everyone just sounds like they're having enormous fun".

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"Bass-baritone Thomas Quasthoff was rarely in better voice than on the Five Songs, Op. 94, but perhaps the real standout is mezzo Magdalena Kozená, better known as an aria singer, but awesomely compelling and controlled in Feldeinsamkeit ... The show was well recorded, and Kozená and Quasthoff fans especially will want this in their collections".

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"Appl's strengths as an interpreter are particularly evident in Vor dem Fenster. On the face of it, this is a fairly simple strophic song in triple time. But each verse is not quite identical and, in telling the story, he must play the role of the narrator, the young lover, and the girl who leaps from her bed when she hears him singing beneath her window. Appl achieves this with that synthesis of simplicity and sophistication that Brahms's folk-inspired music requires".

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"Bernarda Fink, den argentinske sopran ... har sammen med den engelske pianist Roger Vignoles samlet 31 Brahms-Lieder, som hun både stilfuldt og frisk foredrager ... Hør, hvordan Roger Vignoles dugperlende gelejder Bernarda Fink gennem ... Lieder er ikke tænkt til sund køreglæde, men hvor de dog spinder skønt hen ad vejen".

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"At heart, if not always in practice, a man of the people, Brahms engaged deeply with folk song throughout his life ... Buoyed by Johnson's acutely judged accompaniments, the fresh-toned young soprano Harriet Burns, on her CD debut, spins a pure line and responds sensitively to the 'echt'-Brahmsian moods of loneliness, regret and pathos ... Singer and pianist vividly convey the gradual shift from anxiety to exultations ... In the Deutsche Volkslieder, several sung here as duets, she and tenor Robin Tritschler nicely balance artlessness and telling characterisation".

"His tone is sweet and gently rounded, his diction crystal-clear, his phrasing always thoughtful ... There is far more to enjoy than to cavil at here, not least in Bode's spontanous freshness in the folksong settings".

"Her performances can never be doubted for their diligence and honesty, while the voice ... still has plenty of that trademark beauty, especially at the top ... But the soprano's glamorous, cookies-and-cream approach often sits uncomfortably with the more homely aesthetic of these songs with piano ... All in all, this is probably one primarily for Fleming fans".

"I suspect that Sophie Rennert's tones, combining an amber glow with the freshness of youth and a freesoaring top, would have come somewhere near [Brahms's] ideal. She phrases broadly and expressively, and points and colours words with unexaggerated sensitivity. Her diction throughout is a model. Rennert balances artlessness and dramatic involvement in the many folk songs and quasi-folk songs, and is a keen storyteller ... A lovely singer, Sophie Rennert is a natural in lieder. Her partnership with Johnson makes a fitting culmination to what has proved a revelatory Brahms series".

"Vurdering: Editor's choice" - "In heartbreak or happiness, this distinctive singer is a delight in Brahms ... a Brahms recital of rare distinction".

"The word that repeatedly came to mind while listening to this recording was 'ideal', on every level".

"The mood is predominantly reflective, gently folkish and naive throughout, which proves a good match for Tritschler's youthful, firm tenor and bright, straightforward interpretations. He captures beautifully the artlessness of the early 'Mondnacht' and the urgency of 'In der Fremde' ... He's superb in the folk songs themselves, as well as such irresistible folky numbers as 'Sonntag' ... The hits that pop up, too, are in good hands ... with Johnson's accompaniment a marvel of delicacy ... This is an excellent addition to this series, and one that amply demonstrates what a superb Lieder singer Tritschler is".

"Johnson's arrangement of this recital and his exceptional accompanying skills, together with Kirschschlager's voice and approach, almost always so appropriate to Brahms, make this a highly desirable disc".

"Angelika Kirschschlager sings with purity of tone, evenly produced and unfailingly accurate in intonations but I don't find the timber very distinctive or capable of varied coloration".

"In his vocal autumn, Robert Holl fields a bass-baritone of slightly grizzled nobility, with impressive sonorous depth ... Given Holl's vocal timbre, it's no surprise that songs of regret, resignation and death-longing predominate even more than they do in most Brahms recitals ... Despite my provisos, there is much to admire in the directness and slightly grizzled nobility of Holl's singing, especially in the Vier ernste Gesänge. But be prepared for a protracted Brahmsian gloomfest".

"Both Liebeslieder sets benefit from a real sense of relaxed, spur-of-the-moment music-making, with, one senses, James Levine and Yefim Bronfman sharing the driving seat, keeping the faster numbers urgent and vigorous, and allowing plenty of time in the slower numbers. Their top-quality pianism really lets us hear a wealth of delightful detail. The quartet themselves make an appealingly lively sound ... Quasthoff and especially Kožená are strongest in their solo selections ... A fun, well-filled disc".

"Her pellucid high soprano has lost little of its purity and ease while encompassing richer, aptly Brahmsian shades. And her response to text, mood and harmonic colour is now still more vivid".

"Once again Dame Janet proves herself the supreme Lieder singer ... To every song here, familiar or unfamiliar, she brings her special ability of making it her own and reaching to its heart ... Lush and Hamburger, especially the latter, are fully cognisant of what to do with Brahms's intricate writing for the piano".