Deutsch Kunterbunt

Star tenor Piotr Beczala presents a selection of romances by Rachmaninoff and Tchaikovsky, together with the acclaimed lied accompanist Helmut Deutsch. The romance was the most popular musical genre in nineteenth- and early-twentieth-century Russia, practised by professionals as well as amateurs. Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninoff both enriched this genre with their lyricism and melodic invention. Elevated by Deutsch’s splendid accompaniment, Beczala delivers these songs with a great sense for the Slavic idiom and meaning of the words, combined with colourful lyricism and italianità, perfectly fitting the Russian and cosmopolitan musical language of these two masters.

Known for their onstage charisma and camaraderie, Ottawa’s Lara Deutsch (flute) and Adam Cicchillitti (guitar) began performing together in 2019 after discovering their mutual love for the music of Piazzolla. With an established discography as individual artists on the Analekta and Leaf Music labels, as well as numerous accolades in their respective fields, one of the primary focuses of the duo is to perform and promote the works of their Canadian friends and colleagues internationally.

Franz Liszt's songs remain the least-often-heard segment of his output, even as serious historians of 19th century music, including Alfred Brendel, have praised them. They are a bit uneven, and they are, for a composer who made his living with the grand gesture, uncharacteristically quiet. Various singers have taken them up, however, and this major release by Jonas Kaufmann, with the invaluable Helmut Deutsch on the piano, marks a kind of milestone. The songs are striking for how little they resemble Schumann or anything else written anywhere near the same time (until perhaps Hugo Wolf), and Kaufmann absolutely gets their originality.

This DAF overview from Mute's Grey Area pulls from Alles Ist Gut, Gold und Liebe, and Für Immer, the three Conny Planck-produced albums Robert Görl and Gabi Delgado released on Virgin during 1981 and 1982. It's even-handed in its selections, with six tracks off Gold und Liebe and seven each from the other two. Virtually all the highlights are here, and almost all of them dish out the impossibly clenched, bruising rhythms and barked vocals DAF perfected during this phase. The slower, sleazier, and even more sinister material ("Im Dschungel der Liebe," "Prinzessin") is also well represented. Naturally, this is the best dose of early electronic body music short of Mute's fine 1998 album reissues.

A superstar of opera, Jonas Kaufmann is somewhat less renowned for his interpretations of art songs, though this 2014 Sony release of Franz Schubert's Winterreise is his second disc in the genre, following his 2009 recording of Die schöne Müllerin for Decca. Even though it's more recognizable in the context of his Wagner and Verdi roles, Kaufmann's fluid and strongly supported tenor voice is well-suited to Schubert's arching lines and lyrical expressions, and its warm tone and rich timbres convey a variety of moods and emotions with minimal effort and no strain.

Schubert's devastating song cycle, Die Schöne Mullerin is not solely for the singer, but exists as an equal duet between pianist and voice. Listeners will experience Jonas Kaufmann's voice from an entirely new perspective, as he sings romantic Lieder. Kaufmann's outstanding ability to communicate though the music with his versatile voice is heartwarming. Helmut Deutsch, a renowned collaborative pianist, brings his intelligence and sensitive artistry to bear in these heart-rending performances.

After their album Selige Stunde, Jonas Kaufmann and Helmut Deutsch used the lockdown necessitated by the coronavirus pandemic, to make a further series of recordings. Their second album of songs is devoted to Franz Liszt, a composer for whom both feel a special affinity and whose music has long featured in their shared concert career.