Schumann Alle Lieder Gerhaher Huber

With Myrthen, baritone Christian Gerhaher opens Chapter 2 of his life project: a complete recording of the lieder of Robert Schumann. Since Dietrich Fischer-Dieskaus epoch-making recording of the 1970s, no singer has devoted himself more thoroughly to the lied output of Robert Schumann than Christian Gerhaher. Lauded as the greatest lied singer of our time, he launched his complete recording of Schumanns lieder with the album Frage, released in autumn 2018. It marks the fulfilment of a long-cherished dream and, he emphasises, probably the most important project of my life. The Neue Zurcher Zeitung spoke of consummate vocal artistry. Gerhaher has opened a new door in lied interpretation.

Four-time Grammy winner Renee Fleming presents her first full-length Lieder album in almost two decades, featuring a selection of favorite songs from Brahms, Schumann, and Mahler, including Brahm's "Lullaby" and a breathtaking performance of Mahler's Rückert Lieder with Christian Thielemann and the Munich Philharmonic.

You might guess from the disc’s title (“Loneliness”), not to mention from the cover art, that isn't going to be the most cheerful of recitals; but in fact it isn't the least bit morose. Matthias Goerne has used his time with Harmonia Mundi to show that he is one of the most distinguished baritones singing Schubert today (review), and here he gives us his first Schumann recital, which proves to be every bit as distinguished; perhaps even more so, because since recording the Schubert series Goerne’s voice has darkened into an instrument that is even better suited for exploring the world of Schumann’s melancholy.

Despite the new attention given to the music of Clara Schumann, and the fact that her husband not only encouraged but actually goaded her as a song composer, Clara Schumann's lieder remain underrepresented on recordings. This release from the German audiophile label MDG, featuring one female and one male singer, is one of the few complete sets of her songs available, and perhaps the only one where each song is sung in its original key. The complete cycle is a recommended way to hear her songs, for they come from various parts of her career and offer insights into her creative development, both as tied to Robert Schumann and as separate from him.

Simon Keenlyside has the instrument, the technique, and the intelligence required of great lieder singers. His burnished baritone is large, but he can deploy it with tenderness, as well as power, and he has the flexibility to bring a broad array of colors to the songs' varied moods. This is especially impressive in Schumann's Dichterliebe, where the songs have an emotional arc with an implied narrative, and Keenlyside captures the mercurial shifts with passion and integrity. Even in a song as brief as "Ich grolle nicht," the subtlety of the lover's evolving feelings come across honestly and with precision.

Though the catch-all title 'Melancholie' is slightly misleading, Christian Gerhaher's enterprisingly planned programme provides a conspectus of Schumann's art as a Lieder composer. With his bright, burnished high baritone, expressive diction and alert, unexaggerated response to mood and nuance, Gerhaher confirms his credentials as one of the most probing Lieder singers of the younger generation. While it is virtually impossible for a single voice to do equal justice to all 12 songs of the Liederkreis, he succeeds better than most.