Liebe Detail

The East German-born Stephan Genz, still in his mid-twenties, brings an engaging voice and glowing dramatic sense to this desirable Beethoven collection. Some of the ballad-like songs undoubtedly suit his rich, warm, darkish timbres especially well (‘Klage’ – ‘Lament’, or the mournful ‘Vom Tode’); yet he relishes, too, the lively patter of ‘Neue Liebe, neues Leben’, which, with Vignoles’s lively accompaniment, takes instant flight. The phrasing is nicely sustained, though Genz’s rather self-conscious, earnest delivery can be fractionally unsteady (chiefly in the descent to cadences, a slight overweighting of second syllables, the arching up towards higher notes, and scattered patches of chromatic detail). Goethe’s ‘Es war einmal ein König’ and Gellert’s ‘Busslied’ both hint at the wider emotional range to which this young singer can aspire. His contrast between the end of Goethe’s poignantly pleading ‘Wonne der Wehmut’ and the lightly alert ‘Sehnsucht’ could not be more charming. True, one senses those gloomier timbres might be lightened to advantage (an exquisitely floated ‘May-Song’ cheerfully counters his unusually doom-laden launch to the An die ferne Geliebte cycle). Yet if the disc sometimes suggests a promising artist still just emerging, there is much here that is elegantly persuasive.

In 2001 Bettina Mischke and Roland Grosch started their project Jazzamor. Influenced by the Bossa Nova and Latin Jazz of the 60s they developed their own style with Bettina’s voice making it unmistakeable. The arrangements are playful yet minimalistic with great care for detail. Electronic sounds blend with double bass and latino percussions. Melancholic piano aires invoke a blue mood with Bettina’s alluring soft voice giving it all a distinct color. In the beginning Jazzamor was a pure studio project but with their first life concert they began playing all over Europe and in Asia. Maybe the Jazzamor song "Travel…" was like a mission statement for their music. Where ever - in a cafe in Brazil, in a bar in Mosque or in a lounge in Singapore - their songs are on a journey around the world.

This is a St Matthew Passion which should please many readers. Bruggen’s interpretation is eloquent, thoughtful in matters of style and expressive content, and it benefits from a textural clarity which few competitors can rival. All aspects of Bach’s miraculous score are taken into account.

This 31 CD box set is being released to celebrate what would have been her 100th birthday in December 2015. The set contains all the recital programmes of song, opera and operetta tha t she recorded for EMI between 1952 and 1974, and also included two live recitals.
All the recordings have been newly remasteredto the highest standards by various studios including Abbey Road.