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Felix
MENDELSSOHN (1809–1847)
CD 1
1. Neue Liebe, Op.19a No. 4 [1:49]
2. Gruss, Op. 19a No. 5 [1:32]
3. Auf Flügeln des Gesanges, Op. 34 No.
2[3:24]
4. Reiselied, Op. 34 No. 6 [2:32]
5. Morgengruss, Op. 47 No. 2 [2:01]
6. Allnächtlich im Traume seh’ ich dich, Op.
86 No. 4 [1:23]
7. Frühlingslied, Op. 47 No. 3 [2:56]
8. An die Entfernte, Op. 71 No. 3 [1:24]
9. Schilflied, Op. 72 No. 4 [2:57]
10. Auf der Wanderschaft, Op. 71 No. 5 [2:11]
11. Minnelied, Op. 47 No. 1 [2:03]
12. Frühlingslied, Op. 19a No. 1 [1:27]
13. Der erste Veilchen, Op. 19a No. 2 [2:27]
14. Reiselied, Op. 19a No. 6 [2:51]
15. Winterlied, Op. 19a No. 3 [2:44]
16. Minnelied, Op. 34 No. 1 [1:44]
17. O Jugend, o schöne Rosenzeit, Op. 57
No. 4 [2:08]
18. Da lieg’ ich unter den Bäumen,
Op. 84 No. 1 [4:00] 19. Erntelied, Op. 8 No. 4 [4:43]
20. Volkslied, Op. 47 No. 4 [2:55]
21. Wanderlied, Op. 57 No. 6 [1:51]
22. Nachtlied, Op. 71 No. 6 [2:55]
23. Das Waldschloss [2:03]
24. Pagenlied [1:55]
25. Frühlingslied, Op. 34 No. 3 [2:00]
26. Bei der Wiege, Op. 47 No. 6 [1:46]
27. Es lauschte das Laub, Op. 86 No. 1 [3:12]
28. Tröstung, Op. 71 No. 1 [1:42]
29. Jagdlied, Op. 84 No. 3 [1:58]
30. Wenn sich zwei Herzen scheiden, Op.
99 No. 5 [1:50]
31. Der Mond, Op. 86 No. 5 [1:57]
CD 2
1. Venezianisches Gondellied, Op. 57 No.
5 [2:26]
2. Der Blumenkranz [2:16] 3. Erster Verlust, Op. 99 No. 1 [3:21]
4. Andres Maienlied (Hexenlied), Op. 8 No.
8 [2:18]
5. Warnung von dem Rhein [2:47]
6. Altdeutsches Lied, Op. 57 No. 1 [1:26]
7. Hirtenlied, Op. 57 No. 2 [3:07]
8. Schlafloser Augen Leuchte [2:36]
9. Scheidend, Op. 9 No. 6 [2:07]
Carl LOEWE (1796–1869) 10. Edward, Op. 1 No. 1 [5:57]
11. Der Mohrenfürst auf der Messe,
Op. 97 No. 3 [4:30] 12. Erlkönig, Op. 1 No. 3 [3:16]
13. Archibald Douglas, Op. 128 [10:18]
14. Der Schatzgräber, Op.
59 No. 3 [5:54] 15. Tom der Reimer, Op. 135
[5:52] 16. Kleiner Haushalt, Op. 71 [3:54]
17. Süsses Begräbnis, Op. 62 No. 4 [3:06]
18. Herr Oluf, Op. 2 No. 2 [5:32]
Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau
(baritone); Wolfgang Sawallisch (piano) (Mendelssohn); Gerald Moore
(piano)(Loewe)
rec. Gemeindehaus, Berlin-Zehlendorf, 8, 10, 13,
15 September 1970 (Mendelssohn); 4-5, 7-9 September 1967 (Loewe)
texts and translations included
EMI CLASSICS GREAT
RECORDINGS OF THE CENTURY 0946 3 91990 2 0 [72:31 + 70:54]
Neither
Mendelssohn nor Loewe find themselves in the First Division
in the Lieder Composers’ League but they are certainly there
at the top of the second division. There they rub shoulders
with Liszt, Robert Franz and Joseph Marx and possibly Othmar
Schoeck, although the latter two are firmly 20th
century composers.
Mendelssohn’s
songs are attractive and well wrought but rather limited in
scope compared to Schubert’s and Schumann’s and when did you
last hear a Mendelssohn recital or even a group of his songs
– apart of course from Auf Flügeln des Gesanges? Recordings
are few and far between. Rummaging through my shelves I found
a disc from 1992 with Barbara Bonney and Geoffrey Parsons, but
that was it. Loewe is another matter. Not that he is a frequent
presence on recital programmes - the last time I can remember
was Hermann Prey more than ten years ago. That said, he seems
to sell well on record. Prey, Fischer-Dieskau, Kurt Moll and
Brigitte Fassbaender all had Loewe recitals represented in an
old Gramophone Catalogue from 1990. Further back Josef Greindl
set down an all-Loewe album for DG. CPO are busy recording his
complete songs, having currently reached volume 21.
The
41 songs by Mendelssohn on this set were originally issued on
two LPs; probably the most comprehensive survey so far. Barbara
Bonney sings a number of these songs but also some that F-D
didn’t record. To complicate things further some songs by Fanny
Mendelssohn were published under her brother’s name but I think
this has now been sorted out.
Backed
by the ever-responsive Wolfgang Sawallisch, Fischer-Dieskau’s
traversal is highly attractive. As was his wont, he lavishes
all his vocal and textual skill on the material. It might be
argued that he sometimes tries to wring more from these songs
than is good for them – a criticism that was now and then directed
towards him. Even so, he totally avoids blandness. And the lighter
songs – and there are many of them – are treated with great
care and sensitivity.
For
those who have opportunities to listen before buying I can point
to some attractive test tracks. The light and bouncy Neue
Liebe (CD1 tr. 1) with its nervous piano part is a perfect
illustration of the heart-beating fast when love is new. The
ubiquitous Auf Flügeln des Gesanges (CD1 tr. 3) has been
inflated, sentimentalized and distorted so many times through
the years that it is a relief to hear it sung naturally and
with beauty. Allnächtlich im Traume (CD1 tr. 6) is agitated
and dramatic, quite different from Schumann’s better known setting
in Dichterliebe. The Volkslied (CD1 tr. 20) is
simple and winsome. F-D keeps it that way but in the last stanza
with darker undertone there is more emphasis in the singing.
The jolly Jagdlied (CD1 tr. 29) to a text from Des
Knaben Wunderhorn, is sparkling and Venezianisches Gondellied
(CD2 tr. 1), a song that is actually heard now and then, rocks
gently. The most atypical song here is Andres Maienlied
a.k.a. Hexenlied. I wonder how many listeners in a blindfold
test would connect Mendelssohn with this dark, dramatic and
threatening music. Schubert in Atlas mood or maybe Loewe
… but well behaved Mendelssohn? This song gives F-D golden opportunities
to explore the dark side of existence.
I
wonder how often Fischer-Dieskau returned to this repertoire.
That he was an avid Loewe champion is beyond doubt. On his very
first 78 rpm record, for Electrola in 1949, he sang Tom der
Reimer. Almost twenty years later he recorded the present
collection with Gerald Moore. Just a few years later he set
down two LPs with Jörg Demus for DG. In the early 1980s he re-recorded
all nine ballads from the present issue plus another two, again
with Demus. Finally in the late 1980s he made a disc for Teldec
with Hartmut Höll. There he included songs which appeared to
be new to his repertoire. I have all these recordings and wouldn’t
be willing to part with any of them, so full of insight and
so well executed are they. In case of a deportation to that
proverbial “Desert Island” – fully equipped with CD-players,
amplifiers and of course electricity – I would probably opt
for this disc with Moore, where vocally he is at the height
of his powers.
It
is easy to be a little condescending towards Loewe. His melodic
invention can be banal, his accompaniments verging on what could
be heard in perfumed Victorian parlours. More often than not
though his ballads are engaging, dramatic and flexibly composed
to be in fine accord with the texts. Erlkönig, his best-known
ballad, is in no way inferior to Schubert’s, Der Schatzgräber.
Kleiner Haushalt is virtuously elegant and Süsses
Begräbnis is a song of great beauty. Herr Oluf is
a variant on the Erlkönig theme and the end is just as
predictable. Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau is just cut out for songs
like these where he can make use of his vocal resources to maximum
effect. Gerald Moore as usual never puts a foot – or rather
a finger – wrong.
There
are full texts and translations and an illuminating essay by
Richard Wigmore. There are also some photos of Fischer-Dieskau
from the good old days. Practically anything he recorded in
those days is worth having and those who have yet to discover
the Lieder-composers Mendelssohn and Loewe should jump at this
opportunity.
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