Naxos are nearing the end of their Marathon
Schubert-Lied-Edition. This double-CD
is volume 19 and to be honest they are
now beginning to scrape the bottom of
the barrel. This may sound harsh but
truth to tell I always enjoy listening
to Schubert’s songs, even those not
from the top drawer. The present helping
is unmistakably Schubertian, his melodic
gift always astonishing. Considering
how much he wrote in his all-too-short
life his achievement has to be one of
the true miracles in the history of
creative arts. And just as I can’t imagine
living on a diet of pâté
de foie gras and miss the pleasure
of a steak-and-kidney-pie, I would sorely
miss some of the less-than-masterpieces
that I frequently encounter, both as
reviewer and "private" listener
– provided they are well performed.
In the main I think
Naxos have been quite successful in
their choice of singers for this series,
even though the general excellence of
execution may be even higher on the
comparable Hyperion Schubert Edition.
Graham Johnson, who master-minded that
edition picked more famous names while
Ulrich Eisenlohr chose younger singers
– fresher of voice in some instances
– and opted for German speakers. The
other difference is the grouping of
songs: while Johnson skilfully found
themes, Eisenlohr presents the songs
according to poets (in some cases Johnson
did that too). If some company would
enter on a similar journey for the third
time, which seems unlikely at the moment,
they might choose the to me most obvious
road: recording the songs in chronological
order.
For the present discs,
containing songs based on poems by Klopstock
and Matthisson, Naxos have engaged three
singers, of whom Thomas Bauer has already
appeared on a couple of discs in the
recently begun Schumann cycle, one of
which I praised not long ago. The tenor
Marcus Ullmann has a fairly long list
of recordings for other labels, not
least Bach cantatas, and I was deeply
impressed by his unforced lyrical singing
in a performance of Haydn’s The Seasons
in Savonlinna a few years ago. The soprano
Simone Nold was new to me, although
I see in the booklet that she has been
busy singing a variety of music in Europe
and the US for quite some time and UK
audiences may have heard her at the
Proms and also as Sophie in Covent Garden’s
Rosenkavalier.
The real novelty, though,
on this issue is that Ulrich Eisenlohr
has changed from pianoforte to fortepiano,
what in Germany is called "Hammerflügel".
There is of course a point here, since
the frailer tone of the fortepiano comes
closer to what Schubert and his contemporaries
expected to hear. The question is why
he didn’t settle for a fortepiano from
the outset or what specifically in these
particular songs makes the instrument
more suitable. A short note in the booklet
only states: "The historical instrument
is particularly well suited in timbre
to the work of ‘poets of sensibility’
and music of the period, in contrast
to the virtuosity of the later nineteenth
and of the twentieth centuries".
Yes, and ...?
Not that I complain,
but in the name of consistency, he should
have contemplated this right from the
beginning, making the project even more
of an alternative to the Hyperion series.
Anyway, Ulrich Eisenlohr is a splendid
accompanist, the balance between voices
and instrument excellently judged and
the crisper tones of the Hammerflügel
create an agreable "historical"
atmosphere.
Of the singers Thomas
Bauer seems predestined to become a
really important Lieder artist, or rather,
he is already. His voice is both
lyrically beautiful and powerfully dramatic
and he colours it skillfully according
to the textual needs. And therein lies
the secret: a good Lieder artist must
be able to convey the message that lies
in the text, the text that once inspired
the composer; Bauer sings "off
the text", he lives the text. Just
listen to three songs from the first
CD: tracks 1, Dem Unendlichen,
11, Die Gestirne and 13, Erinnerung
– he is lively, he is intense and the
text is always on the tip of his tongue.
Marcus Ullmann has
frankly one of the most elegant and
fluent lyrical tenor voices around and
he also knows how to turn a phrase convincingly.
The only problem, if that is what it
is, might be that there is a horde of
similarly equipped musical, sensitive
tenors out there. Compared to Bauer
he has a narrower scope, it isn’t a
very powerful voice and he wisely avoids
pressing it beyond its natural limitations.
Still on CD1 he can be heard to good
effect on track 10, Die Sommernacht,
and 12, An Laura.
Simone Nold studied
with Reri Grist in Munich and she has
something of her teacher’s eager delivery
and glittering tones but, as recorded
here anyway, also a more one-dimensional
sound. It is a beautiful voice and she
phrases so well but there is little
variation of tone. Still one must admire
her in songs like Die Betende
and Die Sterbende (CD1 tracks
14 and 16).
There are quite a few
songs by the young Schubert and even
a couple of fragments, that are useful
since they let us look into the composer’s
workshop and ponder over why he didn’t
finish them. Good booklet notes by Ira
Schulze-Ardeey but no texts and translations
– it’s up to the listener to download
them from www.naxos.com
which I still think is a little mean.
Not an essential issue
for general listeners perhaps, but Schubert
completists will need it and anyone
curious about some lesser known repertoire
can rest assured that the singing is
fully worthy of the songs.
Göran Forsling
For reviews of other releases in this
series,
see the Naxos
Deutsche Schubert-Lied Edition page
Simone Nold (soprano)♀, Marcus Ullmann (tenor)♂,
Thomas Bauer (baritone)☼, Ulrich Eisenlohr
(fortepiano) 
