Perfect
legato, concentrated tone, restraint balanced with tension; those
are the first reactions to Daniela Sindram’s voice in the opening
song of this disc. Even and spotless tone in the youthful Der
Mondabend too, but here she opens up to a larger sound and
she is not afraid of letting the vibrato widen to fine dramatic
effect. In Bertas Lied in der Nacht she grades the nuances
skilfully and after these three nightly poems she finds a lighter
tone for Cora an die Sonne. As time goes on can detect
a slight over-vibrancy in places – and doesn’t the voice glare
uncomfortably in Die Blumensprache? On the other hand:
isn’t she always expressive, singing off the text? And in An
die Sonne and Lambertine, two lovely songs, how well
she colours the voice. Two mezzo-sopranos from the not so distant
past spring to mind: Brigitte Fassbaender, most of all, and Christa
Ludwig. Aha, the reader thinks, no prizes for guessing who were
her teachers. And right he/she is. Neither of these remarkable
singers had any qualms about sacrificing tonal beauty when the
expression required it and in later years we even learnt to accept
some quite unbeautiful singing from Fassbaender.
No
one can deny that Sindram has a vibrant voice at forte and above,
but it is a controlled vibrato – and beautiful at that. In Blondel
zu Marien, a remarkable song in itself with the Beethovenian
piano introduction and the Bellinian vocal line, she finds a creamy
tone to match the music. The rest of the programme is a string
of pearls of well-judged phrasing and discreet stressing and pointing
of words. In the few instances I could find alternative recordings
she stands up well against such an expert Liedersinger as Irmgard
Seefried – Das Lied im Grünen – but Seefried with many
years of experience has a wider tonal palette. Imagining Fassbaender
in some of the songs she would also have invested them with even
more depth. I don’t say this to diminish the impact of Daniela
Sindram’s readings – this disc belongs among the best in this
series of those I have heard – but comparisons are part and parcel
of this reviewing business and the mere fact that I pitch her
against such formidable competition is proof enough that hers
is an admirable achievement. In most instances there is practically
no competition, apart from the complete Hyperion series, of which
I have a respectable number but far from all of them and, as it
happens, none of these.
Not
all of these songs are out of the top drawer but, as those who
followed the Hyperion series and also those who have followed
this Naxos series know, there is in almost every song something
to admire and many of them are little gems.
No
texts and translations, but they can be found on the web, and
Ulrich Eisenlohr’s extensive notes are illuminating. That he is
also a splendid accompanist, besides being the mastermind behind
the whole project, need hardly be mentioned. Like Graham Johnson
in the Hyperion series he has been doing a mammoth job.
The
recorded sound is fully worthy of the musical excellence on
display here.
Göran
Forsling
Daniela Sindram (mezzo), Ulrich Eisenlohr (piano)
