Hyperion have scaled great heights in their recordings of Schubert
lieder, not least in their edition of the complete
Schubert songs. Especially when one bears this in mind, this
current recording is a disappointment.
The first
tracks I listened to on this disc were the last two, included
as contrasting fillers, and it is in these that the flaws of
this disc are most obviously laid bare. The biggest problem
is the Robert Holl. His voice immediately appears over-sized
for these gentle songs. One is left with an impression of a
thick, unwieldy voice which fits the grander songs but is really
not at all suitable for the endless subtleties of most of the
songs on this disc. Equally seriously, Holl gives few gradations
of volume, but sings in a fairly constant mezzo-forte
throughout, ruining the piano moments. He even goes flat
on more than one occasion during the final song. Why on earth
wasn’t this picked up and smoothed out before release?
The great
final cycle itself fares a little better, but the same problems
are there. Holl’s weightiness suits the big numbers such as
Der Atlas and he plays the gruff soldier of Kriegers
Ahnung very well. He is perhaps at his best during the severe
nature-painting of Aufenthalt, with its roaring forest
and immovable rock, all too appropriate images for his own approach
to this work. The pianissimo moments are ruined, though,
such as the climax of Kriegers Ahnung which sounds altogether
too strained. Hyperion’s producers must shoulder some of the
blame for this, however, because the balance feels all wrong
throughout the recording: Holl is too far forward, while the
piano feels too distant, so we struggle to hear Vignoles’ marvellous
accompaniment while Holl is too close for comfort. Furthermore,
with such an overpowering approach to Der Doppelgänger, the
final song, Die Taubenpost feels out of place. We feel
as though it has been sprung upon us with no preparation and
so it seems uncomfortable and anachronistic; a shame, considering
the natural culmination that it can appear in some hands.
All is not
entirely lost: the opening song, Liebesbotschaft, sees
Holl pare down his voice somewhat. The stasis of In der Ferne
suits him very well, and generally the Heine settings of the
second half of the cycle come off better than the first. Vignoles,
that most intelligent of British accompanists, provides an indispensable
contribution throughout: listen to the sinister rippling of
the piano as the boat approaches the shore in Die Stadt,
or the exuberant awakening of nature in Frühlingssehnsucht.
That makes it all the more a shame that he is balanced so far
back. Vignoles also provides the notes, which are up to Hyperion’s
usual excellent standard. The cycle is discussed in terms of
its overall structure, but each song also has thorough analysis
of its own, with enlightening insights into both the music and
the poetry. Vignoles also suggests an alternative listening
order to the Heine songs. Listening to them in the order in
which the poems were written rather than that in which the music
was composed gives coherence to the narrative and heightens
the sense of drama, though he admits that it somewhat undermines
the musical arc.
A disappointing
release, then, mainly due to the mismatch of voice to repertoire
and the poor balance. This becomes all the more pronounced when
once considers the incredible competition for this cycle: Mathias
Goerne and Thomas Quasthoff have both provided excellent baritone
interpretations recently, while Fischer-Dieskau and Hotter are
both peerless in very different ways. If you want to try something
very different but uniquely satisfying, however, then listen to
Brigitte Fassbaender’s performance on DG: even if you don’t like
it you certainly won’t forget it.
Simon Thompson
