RECORDING OF THE MONTH
Hugo WOLF (1860-1903)
27 Mörike-Lieder: Auf einer Wanderung; Der
Tambour; Denk’ es, o Seele!; Der Gärtner; Auf eine Christblume
II; Der Feuerreiter; Peregrina I; Peregrina II; Um
Mitternacht; Jägerlied; Schlafendes Jesuskind; Frage
und Antwort; Fussreise; In der Frühe; Im Frühling;
Lied eines Verliebten; Lebe wohl; An die Geliebte; Nimmersatte
Liebe; Elfenlied; Gebet; An den Schlaf; Er ists;
Zu Warmung; Bei einer Trauung; Begegnung; Encore: Selbstgeständnis
Wolfgang Holzmair (baritone); Imogen Cooper (piano)
rec. live, Wigmore Hall, London, 15 February 2008
WIGMORE HALL LIVE WHLIVE0029 [73:25] 
There is a marvellous symbiosis at work between Holzmair and Cooper that is
evident everywhere on this wonderful disc. You can hear it immediately in
the first Lied, Auf einer Wanderung. Cooper plays, as always, with
the utmost sensitivity: just listen, also, to the perfectly weighted chords
of the accompaniment to the prayer-like Schlafendes Jesuskind. Holzmair
projects the sense of wonder of the second stanza as eloquently as he does
the magic simplicity of the scene-setting first. Cooper appears a little far
back in the recorded balance.
Denk es, o Seele! is from Möricke’s novel Mozart auf der Reise nach
Prag. No surprise then that D-Minor is the chosen key, the key of Don
Giovanni. Cooper’s delicacy in the final bars is astonishing; out of that
silence comes the famous Der Gärtner with its deceptive childish simplicity.
Delicacy is once more the order of the day for Auf eine Christrose II,
a song that here seems only barely to materialise on the earthly plane - something
shared, to a slightly lesser extent, by An den Schlaf, heard later
in the recital. In total contrast comes the frenzy of Feuerreiter,
a nightmarish vision of a fairy-tale character who senses fire and abandons
himself to it. The fusion of Cooper and Holzmair is best demonstrated here
in Cooper's expert left-hand mirroring of Holzmair's phrasing of the recurring
phrase, “Hinterm Berg, Brennt es in der Muhle!” (“Behind the hill, the mill's
on fire!”).
The mystery of the advanced harmonies of Peregrina I is wonderfully
caught here. The song is thematically linked to its companion, Peregrina
II, and indeed they are performed here with hardly a breath between them.
The latter is a picture of desolation in sound; the end hangs magnificently
yet infinitely sadly in the air. Um Mitternacht seems the only course
of action, the low, ululating accompaniment underpinning the gentle vocal
line. All credit to Holzmair here, for his faultless honouring of the long
legato lines. The disarming simplicity of Jägerlied comes as a breath
of fresh air, not least in the form of Cooper's sprightly accompaniment with
its wonderfully modulated staccati.
Putting the Schoenbergian Frage und Antwort right next to the popular
Fussreise is lovely programming – and we hear the applause that presumably
marked the end of the recital's first half. The second part opens with another
harmonically complex offering, though: In der Frühe, a meditation on
insomnia. Holzmair and Cooper uphold the intense concentration through the
enigmatic Im Frühling
There is a distinct Mahlerian tinge to the brief Lied eines Verliebten
before Wolf's own brand of desolation is heard in pure form in Lebe wohl.
Yet Holzmair has a restrained smile in his voice for that meditation on the
love-bite, Nimmersatte Liebe, a smile that becomes more explicit in
Elfenlied.
Zur Warnung – a musical depiction of a hangover – is beautifully characterised
by both players, while Cooper's accompaniment to the final programmed song,
Begegnung, is masterly. The encore, Selbstgeständnis, is exquisitely
turned.
Throughout, Holzmair’s high register is magnificently focused, with little
or no sense of strain, and he characterises each song well. Cooper if anything
outshines her soloist in her seemingly infinite sensitivity. A very special
disc.
Colin Clarke
Magnificently focused, with little or no sense of strain … seemingly infinite
sensitivity. A very special disc.