At the Wigmore Hall, Schubert’s birthday is always celebrated in style. This year, Angelika Kirchschlager and Julius Drake, much loved Wigmore Hall audience favourites, did the honours, with a recital marking the climax of the two-year-long Complete Schubert Songs Series. The programme began with a birthday song, Namenstaglied, and ended with a farewell, Abschied von der Erde. Along the way, a traverse through some of Schubert’s finest moments, highlighting different aspects of his song output : Schubert’s life, in miniature.
Author: Anne Ozioro
Winterreise by Mark Padmore
Schubert’s Winterreise is almost certainly the most performed Lieder cycle in the repertoire. Thousands of performances and hundreds of recordings ! But Mark Padmore and Kristian Bezuidenhout’s recording for Harmonia Mundi is proof of concept that the better the music the more it lends itself to re-discovery and endless revelation.
The Epic of Gilgamesh – Bohuslav Martin?
New recording of the English version of Bohuslav Martin?’s The Epic of Gilgamesh, from Supraphon, the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Manfred Honeck. This is the world premiere recording of the text in English, the original language in which it was written.
French orientalism : songs and arias, Sabine Devieilhe
Mirages : visions of the exotic East, a selection of French opera arias and songs from Sabine Devieilhe, with Alexandre Tharaud and Les SiËcles conducted by FranÁois-Xavier Roth, new from Erato
Mahler Das Lied von der Erde, London – Rattle, O’Neill, Gerhaher
By pairing Mahler Das Lied von der Erde (Simon O’Neill, Christian Gerhaher) with Strauss Metamorphosen, Simon Rattle and the London Symphony Orchestra were making a truly powerful statement. The Barbican performance last night was no ordinary concert. This performance was extraordinary because it carried a message.
Verdi Otello, Bergen – Stuart Skelton, Latonia Moore, Lester Lynch
Verdi Otello livestream from Norway with the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Edward Garner with a superb cast, led by Stuart Skelton, Latonia Moore, and Lester Lynch and a good cast, with four choirs, the Bergen Philharmonic Chorus, the Edvard Grieg Kor, Collegi˚m M˚sic˚m Kor, the Bergen pikekor and Bergen guttekor (Children’s Choruses) with chorus master HÂkon Matti Skrede. The Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra was founded in 1765, just a few years after the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra : Scandinavian musical culture has very strong roots, and is thriving still. Tucked away in the far north, Bergen may be a hidden treasure, but, as this performance proved, it’s world class.
Hans Werner Henze Choral Music
Hans Werner Henze works for mixed voice and chamber orchestra with SWR Vokalensemble and Ensemble Modern, conducted by Marcus Creed. Welcome new recordings of important pieces like Lieder von einer Insel (1964), Orpheus Behind the Wire (1984) plus F¸nf Madrigale (1947).
Julian PrÈgardien : Schubert, Wigmore Hall, London
The Wigmore Hall’s complete Schubert song series continued with Julian PrÈgardien and Christoph Schnackertz, in a recital deferring from May. Well worth the wait, because PrÈgardian is good, his singing enhanced by very strong musical instincts. In Lieder, sensitivity and musical intelligence are as important as voice. A good recital, is one where you come away feeling you’ve gone deeper into the repertoire thanks to the performer, as opposed to watching celebrity for celebrity sake
Schumann and Mahler Lieder : Florian Boesch
Schumann and Mahler Lieder with Florian Boesch and Malcolm Martineau, now out from Linn Records, following their recent Schubert Winterreise on Hyperion. From Boesch and Martineau, excellence is the norm. But their Mahler Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen takes excellence to even greater levels
Hans Werner Henze : Kammermusik 1958
“….In lieblicher Bl‰ue”. Landmark new recordings of Hans Werner Henze Neue Volkslieder und Hirtenges‰nge and Kammermusik 1958 from the Scharoun Ensemble Berlin, with Andrew Staples, Markus Weidmann, J¸rgen Ruck and Daniel Harding.