On the other site, links are now available again.
Thank you all for your patience.
Happy New Year!

Saturday, May 18, 2024

Franz Liszt - Freudvoll und leidvoll (Jonas Kaufmann; Helmut Deutsch)


Information

Composer: Franz Liszt
  1. Vergiftet sind meine Lieder, S. 289
  2. Freudvoll und leidvoll, S. 280.1
  3. Freudvoll und leidvoll, S. 280.2
  4. Der König von Thule, S. 278.2
  5. Im Rhein, im schönen Strome, S. 272.2
  6. Die Loreley, S. 273.2
  7. Ihr Glocken von Marling, S. 328
  8. Die drei Zigeuner, S. 320
  9. 3 Sonetti del Petrarca, S. 270.2: Benedetto sia 'l giorno (Sonetto 47)
  10. 3 Sonetti del Petrarca, S. 270.2: Pace non trovo (Sonetto 104)
  11. 3 Sonetti del Petrarca, S. 270.2: I' vidi in terra angelici costumi (Sonetto 123)
  12. Es muss ein Wunderbares sein, S. 314
  13. O lieb, solang du lieben kannst, S. 298
  14. Die stille Wasserrose, S.321
  15. Ein Fichtenbaum steht einsam, S. 309
  16. Es rauschen die Winde, S. 294
  17. Ich möchte hingehn, S. 296
  18. Der du von dem Himmel bist, S. 279.1
  19. Der du von dem Himmel bist, S. 279.3
  20. Über allen Gipfeln ist Ruh, S. 306.2

Jonas Kaufmann, tenor
Helmut Deutsch, piano

Date: 2021
Label: Sony Classical

-----------------------------------------------------------

Review

Songs of the legendarily charismatic Franz Liszt would seem – at least in theory – a great fit for magnetic Heldentenor Jonas Kaufmann. However, a number of elements conspire to keep this album from being all that it could have been, from Kaufmann’s vocal state for these June 2020 recording sessions to the almost claustrophobically intimate sound picture, not just in the stentorian tenor moments but for pianist Helmut Deutsch. Liszt’s overall sensibility is that of expanse. But any number of full-throated moments, starting with the opening song, ‘Vergiftet sind meine Lieder’, jump out at the ear with an effect that’s more aggressive than heroic. Kaufmann does scale back his voice successfully but more fragile songs become pallid. Several songs overlap with Vol 5 of Hyperion’s complete Liszt songs (11/18), and it’s there that one misses Allan Clayton’s more lyrical approach, with a smaller voice that more naturally accommodates the music’s expressive range.

Liszt recitals always have wild cards: this one includes a welcome handful of evergreens, such as the Petrarch Sonnets and ‘O Lieb, solang du lieben kannst’ (all famously recast for solo piano, the latter as the third of the Liebesträume). But Liszt’s less-charted realms include songs in several versions – some wholly recomposed, such as ‘Freudvoll und Leidvoll’, from which this collection takes its title. Also unpredictable is the composer’s narrative sense that employs a wide variety of musical ideas in a short space of time, and it’s there that Kaufmann and Deutsch conspicuously lack cohesiveness. In fact, they often embrace the episodic qualities by going for maximum impact in every verse, and even linger over Liszt’s extended endings. Pictorial effects come off here more like window dressing than doorways into a larger world, such as the water imagery whenever the Rhine is referenced and the cimbalom effects in ‘Die drei Zigeuner’, which are more evocative in the hands of Angelika Kirchschlager and Julius Drake on Vol 2 of Hyperion’s series (9/12).

Not that Kaufmann isn’t a credible lieder recitalist (though more with Schubert’s visionary Winterreise than the folksier Die schöne Müllerin). Curiously, he lacks rhetorical authenticity in the operatically ardent Petrarch Sonnets. Elsewhere he uses a micro voice, scaling back to what might be called a Helden-whisper. That works well against the spare chords and contemplative tempo of ‘Über allen Gipfeln ist Ruh’. But in any number of other moments, Kaufmann robs himself of the vocal colours and range of articulation he needs to project a fully realised interpretation. One need not worry about his vocal health: after these sessions he went on to some of the best singing of his career in the Paris Opéra Aida in February 2021. And one must always applaud great artists who venture outside their comfort zones.

-- David Patrick Stearns, Gramophone

More reviews:

-----------------------------------------------------------

Franz Liszt (October 22, 1811 – July 31, 1886) was a prolific 19th-century Hungarian composer, virtuoso pianist, conductor, and music teacher. Liszt gained renown in Europe for his virtuosic skill as a pianist and in the 1840s he was considered to be the greatest pianist of all time. As a composer, Liszt was one of the most prominent composers of the "New German School". Some of his most notable musical contributions were the invention of the symphonic poem, developing the concept of thematic transformation as part of his experiments in musical form, and making radical departures in harmony.

***

Jonas Kaufmann (born 10 July 1969 in Munich) is a German operatic tenor. He studied at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater München and began his professional career in 1994. Kaufmann is best known for his performances in spinto roles such as Don José in Carmen, Cavaradossi in Tosca, Maurizio in Adriana Lecouvreur, and the title role in Don Carlos. He has also sung leading tenor roles in the operas of Richard Wagner in Germany and abroad, most notably at the Metropolitan Opera in New York, and is also an accomplished Lieder singer. His debut recording was with Decca and was released in January 2008.

***

Helmut Deutsch (born 24 December 1945 in Vienna) is an Austrian classical pianist, specialising in chamber music and lieder accompaniment. He studied piano, composition and musicology at the Vienna Music Academy from 1967 until 1979, and was professor for lied interpretation and performance at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater München from 1986 until 2011. He also gives master classes throughout Europe and in Japan. During his career, Deutsch has collaborated with such prominent singers as Irmgard Seefried, Hermann Prey, Matthias Goerne, Hans Hotter, and his former student Jonas Kaufmann.

-----------------------------------------------------------

FLAC, tracks
Links in comment
Enjoy!
at
Labels: , ,

1 comment:

  1. Ronald DoMay 18, 2024 at 2:10 AM

    Choose one link, copy and paste it to your browser's address bar, wait a few seconds (you may need to click 'Continue' first), then click 'Free Access with Ads' / 'Get link'. Complete the steps / captchas if require.
    Guide for Linkvertise: 'Free Access with Ads' --> 'Get [Album name]' --> 'I'm interested' --> 'Explore Website / Learn more' --> close the newly open tab/window, then wait for a few seconds --> 'Get [Album name]'

    https://link-center.net/610926/freudvoll-und-leidvoll
    or
    https://uii.io/PI1EYG4j5z
    or
    https://exe.io/x23uF7K

    ReplyDelete

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)