Antonín Dvořák - Songs & Duets (Genia Kühmeier; Bernarda Fink; Christoph Berner)

Information

Composer: Antonín Dvořák

• Gipsy Melodies, Op. 55
• Moravian Duets, Op. 32
• Biblical Songs, Op. 99

Genia Kühmeier, soprano

Bernarda Fink, mezzo-soprano

Christoph Berner, piano

Date: 2012

Label: harmonia mundi

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Review

Designed for the amateur domestic market, Dvořák’s settings of Moravian folk poems captivate with their lyrical grace (Dvořák was as adept as Brahms at creating quasi-folk tunes that sound like the real thing), rhythmic piquancy and nonchalant touches of contrapuntal interplay. Encouraged by Christoph Berner’s zesty, colourful accompaniments, Genia Kühmeier and Bernarda Fink give thoroughly delightful performances, combining eager characterisation – say, in the melancholy dialogue of No 7 or the lovers’ tiff of No 12 – with a crucial sense of spontaneous enjoyment.

Framing the duets, soprano and mezzo share the honours in Dvořák’s two best-known solo song collections. Singing in what sounds like idiomatic Czech, Kühmeier catches both the flaring intensity and the nostalgic tenderness of the Gypsy Songs. Her pure, rather ‘instrumental’ tone has now acquired richer, more complex shadings. She floats her high notes exquisitely in a touching account of ‘And the forest is silent’, builds to a climax of passionate intensity in ‘Songs my mother taught me’ and, lustily abetted by Berner, brings a dangerous Zigeuner wildness to ‘The strings are tuned’ – a contrast to Bernarda Fink’s beautifully sung but more contained performance on her all-Dvořák recital (7/04).

Fink’s art, founded on warm, evenly produced tone and scrupulous care for phrasing and verbal clarity, has always had a certain patrician restraint. In the often troubled Biblical Songs, written in New York as Dvořák’s father lay dying in distant Bohemia, she reveals a more impassioned temperament than I had previously suspected, whether in the anxious declamation of No 6, ‘Hear my cry, O God’, or the fervent climaxes of No 7, ‘By the waters of Babylon’. At the other end of the spectrum, Fink finds a joyous brightness within her darkly glowing mezzo for the catchy dance rhythms of the final ‘O sing unto the Lord’, with Christoph Berner – crucial to the success of this whole recital – realising the accompaniment’s cosmic murmurs with fleet-fingered delicacy.

— Richard Wigmore

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Antonín Dvořák (September 8, 1841 – May 1, 1904) was a Czech composer. He was the second Czech composer to achieve worldwide recognition, after Bedřich Smetana. Following Smetana's nationalist example, many of Dvořák's works show the influence of Czech folk music, such as his  two sets of Slavonic Dances, the Symphonic Variations, and the overwhelming majority of his songs. Dvořák wrote in a variety of forms: nine symphonies, ten operas, three concertos, several symphonic poems, serenades for string orchestra and wind ensemble, more than 40 works of chamber music, and piano music.

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Genia Kühmeier (born 1975 in Salzburg) is an acclaimed Austrian soprano. After studying at the Mozarteum, she joined the Vienna State Opera and gained recognition as Pamina in The Magic Flute. Her international breakthrough came in 2002 at La Scala, and she has since performed major roles at the Metropolitan Opera, Royal Opera House, and Salzburg Festival. Renowned for her lyrical voice, Kühmeier has also become a prominent concert artist, performing works by Mozart, Bach, Beethoven, and Mahler. She has collaborated with top conductors and partners, and her recordings include operas, oratorios, and lieder.

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Bernarda Fink (born 29 August 1955) is an Argentinean mezzo-soprano. Born in Buenos Aires to Slovenian parents, she studied music at the Instituto Superior de Arte del Teatro Colón. After winning the Nuevas Voces Liricas competition in 1985, she moved to Europe and subsequently built a distinguished international career. Fink has performed with world-renowned orchestras such as the Vienna and London Philharmonics, and at major venues including the Concertgebouw, Carnegie Hall, and Sydney Opera House. She has made over fifty recordings with a repertoire ranging from Monteverdi to Brahms and Bruckner.

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Christoph Berner (born 1971 in Vienna) is a Austrian classical pianist. A graduate of the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna and later a student of Maria Tipo in Italy, he gained early acclaim through major piano competitions, including the Bösendorfer (1995) and Beethoven (1997) Competitions. He has performed with top orchestras and conductors across Europe. Berner is especially celebrated for his long-standing partnership with tenor Werner Güra, performing at leading venues like Wigmore Hall and major festivals. He also collaborates with notable artists such as Bernarda Fink and Genia Kühmeier.

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