Recording of the Month
Frage: Schumann songs Christian Gerhaher
‘Gerhaher remains one of the most intelligent, preternaturally expressive baritones of our time’
R Schumann
Sechs Gesänge, Op. 107; Romanzen und Balladen, Op. 49; Warnung, Op. 119 No. 2; Drei Gesänge, Op. 83; Gedichte von Justinus Kerner, Op. 35, and more Christian Gerhaher (baritone); Gerold Huber (piano)
Sony 19075889192 72 mins
The face staring out from the cover of Christian Gerhaher’s new Schumann album might look more ‘lived in’ than that gracing his revelatory 2004 Dichterliebe on RCA. And some of the voice’s youthful freshness has almost inevitably been ambushed by the passage of time. But Gerhaher’s remains one of the most intelligent, preternaturally expressive baritones of our time – and when it comes to Schumann, ‘lived in’ can only but pay rich dividends in a wide-ranging recital that opens on the cusp of the 1850s, and augments the 12 Kerner Lieder with the 4 Gesänge Op. 142 which shelter a refugee from that set as well as two rejected numbers from Dichterliebe.
This recording is the first release in a project curated by Gerhaher and destined to encompass Schumann’s complete songs. ★appily we won’t have to wait very long for its completion. All ten discs should be available by the end of 2020, and future collaborators apparently include sopranos Camilla Tilling and Sibylla Rubens as well as tenor Martin Mitterrutzner. This first volume is titled Frage (Question) – lifted from the title of the ninth song of the Kerner Lied – and it couldn’t be more apt. Both in his musical and literary responses, Gerhaher leaves nothing unquestioned. Each word is
Gerhaher is a compelling storyteller, languid, supple and playfully quixotic
weighed. Each note calibrated. Yet for all that, seemingly spontaneous and instinctive, the result is neither overegged nor loses sight of the overarching impulse. When it comes to line and shading, resolute truthfulness is all.
At heart, Gerhaher is a compelling storyteller who can be as languid and supple as the willows that droop over
Op. 107’s Herzeleid, or playfully quixotic (step forward ‘Der Gärtner’ from the same set). A verdant cloak enfolds
Op. 35’s ‘Sehnsucht nach der Waldgegend’, while the second number from that set (‘Stirb, Lieb’ und Freud’) spins a beguiling web of heartfelt lyricism. And what a wealth of conflicting emotions Gerhaher conjures for the sixth song with its poignant apostrophe on the wine glass of a dead friend.
Is the chorale-like simplicity of Op. 83’s ‘Der Einsiedler’ the fruit of Schumann’s genius or of a compromised imagination? Gerhaher helps you incline to the former, and pianist Gerold ★uber’s magical pianissimo placing of the final note is a reminder that all great lieder performance rests on a symbiotically creative partnership. ★is effervescent underpinning of ‘Lust der Sturmnacht’ gives point to Gerhaher’s heroic heft; and, singer and pianist united in purpose, Op. 35’s ‘Stille Thränen’ turns increasingly darker, almost frighteningly so – though calmed by the ineluctable poise of ‘Alte Laute’.
A decade on from ★yperion’s ‘complete songs’, featuring pianist Graham Johnson with the likes of Mark Padmore and Ian Bostridge (boldly presented in chronological order), this emerging project from Sony, Gerhaher and ★uber shows every sign of providing the stiffest of competition. PERFORMANCE ★★★★★
RECORDING ★★★★★
Hear excerpts and a discussion of this recording on the monthly BBC Music Magazine Podcast available free on itunes or classical-music.com