Vienna: Fin de Siècle

Berg: Sieben frühe Lieder;

A Mahler: Die stille Stadt, etc.

Schoenberg: Lieder Op. 2;

Webern: Fünf Lieder (nach Richard

Dehmel); Wolf: Mignon I-IV;

Zemlinsky: Lieder – Op. 5 Nos

1 & 6; Op. 7, Nos 1, 2 & 4, etc. Barbara Hannigan (soprano), Reinbert de Leeuw (piano)

Alpha Classics ALPHA 393 77:41 mins This fine recording draws together six closely-linked figures from fin-de-siècle Vienna: Schoenberg, his pupils

Berg and Webern, his teacher Zemlinsky, Alma Mahler, and one of their spiritual fathers, ★ugo Wolf. ★annigan’s luminous voice perfectly suits this music. She conveys the uneasy, almost unhinged feel of the fin de siècle not only in her lyric singing, but also in her crooning, swooping, sliding, whispering and weeping. Reinbert de Leeuw matches her with his delicate touch, and his sense of layering in the carefully terraced accompaniments.

That said, the recital presents numerous slow, dreamy songs which share the same harmonic and textural language. It’s best heard in bits. I would have loved a programme which showed the

complexity, contrast and range of song-writing at the turn of the 20th century. And while ★annigan’s and de Leeuw’s liner note is written with enthusiasm, it could offer more useful insights into these complex musicians and the tumultuous years which shaped their music.

The first three groups (Berg, Schoenberg, Webern) and the

Alma Mahler songs are almost overwhelmingly intimate in feel. ★annigan’s consonants are not that prominent, so you have to get up close to hear the actual poetry. But much of this music has been well-served in recordings, as have the closing four Mignon settings by Wolf. For me, the seven Zemlinsky songs were a revelation. ‘Da waren zwei Kinder’ and the tumultuous ‘Entbietung’ also elicit a new, weightier sound from ★annigan. ‘Frühlingstag’ is exquisitely, unforgettably beautiful. Natasha Loges PERFORMANCE RECORDING