Liszt’s songs, a much underrated part of his output, find a most sympathetic interpreter in Philip Langridge. He has the intelligence and poetic sensibility to appreciate their very varied nature, and indeed without such qualities no singer is likely to make very much of them. He even comes close to persuading this listener that the setting of Goethe’s Wanderers Nachtlied is a fair response to one of the most famous and exquisite lyrics in the German language, but not even his elegance of line can justify the interminable repetitions of the ending. Never mind: there is much here that is well chosen from quite a long list, and Langridge shows a striking ability to enter the world of each song and think it through with real perception.
He can colour the graceful melodies of Bist du! and Kling leise with a sweetness of tone that is exactly judged to match his smooth line; he can, appropriately, seem to poison this for Vergiftet sind meine Lieder and darken it for Die Vatergruft; he can characterize the three gipsies colourfully (with Constable strutting out the proud Hungarian cadences); he can produce a remarkable burst of power for “Jugendgluck”. Only in Der Alpenjager does he seem rather overwhelmed, careful as John Constable is at all times to do justice to Liszt’s piano sonorities without unleashing too much sheer volume. Theirs is a sensitive partnership, and Constable is scrupulous in judging when the piano is supportive, when almost contradictory, when independent, when the soloist.
There is room for another Liszt recital from them, perhaps to include the remarkable Lorelei, Kennst du das Land and of course the Petrarch Sonnets.'