Schumann Song cycles
View record and artist detailsRecord and Artist Details
Composer or Director: Robert Schumann
Label: Capriccio
Magazine Review Date: 12/1988
Media Format: CD or Download
Media Runtime: 62
Mastering:
DDD
Catalogue Number: 10 215
Tracks:
| Composition | Artist Credit |
|---|---|
| Dichterliebe |
Robert Schumann, Composer
Helmut Deutsch, Piano Josef Protschka, Tenor Robert Schumann, Composer |
| Liederkreis |
Robert Schumann, Composer
Helmut Deutsch, Piano Josef Protschka, Tenor Robert Schumann, Composer |
Composer or Director: Robert Schumann
Label: Capriccio
Magazine Review Date: 12/1988
Media Format: Vinyl
Media Runtime: 0
Mastering:
DDD
Catalogue Number: C27 215
Tracks:
| Composition | Artist Credit |
|---|---|
| Dichterliebe |
Robert Schumann, Composer
Helmut Deutsch, Piano Josef Protschka, Tenor Robert Schumann, Composer |
| Liederkreis |
Robert Schumann, Composer
Helmut Deutsch, Piano Josef Protschka, Tenor Robert Schumann, Composer |
Composer or Director: Robert Schumann
Label: Capriccio
Magazine Review Date: 12/1988
Media Format: Cassette
Media Runtime: 0
Mastering:
DDD
Catalogue Number: CC27 215
Tracks:
| Composition | Artist Credit |
|---|---|
| Dichterliebe |
Robert Schumann, Composer
Helmut Deutsch, Piano Josef Protschka, Tenor Robert Schumann, Composer |
| Liederkreis |
Robert Schumann, Composer
Helmut Deutsch, Piano Josef Protschka, Tenor Robert Schumann, Composer |
Author: Alan Blyth
Protschka follows his much-admired Capriccio account of Die schone Mullerin (C27 089; '' 10 082, 6/87) with these almost equally successful versions of two of Schumann's most important cycles. Once again I liked the freshness of his tone and the wholly unaffected way in which he uses it Yet that should not suggest that a great deal of thought hasn't gone into both these readings: every song has clearly been worked out for maximum effect with his excellent pianist, Helmut Deutsch as on the previous record.
Throughout Dichterliebe I appreciated the way the tenor approaches the songs as through a veil of dreams, because the act of dreaming and imagining a previously perfect relationship, and the pain that the broken reverie causes the young protagonist, lies at the core of Heine's poems and Schumann's ideal musical realization of them. From the very first thoughts of May through the happiness of ''Wenn ich in de ne Augen seh'' to the heartbreak of that marvellous song ''Und wussten's die Blumen'' to the nightmare of ''Ich hab im Traum geweinet'', Protschka sustains this mood wonderfully well, with a keen but not too emphatic accentuation of consonants and through carefully used rubato. He can also provide the touch of metal and dramatic bite called for at the climax of ''Ich grolle nicht'' and in the last two songs. Where I have a reservation about the reading is in the choice of very slow speeds especially in the first four songs and then again in ''Am leuchtenden Sommermorgen''. They may account for a kind of rhythmic stasis, a failure to let the music flow forward naturally.
A similar feeling pervades the first two songs of Liederkreis but then the two artists begin to absorb themselves in the marvellous imagery of Eichendorff's poems and the acute response they provoked from Schumann. They have both thought themselves into the fantastic, timeless world of songs such as ''Waldesgesprach'', ''Auf einer Burg'' and ''Zwielicht'', all, of which receive taut and imaginative readings. In ''Mondnacht'' Protschka sustains a refined piano from start to finish; a magical performance.
The recording is first rate, happily less reverberant than on these artists' previous release, and the balance between voice and instrument is ideal. Once more Protschka and Deutsch are in friendly rivalry with Bar and Parsons (EMI) whose approach is not so very different.'
Throughout Dichterliebe I appreciated the way the tenor approaches the songs as through a veil of dreams, because the act of dreaming and imagining a previously perfect relationship, and the pain that the broken reverie causes the young protagonist, lies at the core of Heine's poems and Schumann's ideal musical realization of them. From the very first thoughts of May through the happiness of ''Wenn ich in de ne Augen seh'' to the heartbreak of that marvellous song ''Und wussten's die Blumen'' to the nightmare of ''Ich hab im Traum geweinet'', Protschka sustains this mood wonderfully well, with a keen but not too emphatic accentuation of consonants and through carefully used rubato. He can also provide the touch of metal and dramatic bite called for at the climax of ''Ich grolle nicht'' and in the last two songs. Where I have a reservation about the reading is in the choice of very slow speeds especially in the first four songs and then again in ''Am leuchtenden Sommermorgen''. They may account for a kind of rhythmic stasis, a failure to let the music flow forward naturally.
A similar feeling pervades the first two songs of Liederkreis but then the two artists begin to absorb themselves in the marvellous imagery of Eichendorff's poems and the acute response they provoked from Schumann. They have both thought themselves into the fantastic, timeless world of songs such as ''Waldesgesprach'', ''Auf einer Burg'' and ''Zwielicht'', all, of which receive taut and imaginative readings. In ''Mondnacht'' Protschka sustains a refined piano from start to finish; a magical performance.
The recording is first rate, happily less reverberant than on these artists' previous release, and the balance between voice and instrument is ideal. Once more Protschka and Deutsch are in friendly rivalry with Bar and Parsons (EMI) whose approach is not so very different.'
Schumann Song cycles
Schumann Song cycles
Schumann Song cycles
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