In the past two or three years Vesselina Kasarova has progressed from being a well-schooled young singer to a mature artist with much to say about the music she sings. Her recent appearance as Sesto in La clemenza di Tito at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, was a revelation in the intensity she brought to the role, and her first recital of German Lieder follows in much the same vein.
To date, her musical preferences have been Italian first and French second; but given a choice of languages for interview, she has tended to choose German in the past. In this recital her command of the language may not be idiomatic, but it has plenty of character. Nobody hearing her sing Brahms's Von ewiger Liebe, one of the major challenges on the disc, will be in any doubt about what she is feeling at any point. From the brooding romanticism of the opening to the blazing affirmation of the closing stanza is a big journey in Kasarova's performance, enlivened by many details along the way (her tenderness at the words 'Unsere Liebe sie trennet sich nicht!' momentarily catches one's breath). This is vivid Lieder singing, and there are many other examples like it on the disc. The tension in Schubert's An mein Herz is gripping. The elation of Schumann's 'Widmung' comes tinglingly alive, not least thanks to the effervescent fast vibrato in her voice.
Now it is time for comparisons. I took down from the shelves Schwarzkopf, Fassbaender, Margaret Price, Fischer-Dieskau, Andreas Schmidt and a few others, all of whom belong more centrally to the German Lieder tradition. Alongside them it is clear that Kasarova is an outsider. She tends to pull the tempo around excessively (listen to the stop-go speeds in Schubert's Der Wanderer an den Mond) and is not so adept at getting the words to speak naturally within the vocal line. In addition, her accompanist, Friedrich Haider, is rather matter-of-fact and the balance of the recording has Kasarova so close that you can almost feel her breathing. But the plus points are still in the ascendant. This is a bold and engrossing disc from a singer who looks set to be one of the major artists of her generation. Collectors will already have many of these songs sung in the true Lieder style on their shelves. For 65 minutes, live dangerously and give Kasarova a chance.'