Lieder Recital Waltraud Meier
View record and artist detailsRecord and Artist Details
Composer or Director: Franz Schubert, Robert Schumann, Johannes Brahms
Label: Red Seal
Magazine Review Date: 4/1998
Media Format: CD or Download
Media Runtime: 67
Mastering:
DDD
Catalogue Number: 09026 68759-2
Tracks:
| Composition | Artist Credit |
|---|---|
| (11) Zigeunerlieder |
Johannes Brahms, Composer
Gerhard Oppitz, Piano Johannes Brahms, Composer Waltraud Meier, Mezzo soprano |
| Frauenliebe und -leben |
Robert Schumann, Composer
Gerhard Oppitz, Piano Robert Schumann, Composer Waltraud Meier, Mezzo soprano |
| Kennst du das Land (Mignons Gesang) |
Franz Schubert, Composer
Franz Schubert, Composer Gerhard Oppitz, Piano Waltraud Meier, Mezzo soprano |
| Nur wer die Sehnsucht kennt (first version), Movement: second working F |
Franz Schubert, Composer
Franz Schubert, Composer Gerhard Oppitz, Piano Waltraud Meier, Mezzo soprano |
| Heiss mich nicht reden (Mignon I second version) |
Franz Schubert, Composer
Franz Schubert, Composer Gerhard Oppitz, Piano Waltraud Meier, Mezzo soprano |
| So lasst mich scheinen (Mignon II second version) |
Franz Schubert, Composer
Franz Schubert, Composer Gerhard Oppitz, Piano Waltraud Meier, Mezzo soprano |
| Ganymed |
Franz Schubert, Composer
Franz Schubert, Composer Gerhard Oppitz, Piano Waltraud Meier, Mezzo soprano |
| Gretchen am Spinnrade |
Franz Schubert, Composer
Franz Schubert, Composer Gerhard Oppitz, Piano Waltraud Meier, Mezzo soprano |
| (Der) Tod und das Mädchen |
Franz Schubert, Composer
Franz Schubert, Composer Gerhard Oppitz, Piano Waltraud Meier, Mezzo soprano |
| (Die) Junge Nonne |
Franz Schubert, Composer
Franz Schubert, Composer Gerhard Oppitz, Piano Waltraud Meier, Mezzo soprano |
Author: hfinch
Schubert and Schumann are not the first names to spring to mind when Waltraud Meier is mentioned, and none of these performances would probably rank as a first choice for the repertoire concerned. But there is much here that is winning in its eager individuality and its lack of preconception. This Frauenliebe und -leben, for instance, is hardly a waking dream: Meier is wide-eyed from the start, the voice bright, almost impatient with rapture, and the piano (in an ungratefully dry acoustic) as careless of nuance as the voice is of ornament. But Meier’s volatility finds a moving edge of anger in the last song, as consonants explode, and the voice discovers the sudden numbness of the past tense.
For Schubert, Meier wisely chooses songs with a larger-than-life protagonist. Her Mignon is eloquent within the fervent, sometimes almost declamatory mode she sets: her Gretchen is passionate by fits and starts rather than by any gradual building of momentum. A clinging rubato and lingering vowels leave us in no doubt as to the sensuous, even sensual attributes of this Ganymed. Both here, and in a suitably histrionic Die junge Nonne, Oppitz’s accompaniment creates only a drab, undiscriminating backdrop.
I enjoyed best the Brahms Zigeunerlieder. Here Meier’s top register flames into life, fiery as paprika in its upward portamentos, dancing with both her natural vibrato and with the kick of consonants, and enlivening with a fierce tenderness the more intimate songs.'
For Schubert, Meier wisely chooses songs with a larger-than-life protagonist. Her Mignon is eloquent within the fervent, sometimes almost declamatory mode she sets: her Gretchen is passionate by fits and starts rather than by any gradual building of momentum. A clinging rubato and lingering vowels leave us in no doubt as to the sensuous, even sensual attributes of this Ganymed. Both here, and in a suitably histrionic Die junge Nonne, Oppitz’s accompaniment creates only a drab, undiscriminating backdrop.
I enjoyed best the Brahms Zigeunerlieder. Here Meier’s top register flames into life, fiery as paprika in its upward portamentos, dancing with both her natural vibrato and with the kick of consonants, and enlivening with a fierce tenderness the more intimate songs.'
Lieder Recital Waltraud Meier
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