Schubert - The Complete Lieder - Box Set 38CDs

Label : Naxos
Format : Flac (image + cue)
Cover : Yes

CDs 1–3: Die Schöne Müllerin, Winterreise, and Schwanengesang
CDs 4–6: Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
CDs 7–10: Friedrich Schiller
CDs 11–12 Johann Baptist Mayrhofer
CDs 13–15: “Schubert’s Friends”
CDs 16–18: “European Poets” (includes Ossian [James Macpherson], Walter Scott, William Shakespeare, Alexander Pope, Carlo Goldoni, Pietro Metastasio, Jacopo Vitorelli, Francesco Petrarca, Johann Gottfried von Herder, and Gabriele von Baumberg)
CDs 19–24: “Poets of Sensibility” (includes Friedrich Gottlieb Klopstock, Friedrich von Matthisson, Johann Gottfried von Herder, and Ludwig Theobul Kosegarten)
CD 25: “ Sturm und Drang Poets” (includes Johann Gottfried von Herder and Johann Georg Jacobi)
CD 26: “Various Poets”
CD 27: “North German Poets”
CDs 28–31: “Romantic Poets” (includes Karl Wilhelm Friedrich von Schlegel, August Wilhelm von Schlegel, Friedrich von Hardenberg [Novalis], Theodor Körner, and Friedrich Rückert)
CDs 32–34: “Austrian Contemporaries”

Multiple settings of the same text are usually, though not always, given to the same singer. Thus, among the Goethe songs, the Harfner-Lieder and the Gesänge des Harfners aus Wilhelm Meister are sung as a set by Ulf Bästlein on CD 4, and the Mignon-Lieder and the Gesänge auf Wilhelm Meister by Ruth Ziesak on CD 5.
Now, at last, for the singers themselves. Except for the complete song cycles, I indicate in brackets the number of Lieder performed by that artist.

CD 1: Die Schöne Müllerin. The set gets off to a weak start. Christian Elsner has a significant career in Europe and bids fair to be the successor to Peter Schreier, whose voice his resembles. I have always found the throaty, somewhat constricted sound of that voice type unattractive, and interpretively Elsner is no Schreier, having a limited range of expression. Fortunately there are any number of vastly superior versions of this cycle available separately, so this disc can simply be ignored.

CD 2: Winterreise. This is a major improvement on the preceding disc. Noted baritone Roman Trekel turns in a highly distinguished performance of this cycle, reminiscent of Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau in interpretive approach but with his own distinct touches. If not a first choice for this cycle, given the overwhelming competition, it is a worthy entry that gives much satisfaction.

CD 3: Schwanengesang (plus Auf der Strom and two other songs). Baritone Michael Volle has a darker, more suety voice than does Trekel; he sings well, but is not quite on Trekel’s level either vocally or interpretively. Hornist Sjön Scott is excellent in Auf der Strom.

CD 4: Ulf Bästlein [24 songs] has a light-grained, soft baritone. It is not robust—his soft singing in his lower register is not fully supported—and he uses it cautiously and carefully. He almost never sings above mezzo piano in volume, only reaching a forte for the first time in track 9 and then again in tracks 18–20 and 24. The results are acceptable but interpretively rather limited; tracks 19, 20, and 24 are done extremely well, however.

CD 5: Soprano Ruth Ziesak [23 songs] is unfortunately somewhat past her once considerable prime, with some edginess to her voice and a slight spread at the top (see, for example, track 3). That said, she is still a significant interpreter and this recital is not without value. Christoph Elsner sings two duets with Ziesak and one solo item (tracks 7, 14, and 11); he is no better than in Die Schöne Müllerin , but fortunately has little to do.

CD 6: This disc is the one unmitigated disaster in the set. I do not understand how Raymond Beegle could say that tenor Johannes Kalpers [24 songs] has a “beautiful voice.” Kalpers is a maddeningly poor singer, with a thoroughly ugly voice—shallow, raspy, harsh, and whiny, the kind of voice that gives comprimario singers in provincial opera houses a bad name. He sounds like the intolerably annoying kid brother of a typical David in Wagner’s Die Meistersinger . Most infuriating of all, to add insult to injury he is given to sing two of Schubert’s greatest Lieder, Der Musensohn and Erlkönig!

CD 7: Martin Bruns [10 songs] has a dark, weighty baritone with bass overtones. His powerful voice has attractive features, but he handles it somewhat roughly. He tries too hard, with mannerisms more appropriate to operatic declamation in Wagner than to the more refined and intimate realm of Schubert. This recital is acceptable, not terrible, but could and should have been much better with proper stylistic coaching.

CD 8: With this disc the series finds its sea legs and sets sail for smoother waters. Regina Jakobi [14 songs] is a very fine interpreter. Her mezzo-soprano voice has body, with a dramatic soprano cutting edge in her top notes that she uses effectively to score dramatic points.

CD 9: Tenor Lothar Odinius [8 songs] is a spectacular find; I will go out on a limb and flatly assert that he is a worthy successor to such storied names as Anton Dermota and Fritz Wunderlich. Vocally and interpretively, he is everything that Christoph Elsner and Johannes Kalpers are not. His voice is beautifully produced and vibrant, with a rock-steady, even vibrato, full-bodied lower register, and gleaming, secure top. His excellent diction and magnificent sculpting of vocal lines endow every word with natural but meaningful inflections, utterly free from affectation. Track 3 is absolutely stunning in its range of tonal color, inflection, and expression. A specialist in Baroque and Classical repertoire, he is already ideal for the major tenor roles in Mozart, Fidelio, Der Freischütz, and Genoveva , and in a few years he could possibly take on the lighter Wagnerian roles Erik and David, and ultimately Lohengrin and Walther von Stolzing. Please, Naxos, please—ditch the CDs by Elsner and Kalpers in this set and rerecord them with Odinius!

CD 10: Maya Boog [10 songs] is a fine soprano with a bright, full voice and sensitive artistry, who is an asset to this set.

CD 11: The veteran basso Cornelius Hauptmann [25 songs] is in excellent vocal estate, and wields his suave, soft-grained instrument to lovely effect in another winning entry.

CD 12: Soprano Christiane Iven [15 songs] also has a very fine voice, a shade sweeter and gentler than Boog. This disc affords uncompromised pleasure.

CD 13: Markus Eiche [16 songs] wields a powerful, rich, dark baritone that is almost a bass. He is excellent in every way, including a surprising capacity for soft singing, as shown by his first-rate rendition of An die Musik . This is another major find, and along with the Lothar Odinius CD is one of my favorite entries in this series.

CD 14: Soprano Brigitte Geller [17 songs] has a very light, pleasant, silvery voice, on a par with Christiane Iven, and this disc is of equal merit to that one.

CD 15: Rainer Trost [15 songs] is a very fine tenor. His voice is a shade more robust than that of Odinius, and also a shade less beautiful in timbre. He is a winsome interpreter, and it is gratifying to think that perhaps the longstanding shortage of first-class German tenors is coming to an end.

CD 16: Ruth Ziesak [9 songs] and Roman Trekel [6 songs] share the duties on this disc, including two duets (tracks 2 and 3). Ziesak is in somewhat better voice here than on her previous discs; Trekel is excellent as before. Unfortunately, the piano accompaniment in the famed Ave Maria is surprisingly pedestrian. There is also one typo on the cardboard sleeve; the singer for track 4 (Trekel) is not listed.

CDs 17–18: On these two CDs, soprano Maya Boog [15 songs] and bass-baritone Wolf Matthias Friedrich [16 songs] divide the spoils, includes one duet (CD 17, track 1). Friedrich has a nicely weighted voice of appealing timbre. Boog is a little whitish in tone in her top register, but is otherwise as good as she was before.

CDs 19–20, 23: Soprano Simone Nold [14 songs], soprano Lydia Teuscher [8 songs], tenor Marcus Ullmann [23 songs], and bass Thomas E. Bauer [17 songs] each sing several items on each of these three discs, including two duets for Nold and Ullmann (CD 19, tracks 2 and 8). Given that these three discs are all part of the same subgroup, “Poets of Sensibility,” it is puzzling why they were not segregated into distinct recital discs as was done with other singers in this set. Why, for example, weren’t all of Bauer’s selections—about 35 minutes total—put on a single CD? As for the voices, they are solid but not on a par with the ones on CDs 8–18. Teuscher is the best of the four, with an attractive, bright soprano. Nold has a solid and attractive but not particularly distinctive soprano voice and no clear interpretive profile. Ullmann has a pleasing, light, bright tenor that leans toward the comprimario side. Bauer has a lighter-weight baritone that lacks suaveness, but he marries its somewhat rough timbre to an arresting interpretive profile that immediately draws a listener in and holds his interest.

CDs 21–22: With noted baritone Wolfgang Holzmair [36 songs] and soprano Birgit Steinberger [12 songs], the series returns to an elevated standard of performance. Holzmair is a superlative Lieder interpreter who makes every syllable count; his very light baritone would not stand up to the rigors of an opera house, but in the intimate confines of a recital hall he is capable of exquisite effects. The lesser-known Steinberger is a very fine soprano who does not suffer by juxtaposition with her renowned partner. These two CDs join those of Odinius and Eiche among the high points of this set.

CD 24: I have now had the privilege of reviewing tenor Jan Kobow [23 songs] in several releases, including another disc (of music by Heinrich Schütz) in this issue. His is a fine, medium-weight tenor, allied to a lively interpretive intelligence, as with his recital disc in the complete Carl Loewe Lieder series on cpo (reviewed by me in 34:1). He is a welcome addition to this cycle.

CD 25: Soprano Caroline Melzer [11 songs] and bass Konstantin Wolff [7 songs] take turns on this disc, including one duet (track 1). Melzer is a bit thin-voiced but satisfactory; Wolff’s bass is somewhat reminiscent of Alexander Kipnis in timbre, though not as characterful, and he too is quite acceptable.

CD 26: Ferdinand von Bothmer [9 songs] is a tenor with considerable mettle to his voice; with proper cultivation one can hear a potential Heldentenor in the making. However, while his singing is very exciting, a few of his top notes are already unstable, suggesting an overtaxed voice. Here’s hoping he finds a good vocal coach to fix that before he ruins his voice and loses a promising career.

CD 27: Bass-baritone Hanno Müller-Brachmann [19 songs] also brings Alexander Kipnis to mind, albeit late Kipnis where the voice has become a bit unfocused in tone, though it is still solid and interpretively pleasing.

CD 28: Julia Borchert [20 songs] has a vibrato that is not quite centered, though it is not so far off the mark as to be distressing. Otherwise her soprano is a serviceable instrument and satisfactorily employed.

CD 29: Renowned tenor Markus Schäfer [19 songs] is predictably excellent and requires no particular comment from me. Unsurprisingly, this is one of the finest discs in this set.

CD 30: While not quite a soubrette as Lynn René Bayley opined in her review, soprano Sibylla Rubens does have a soprano of sufficient lightness that I found myself wishing for something a bit weightier in this repertoire. Nevertheless, she is a very capable artist. Nikolaus Friedrich is the excellent clarinetist in Der Hirt auf dem Felsen.

CD 31: As with the discs by Odinius and Eiche, this one is one of the sterling finds in this set. Baritone Florian Boesch [14 songs] is simply a superb interpreter, endowed with a potent, dark, slightly rough-hewn yet carefully modulated voice, with all the power needed for roles such as Don Pizzaro, the Dutchman, Friedrich von Telramund, Alberich, and Klingsor.

CD 32: Christoph Genz [16 songs] has a solid, medium-weight tenor, about halfway between those of Rainer Trost and Ferdinand von Bothmer. He is a capable interpreter, and I have no complaints about him such as Raymond Beegle did in his review.

CD 33: The baritone of Detlef Roth [21 songs] is of medium weight, somewhat dry and lacking in resonance, but stable and solid. The timbre is somewhat fatiguing to listen to for an extended time, but his interpretations are intelligent and well inflected.

CD 34: Mezzo-soprano Daniela Sindram [20 songs] has an acceptable but undistinguished voice, somewhat lacking in sheen, and a similarly unremarkable interpretive profile.

CD 35: This disc contains lesser-known variant editions of several songs, rarities from Schubert’s early youth, songs accompanied by instruments other than or in addition to piano, and song fragments completed by musicologist Reinhard van Hoorickx, totaling 18 items. The singers are soprano Sibylla Rubens and baritone Detlef Roth; the instrumentalists are violinists Reto Kuppel and Peter Riehm, cellist Daniel Grosgurin, and harpist Uta Jungwirth.

CDs 36–38: The set finishes with 46 part-songs for various vocal combinations. The singers are sopranos Sibylla Rubens and Silke Schwarz; altos Regina Jakobi, Hildegard Wiedemann, and Ingeborg Danz; tenors Markus Schäfer and Marcus Ullmann; and basses Thomas E. Bauer, Markus Flaig, and Marcus Schmidl. All of these items are performed quite capably, though I would have preferred a more polished approach than the rather deliberate roughening-up of the vocal delivery at some points in an apparent effort to invoke the informal atmosphere of amateurs singing in a local tavern.

Complete tracklist : Schubert - The Complete Lieder