Customer Reviews

Angelika Kirchschlager - Debut Recital Recording / Helmut Deutsch

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
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1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is a wonderful CD in every way. The programming is unified yet uniquely interesting, with both the tried-and-true (Gustav Mahler songs) and the completely new (some Korngold and Alma Mahler songs). The recorded sound is excellent, with a perfect balance between soloist and piano accompaniment. Most of all, Kirchschlager's singing is simply outstanding -- she has a gleaming mezzo-soprano voice, and she is particularly good and idiomatic in the German-language songs, capturing the feeling of fin-de-siecle Vienna as few singers could.

Although I also like Kirchschlager's lullabies CD ("When Night Falls"), this is the recording I keep coming back to for repeated listening. I think I've played it over 50 times now!

Angelika Kirchschlager recently gave a wonderful recital at Tully Hall in NY - all Schubert and Wolf. It was one of the best events of the year. Her musicianship, wonderful sound of her voice, and personality made this a truly memorable recital, and this disc is highly recommended, especially if you do not know this singer.

This is a wonderful CD with unusual pieces by Gustav Mahler's wife, Alma Mahler, the less often heard Lieder und Gesange cycle by Gustav Mahler and the wonderful works by Korngold. Kirchshlager is wonderful here as she is almost always. You will be enchanted. It is also a must for Mahler fans.

In recent years we've seen the appearance of quite a number of remarkable mezzo-sopranos. Angelika Kirchschlager is certainly one of the finest. For this CD recital, the Austrian mezzo has chosen Lieder by composers with whom she has a special affinity: Erich Korngold, Alma Mahler, and Gustav Mahler. The Korngold songs may be of uneven quality, but the opening song (Glückwunsch) from his Op. 38, which opens this recital, is surely one of the loveliest songs Korngold ever wrote. Alma Mahler (1879-1964) was, of course, married to, in order, Gustav Mahler, Walter Gropius, and Franz Werfel (with a few affairs thrown in along the way). But early in her career she composed some beautifully-written, evocative, and passionate (what else?) songs, five of which are heard here. The 14 Lieder und Gesänge by Gustav Mahler, many of them set to texts from the folk anthology Des Knaben Wunderhorn (The Youth's Magic Horn) are alternately sweet, tragic, or humorous. Kirchschlager not only has a beautiful voice -- she is also an unusually intelligent and sensitive performer. Helmut Deutsch is her very fine accompanist. Highly recommended!

I am not a musicologist, but this CD by Miss Kirscschlager makes me want to listen to it over and over, especially the Korngold songs as I am a big Erich Wolfgang Korngold fan.