Customer Reviews

Anne Sofie von Otter - Love's Twilight (Late Romantic Songs by Berg, Korngold, Strauss)

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Anne Sophie von Otter is a superlative singer, and one of the great recitalists of our time. This disc of late Romantic songs is but another confirmation of her exquisite gifts, combining true musicianship with vintage artistic taste. Central to the success of her recordings is her continuing choice of pianist Bengt Forsberg as her musical collaborator. These two artists perform together with uncommon empathy and understanding. The Berg jewels are the finest things here; von Otter's singing is as clear as a starry night. If you've never connected with Berg's music, take a listen to the Seven Early Songs; the 'Liebesode' and 'Sommertage' are spun with gold. Just marvelous in every way! Korngold's voluptuous art songs are in many ways a world apart from his overbaked orchestral music and operas, measured and cadenced with space and care. Von Otter's rendition of the 'Sonnet for Vienna' contributes mightily toward justifying whatever quasi-renaissance Korngold's music may be enjoying at present. This is just damn perfect art; it would seem impossible to be disappointed with this disc! Check it out!

Can anyone listen to this disc and wonder why Anne Sofie von Otter is so popular? From the opening of "Das Rosenband" to the waning tones of "Sonett für Wien" her voice will make you glad you bought this disc and it will make you want to listen again and again. This is not just hyperbole.

For anyone looking for something a little different, the Korngold songs will introduce you to a composer whose music is too often overlooked and shouldn't be. ASvO and Bengt Forsberg can take credit for turning this reviewer into a dedicated Korngold fan and I'm sure I won't be the last. The two songs from Op. 14 -- "Sterbelied" and "Gefasster Abschied" -- are just a tease and you'll want to hear the other two songs in this cycle, though for them you'll have to turn to their two-disc set "Rendez-vous with Korngold". "Alt-spanisch" was originally sung in an English version in the film "The Sea Hawk" and its simple and moving melody will stay with you for days. "Sonett für Wien" turns the piano into a full orchestra. In short, Korngold was a master of composing for the voice and Anne Sofie von Otter proves it. Don't miss this one.

I am of a mixed mind about von Otter, who tends to push every composer through the same style--very earnest, intense, with a push to every note, and sometimes too much of a slide into phrases. Here she hits the mark perfectly. She sounds as if immersed in Strauss's lavish, plush, self-inudlgent world. Korngold if anything makes that world seem austere, with his ultra-chromatic wanderings around the home key. To all of it von Otter responds with deep conviction, and I can't imagine anyone doing it better.