Customer Reviews

Matthias Goerne ~ Schubert: Lieder (from) Goethe (poems)

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

 

 

Schubert Goethe - Lieder Matthias Goerne, Andreas Haefliger

This disc was my first introduction to the voice of Matthias Goerne, and I have to say that initial impressions were not as ecstatic as later ones - for what reason, on that one occasion, I do not know. I listened to "Schäfers Klagelied" and thought that his singing here was no match for that of John Mark Ainsley on Hyperion - a lovely legato line was evident but Goerne seemed to me to give insufficient attention to individual words, and to miss something of the heartbreak of this song. However, with the promise of his "Schöne Müllerin" which I shall be hearing next week at Wigmore Hall, I thought I'd go back and listen to some more, this time giving him the attention he deserves. It is no exaggeration to say that I was overwhelmed by his singing this time around; from the first few bars of "An den Mond" I was completely captivated.

What makes this baritone so special, amongst the vast number of singers recorded in this repertoire? A voice so beautiful that it comes as a shock to hear it - noble, wonderfully warm, sensitive in phrasing, possessing a rare sense of rhythm, extremely rich in the lower registers yet with an almost tenor-like top, and beguilingly sensual - yes, girls, this really is one seriously sexy voice. Quite apart from the startling sensuality of the voice, Goerne's appeal also rests in the high seriousness with which he approaches the music. His dedication to the ideals of lovely tone, a firm, flowing legato and imperceptible breath control are never allowed to compromise his idiomatic feeling for the poems, and he does not over-stresses individual words - never plucks out an adjective and waves it around - all is expressed within the line of the music.

Two examples must suffice here - Goerne sings "Wandrers Nachtlied" eloquently, with that sense of powerful ease which typifies his art; the aching yet understated passion which is graphically shown in "Ach, Ich bin des Treibens müde..." is another of his individual characteristics. "Erster Verlust," one of my favourite Schubert songs, shows Goerne at his best; this is deeply fervent, intensely beautiful singing, the tenderness of the poem and the musical line conveyed in melting tones and with that warmth and intimacy which are evident throughout this wonderful recording.

This version is one of the most beautiful. Goerne is such a good singer. But Andreas Haefliger also is an excellent pianist. I hope this duo brings out other songs.

This is a masterful rendition of some twenty poems by Goethe (1749-1832), which Schubert (1797-1828) set to music. It was a blessed event of world literature and music when two geniuses, who never met in person but met in spirit, produced some eighty Lieder of incomparable poetic beauty. If now, some two hundred years later, a few of these jewels are presented by a master like Matthias Goerne, it is a high point of the art form of the Lied. Goerne has the voice and the sensitivity, to do justice to this art form, where word and melody potentiate each other in producing something that is more than poetry and more than music. He has an unerring feeling for both and brings them to life. He knows when the singing has to be soft and simple, as life sometimes is. Goethe knew it, too, when he wrote "Wanderer's Nachtlied," and Schubert understood it like no other composer, when he set this pearl of simple beauty to music. Goerne also knows, when he has to thunder, and he has the voice, to do it. The little quarrel I have with this album concerns the selection of the Lieder, or, if you will, the order in which they are presented. The album begins with the Lied "An den Mond," (To the moon), which every lover of the Lieder by Goethe and Schubert cherishes as one of the most beautiful fruits of their spiritual unit. Thus, the listener is all expectation. Alas, he will be grevously disappointed! The setting is an older version of Schubert's settings of Goethe's poem, which he later replaced by the newer version we love so much. Fortunately, the newer version is also presented. So the listener has both: "Schubert inferior" and "Schubert superior." A cruel joke or a lesson in music history? I leave that judgement to you. But I must tell you that, after the initial shock, I fell in love with this album and now recommend it without reservation.

Here's an early example of Goerne's way with Schubert, as honeyed and butter in tone as his fans love but not yet gaining the maturity that the singer applies today. Critics were full of praise at the time (1997), and they still are, although Goerne developed into a more melancholy, inward singer. He feels enough affinity with Schubert that he has embarked on a massive series of complete (?) songs for Harmonida Mundi.

In a series of reviews at Amazon I seem to be dogging Goerne's trail, complaining that you can't just be lyrical in Lieder singing, which calls for deep commitment, drama, diversity of emotion, and enough attack to contrast with the beautiful line. Vocal beauty isn't enough. This is like the old argument between Callas and Tebaldi in opera, and I guess the divide is permanent. On this CD both Haefliger and Goerne often seem to wander without firm rhythms or much dramatic purpose. The voice is constantly in legato mode, and one song sounds much the same as another. I own a lot of Callas and no Tebaldi, and likewise I have scanted Goerne in favor of Terfel, Quasthoff, and Hampson, to name three contemporary baritones who are outstanding in Lieder. Three and a half stars.