Customer Reviews

Mendelssohn: Lieder

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Barbara Bonney and Geoffrey Parsons have delivered a sensitive and lovely reading of Mendelssohn songs from varied opuses. Ms. Bonney's voice is clear, silvery, and perfect for the music. Mr. Parsons' accompaniment is everything that could be desired. When I played one of the songs for my Lit and Rep class, one student asked who the pianist was, and commented that "he made the introduction sound almost like a string quartet was playing."

Included (although not noted in Amazon's layout) are several songs by his sister Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel. I would love to see this pair produce a whole disk of her songs!

Mendelssohn's lieder have had a pretty bad press over the years compared to Schubert and Schumann, but this cd certainly presents a convincing case for them. Fans of lieder can hardly avoid that Auf Flugeln des Gesanges is with good reason Mendelsson's best known. However, it is also unfair that it should have dismissed all the others so totally since there is an unending supply of attractive melody and beautiful piano writing. Romanze and Winterlied are particularly beautiful pieces that deserve to stand alongside Auf Flugeln of immortal lieder songs. I think the problem with Mendelsson's lieder not being very popular is Barbara Bonney has not always been around to sing them. She has one of the most beautiful voices of today and she is also marvellously attentive to the words expressing all their meaning when she sings. Geoffrey Parsons does an equally amazing job playing Mendelssohn's gorgeous piano music. The cd also has some of Mendelsson's sister Fanny Mendelssohn's songs on this cd that are also nice to listen to. The whole programme to me is absolutely perfect and when I reach the end I feel that I could go on listening to a whole lot more of these songs.

This exquisite CD was welcomed on its first appearance in 1991 by one critic as "the most satisfying we have yet had of Mendelssohn lieder". On all counts, it still provides an hour of total satisfaction. Less well known (with one exception) than his Songs Without Words and more numerous are his songs WITH words. Yes, the ubiquitous "Auf Flugeln des Gesanges" is here, leading off a generous selection which includes three songs composed by Mendelssohn's sister Fanny. Spring Songs abound; a particularly lovely one is found on Track 17. Lovely phrases, with flashes of coloratura, conclude the two stanzas of the Romanze (Track 21), extended phrases which Miss Bonney negotiates with great skill.

Recorded in an airy, warm Berlin venue, singer and accompanist are a delight to hear. The American soprano and the Australian accompanist ("He's the greatest," Elisabeth Schwarzkopf once whispered to someone I know) combine to provide the strongest possible recommendation for the lieder of Mendelssohn.

I've been collecting Bonney CDs for about a year, and I hesitated about this one because I didn't want another "piano only" accompaniment. Well, that was foolish. I am very interested in song, in melody, in the "memorable" part of music, and this was certainly memorable. Apart from the first number, I'd never heard any of these in recital or concert. They've all grown on me, and I'm constantly humming them. That's the point. That's why I loved the Operetta album. There's something familiar, but there's something totally new. Some of Mendelssohn's conventions have been totally discarded over the years, which is why it's important to hear them now. Great singing, as I expected. Wonderful piano, as I expected. And now (how many years after this was recorded?) I'm hooked.