Paul Dessau: Lieder [IMPORT]

Paul Dessau (Composer), Axel Bauni (Performer), Dietrich Henschel (Performer), Stella Doufexis (Performer)

Product Details

• Performer: Axel Bauni, Dietrich Henschel, Stella Doufexis
• Composer: Paul Dessau
• Audio CD (August 29, 2000)
• SPARS Code: DDD
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Import
• Label: Orfeo
• ASIN: B00004WK7R
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #618,269 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Track Listings

1. Beruhigung, for voice & piano

2. Helle Nacht, for voice & piano

3. Verkündigung, for voice & piano

4. Nachglanz, for voice & piano

5. Die Räuberballade vom roten Coquillard, for voice & piano

6. Ballade du Franc Buveur, for voice & piano

7. Ballade vom guten und schlechten Lebenswandel, for voice & piano

8. Der kleine Barfuß, for voice & piano

9. Schlummerlied für Anja, for voice & piano

10. Abbitte, for voice & piano

11. Songs (2) for voice & piano on texts by Langston Hughes

12. Songs (2) for voice & piano on texts by Langston Hughes

13. Materialist, for voice & piano

14. Chamber Music 32, for voice & piano, on texts by James Joyce

15. Lieder (5) for voice & piano (1955)

16. Lieder (5) for voice & piano (1955)

17. Lieder (5) for voice & piano (1955)

18. Lieder (5) for voice & piano (1955)

19. Lieder (5) for voice & piano (1955)

20. Zwei Lenz-Lieder, for voice & piano (1950)

See all 36 tracks on this disc

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The unknown Dessau, October 24, 2000

By A Customer

Not really what I had expected, but very good nevertheless. I was expecting Brecht and Tucholsky settings, though only five of the 36 tracks are settings of Brecht (five of the very short but charming "Tierverse") and there is no Tucholsky material. Instead, I got acquainted with some less known Dessau Lieder - the earliest one dating from 1914 - covering his entire career up to the mid-1970s. What I had heard of the young Paul Dessau before I bought this album (e.g. the "Haggadah Shel Pessach") hadn't really impressed me, and I had the impression his compositional skill developed rather late. These early songs proved me wrong. The earliest songs don't sound like the usual sharp-edged Dessau fare, though, it's more slightly atonal late romanticism (reminded me a bit of pre-dodecaphony Berg or Webern). The characteristical Dessau style is, however, recognisable already in some Villon settings from the 1930s (though it feels a bit odd to hear them accompanied by only a pianist. One keeps expecting sudden Dessauian outbursts of snare drum, cymbals and screeching trumpets.) There is no unity of style here: there are beautiful melodic Lenz settings and atonal Neruda settings, blues pastiche and twelvetone. All (or most) of it charming. This is perhaps not the album to start with, in order to get to know the composer (for that purpose I would recommend Sonja Kehler's or Gisela May's recordings, or the Lukullus opera. Don't know if Kehler is available on CD, though.), but it is well worth having if you appreciate Dessau's work. Performances and sound quality are very good throughout.