Customer Reviews

Schubert: Goethe Lieder

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This recital from 1995 includes a few Schubert chestnuts, but the remainder is little-sung material--all but a few songs are very worth hearing. Compared to Quasthoff's latest CDs on DG, however, his earlier phase on RCA shows a great artist still finding his way. The voice is full, rich, and expressive, but it doesn't yet have all the colors that Quaasthoff has learned to bring out. There are occasional flashes of brilliance, moments when Quasthoff opens up and lets his voice fly.

The texts by Goethe will be half the reason to buy this CD for German speakers. But even we non-speakers can be thrilled by Quasthoff's rendition of an early melodrama (D. 126) that sets Mephistopheles' temptation of Gretchen in the cathedral -- it's as gripping as anything the mature Quasthoff has done. Finally, I wouldn't say that the accompanist, Charles Spencer, is top drawer, his style being too direct and blunt. So mark this one down as a very good but not exceptional recital.

I have the greatest possible respect for Thomas Quasthoff. He is probably my current favorite baritone; definitely among my top ten singers of any kind. I confess, though, that I was not pleased with this CD. The songs he chose, he did well, but most of them are not favorites of mine. Of the pieces I expected, seeing the title "Goethe-lieder", I got only Der Erkönig, Ganymed, and Auf dem Wasser zu Singen (which he did a bit fast for my taste).

I do not say that this is in any way a bad CD, just suggest that you check the list of songs before purchasing it. There is, alas, no An den Mond, no Wanderers Nachtlied and no Der Fischer.

This was Quasthoff's debut Schubert album, recorded as ago as 1993 while he was still in his early thirties, and finds him in smoothest, richest and most flexible voice. This youthful plenitude of voice is all the more to be savoured now that some rockiness and signs of wear are beginning to creep into his burnished bass-baritone. He is capable of the most delicate, light falsetto and mezza voce yet the voice remains even all the way down to a secure low D at the end of "Liedesend". As ever, there is much pleasure to be had in hearing a native German speaker enunciate so clearly and expressively. I suspect that what might for some be the attraction of this selection could for others constitute a disappointment, in that not that many established favourites are included. This makes the discovery of the more recherché items interesting but occasionally hints at why they remain second-rank if they do not evince the dramatic mastery and melodic memorability of established classics such as "Der Zwerg" or "Erlkönig". I confess to finding songs such as "Prometheus" a bit diffuse and shapeless, well though Quasthoff enlivens it.

Charles Spencer's accompaniment is somewhat plonky and foursquare; I have certainly heard "Auf dem Wasser zu singen" played with greater lilt, charm and insouciance even if Spencer's manner reminds us that the subtext concerns eternal rest rather than just a jolly boat-ride. Of greatest interest, perhaps, is the extended "Szene aus Faust" which allows Quasthoff to exploit his gift for word-painting as he assumes the characters of the Evil Spirit, Gretchen and the choir in the cathedral setting - although it is hardly the most tuneful of Schubert's creations, being more an accompanied recitative.

Ultimately, while recognising Quasthoff's stellar gifts, I was very slightly disappointed by this disc - but perhaps my expectations were too high and I still endorse it as a fine survey of Goethe Lieder. (Three of the thirteen songs here are not in fact set to texts by Goethe but they are clearly thematically related.)