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Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
This disc should dispel the popular illusion that Hugo Wolf (1860-1903) is a cerebral, "difficult" composer. Perhaps, in melding words and music, he pays more attention to prosody than most of his predecessors, but his melodies can be as simple and lyrical as Schubert's, as ardently romantic as Schumann's, and his harmonies are innovative and luxurious. Choosing his texts with fastidious care, often drawing on a single poet for an entire songbook, he creates "tone-paintings of the soul," evoking love's joys and sorrows, devout supplication, enjoyment of nature, and ironic, even ribald humor. The performances on this disc, which features poems by Eichendorff, Mörike, and Goethe, give vibrant life to the drama, tragedy, serenity, and lightheartedness of words and music. Bostridge, a famously individualistic interpreter at home in many styles and languages, brings to Wolf an approach that is both intellectually probing and emotionally fearless. He uses his bright, variable voice and idiosyncratic vocalism, with its delayed vibrato and swells on long notes, for utmost contrast of dynamics, inflection, character, and expression, frequently sending shivers down the spine. Pappano, better known as a conductor, is a superb pianist and partner; his introductions and postludes are models of poise and balance, and he handles his demanding, often virtuosic parts with just the right blend of leadership and support. The program contains 24 songs, some well-known, some unfamiliar, all so beautiful that listeners will have to select their own favorites. This recording should help secure Hugo Wolf's rightful place among the great German songwriters. --Edith Eisler
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Remarkable Double Achievement,
By
This review is from: Wolf: Lieder - Ian Bostridge with Antonio Pappano (Audio CD)
Ever since Ian Bostridge's first Schumann's recordings, followed by his Schubert's interpretations, we were expecting him to approach Hugo Wolf's intricate lieder. Now, with the exceptional partnership of Maestro Antonio Pappano those expections are doubly rewarded. The interpretation is meticolous, both vocally - Bostridge at his best with maturity of his expressive voice and inner grasp of Wolf's unique voice in this genre, and musically - Pappano renders the piano part with the same, oer rather matching artistry, his hands caress the notes. Together they create the dramas, light the fire and and comfort with a touch of humor. Listen to the Eichendorf's group, followed by the Morike Lieder, and finally to the two Goethe-Lieder, and you will surely repeat it immediately, wondering at these two artists partnership and achievement.
6 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Wolf is a rare commodity--Bostridge fans will be impressed,
By Santa Fe Listener (Santa Fe, NM USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER) (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)
This review is from: Wolf: Lieder - Ian Bostridge with Antonio Pappano (Audio CD)
I'd like to agree with the Amazon reviewer that Wolf wrote melodies as simple as Schubert's, simply because new fans of great music are always welcome, but that's like saying that Rimbaud is as simple as Edgar Allen Poe. This is difficult music for most listeners--ambiguous in emotion and harmony, often feverish and always intense. It takes a singer sympathetic to Wolf's world-weary, fin de siecle sensibility to do justice to his songs, and I must say that Bostridge, sensitive to a fault, only half persuades me.
That half has to do with his attention to every nuance of the poetry, which is what the composer asks for, to the point of micro-composing by the syllable. Yet this listener can't get beyond Bostridge's androgynous choir-boy timbre, his hollow nasality, the mannered swells, the almost disembodied head voice, the self-conscious underlining--in a word, he's not remotely to my taste in singers. But I bow to his integirty, and Antonio Pappano provides accompaniments that singers can only dream of. I think many fans of Bostridge and some Wolf fanciers will enthuse over this CD. I wanted to--God knows that new Wolf recitals are scarce--but I found that one listen was more than enough.
2 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
De~lovely,
This review is from: Wolf: Lieder - Ian Bostridge with Antonio Pappano (Audio CD)
Wolf leider is superlative.
Bostridge is pretty stellar. Pappano is a wonderful foil. simply, a sweet trifecta. I enjoy Fischer-Diskau's interprations as well. Bostridge's tone brings another depth to this music for me.
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