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Schubert, Korngold, Weill: Angelika Kirchschlager (mezzo-soprano)  Julius Drake (piano)  Wigmore Hall, 28. 9.2008 (ME)


‘Well, it was a game of two halves, Michael’ would be just about the point at which I would turn off any football match commentary, but there’s a germ of truth in that fatuous quotation which applies to concerts as much as sports – sometimes, one half is sublime, and the other…in a musical context, ‘not so much to my taste’ might be the appropriate definition. No prizes for guessing which half of this concert was the sublime one as far as I was concerned, and of course this Lieder partnership continues to develop into the ideal with each programme.

It’s possible that some of the Schubert songs might have been unknown to some of the audience (and one should never take such things for granted, given that a certain critic once had me wiping my eyes on reading the view that such songs as ‘Im Frühling’ were ‘obscure’) but to those fortunate enough to have been ‘brought up on’ the Fischer-Dieskau complete recording, they were all familiar treasures, yet given a fresh  perspective by this great mezzo and this peerless accompanist. Der Wanderer an den Mond is one of those songs which epitomize everything inherent in the name of Schubert, with its gentle gehende Bewegung, deceptively simple melodic line and affecting change of tone at ‘Du aber wanderst auf und ab’ – Drake’s playing of the rippling phrases of this and the subsequent line was perfection, as was Kirchschlager’s shaping of the words in ‘der Himmel, endlos ausgespannt, / ist dein geliebtes Heimatland’ with just enough pressure on that final word.

Wehmut and ‘Im Frühling’ were full of similar delights, and it was only in Geheimes that I did not feel at one with the interpretation. To me, this little gem of a song is all about that most Schubertian of characteristics, hesitation – much in the same way as der Neugierige – but instead of the piano suggesting a delicate uncertainty, here it seemed to scramble into the voice, and there was no pause after the first word in the line ‘Ja, mit ungeheuren Mächten.’ However this pales into insignificance beside the evening’s highlight, a most touching performance of one of my favourite Schubert songs, the Leitner Die Sterne. Both singer and pianist managed that lump-in-the-throat- inducing contrast between the rising first phrase and the graceful descent of the second quite superbly, and Kirchschlager’s singing of ‘Sie üben im Stillen’ was masterly, the return to the ‘home’ key so delicately marked.

Korngold and Weill were contemporaries although their musical milieux were worlds apart, and the second half of the programme united works written within a fifteen year period. Korngold’s Fünf Lieder was his last collection of songs, the final one being a surprising setting of Shakespeare’s ‘My mistress’ eyes are nothing like the sun’ and the first song, ‘Glückwunsch’ to a poem by Dehmel, a striking piece which belies its derivation from the title melody of a fictionalized biopic about the Brontës. The Weill songs appeal to a certain taste, which isn’t mine – I like Weill in a fully staged performance but to me his works don’t travel well to the recital platform. Kirchschlager did everything she could to convince us in this music, especially in ‘Je ne t’aime pas’ but it was not until the encores that I was fully engaged once more.

Melanie Eskenazi


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