Strauss
enjoyed a remarkably long creative life
of more than sixty years, from the early
1880s to the late 1940s. He was also
a fine conductor, particularly of opera.
He created several masterpieces, including
Salome and Der Rosenkavalier,
which have become central to the repertoire
of every major company. He was a prolific
composer who wrote music in all the
established forms; beyond the opera
house his work has been most valued
in the fields of the orchestral tone
poem and the solo song with orchestra
or piano.
This
is the first volume in what is another
ambitious Hyperion project to enhance
the catalogue of song recordings. Strauss
wrote lieder at every stage of his career
and contributed one of the most significant
and extensive bodies of work in the
genre. This first volume features both
a singer and an accompanist who are
leaders in their field. Christine Brewer
has already established a reputation
in related repertoire: the Strauss and
Wagner operas. She has, for example,
been described as ‘the leading Isolde
of our day’ (David Nice in BBC Music
Magazine).
The
chosen programme here is an engaging
one, full of delights at every turn,
but I do wonder whether the project
might have followed the lead of the
CPO Brahms complete lieder by keeping
things strictly chronological. Although
this may not make for the most artistically
imaginative and musically enjoyable
experience, at least the collector of
the series might have a fighting chance
of finding a particular song at a later
date.
Brewer
and Vignoles are an effective partnership,
of course, and it is by no means a matter
of the voice accompanied by the pianist.
On the contrary, this is a partnership
of equals, and on occasions the line
and phrasing set by the piano part seems
the dominating factor; in In der
Campagna, Die heiligen drei Könige
and Ich liebe dich, for instance.
And these songs are not the worse for
it.
The
recital starts with that elevating song
Zueignung, originally written
for a heldentenor voice, but nowadays
invariably sung by sopranos. Brewer
is suitably heroic and grand, but she
is heard to even better effect in the
Songs of the Orient, and particularly
Ihre augen, the first of this
group of five. Given her Wagnerian credentials,
it is no surprise that the bigger and
bolder songs particularly suit her,
right across the vocal range. The recorded
sound, perhaps, is captured in a rather
dry acoustic, although some listeners
will be less concerned about this than
others. On the other hand, the more
intimate songs, such as that wonderful
lullaby Wiegenlied, are treated
with the utmost sensitivity.
This
is a major release by major artists,
and it is a worthy opening to a major
series of recordings.
Terry
Barfoot
Christine Brewer (soprano) 
