The
year 1840 was Schumann’s ‘Year of Song’, 140 of them. All
those on this disc were written then although there is not
complete certainty about Der arme Peter. The composer
was thirty at the time and, despite strong opposition from
her father, engaged to Clara Wieck. She was clearly the
inspiration for this flood of outpouring, for though he
had written some romantic songs whilst still a schoolboy,
the ensuing decade of his twenties was largely devoted to
piano music. ‘Ah Clara,’ he wrote on 22
February 1840, ‘what
a happy thing it is to write songs; I have missed it for
a long time’.
His
second source of inspiration was the poet Heinrich Heine,
who he met back in 1828 when doing the obligatory tour before
university studies, the 19th century version
of the ‘gap year’. Contrary to expectation he found Heine
friendly and not in the slightest bit intimidating, perhaps
because the young man was already primed with a secure knowledge
of the poet’s Buch der Lieder, published the year
before in 1827. It became a vital source of inspiration
for the compositions written in 1840, which were song cycles,
written in the case of Liederkreis with a strong
emphasis upon a structural arch.
Without
a doubt, however, the miracle of the year 1840 was Dichterliebe,
written in a week and instantly popular. Schumann had intended
to set 28 texts, but only 20 appeared of which four were
deferred for some years, so we are left with 16 songs in
the cycle, a kaleidoscope of moods endured by a jilted poet.
The
significance of Schumann’s role in the genesis of the Lied
during the 19th century, coming, as he does,
midway between Schubert and Brahms, must not only be his
handling of the voice but also of the piano. Increasingly
it takes upon itself an equal partnership with the voice,
for example when the poet’s memory of the ‘wond’rous month
of May’ in the opening song is recalled at the end in the
piano part.
This
element of partnership between these two young artists is
a strong plus on this highly enjoyable disc. Uta Hielscher
fulfils her role as accompanist from the piano in supportive,
colourful playing, crisply articulated and only occasionally
overpowering in Das ist ein Flöten und Geigen. Schumann’s
rhythmic quirks are nicely pointed up in the accompaniments,
though the postlude to Ein Jüngling liebt ein Mädchen
is rather too pedantic, and lacks any sense of forward movement.
Bauer’s singing is distinguished by its expressive response
to Heine’s texts. The highly promising voice of this young
man is not yet quite settled at its extremes, a Mario Lanza-style
tenorial hint of a crack at the end of Ich grolle nicht
either the best take or dubiously preferred for that very
reason. His baritone qualities are lyrical rather than dramatic,
at their best in the middle of the range and when the prevailing
mood is one of calm serenity.
The
song texts are not included with the CD but can be downloaded
as PDF files online; full details are given on the rear
inlay.
Christopher Fifield
see also
Review
by Gwyn Parry-Jones
Thomas E. Bauer (baritone)
