Mendelssohn, Schumann & Liszt
Lieder
Janet
Baker/Geoffrey Parsons & Daniel Barenboim
EMI
CZS5 73836 2 2 CD[121
mins]
Crotchet
Amazon UK Amazon USA
If you think that a singer is just a voice, or an instrument like any other,
this CD will be welcome and you should purchase it without hesitation. If
you have own the scores of most Mendelssohn and Liszt lieder you will have
no problems. If your German is fluent you may be alright, although I am one
of (a minority?) that finds it easier to concentrate upon the whole musical
interpretation if the words of songs are before me, even those in my own
language (English).
Others may need to be warned that no words or translations at all are supplied
in this otherwise thoroughly recommendable re-issue. There ought to be no
difficulty in taking a sensible decision, using smaller print and thin strong
paper if necessary, and reducing the 7 pages devoted to a new essay about
the music and the composers' lives (Mendelssohn's visit to Fingal's Cave
etc). I wonder whether the artists had any input into EMI's spending decisions
as between the costs of digital remastering versus presentation?
With that hobby horse of mine out of the way, I have listened to Schumann's
Liederkreis Op. 39, two of the 16 Mendelssohn songs, and three of
a dozen by Liszt, the texts and English translations of which are included
in the 750 songs chosen by Fischer-Dieskau for his The Fischer-Dieskau
Book of Lieder (Gollancz). Barenboim partners Janet Baker in the Schumann
(1968/75); the admired and still missed Geoffrey Parsons, guru to accompanists
of the younger generation, until his sudden death long familiar to all regulars
at the Wigmore Hall and song enthusiasts world-wide, is the pianist for the
Mendelssohn and Liszt selections (1979-80). So these are all recordings from
Janet Baker in her prime. \
With so many Janet Baker recordings in the back catalogues to choose from,
it will be no surprise to have my confirmation that these are all superb,
with her unique, mellifluous tone quality and vocal colouring, and her
intelligence of musical phrasing conveying the essence of each fleeting mood,
whether eager and ecstatic, or grief laden and despondent. The songs with
Parsons have a quality of confidence between musician friends who know each
other well; Liederkreis with Barenboim seems to me to have an additional
frisson and concentration, which must put this version well up amongst the
numerous choices available.
Any record collector who has enjoyed hearing Janet Baker over the years will
want to acquire this double CD, and the seductive sounds may suffice for
the delights of nostalgia, though I suspect Janet Baker herself would like
to claim more than that from her listeners?
Reviewer
Peter Grahame Woolf
