Romantic Songs
Carl Maria von
WEBER (1786-1826)
Meine Lieder, meine Sänge (Op.
15/1, W. Löwenstein-Wertheim)
Klage (Op. 15/2, Carl Müchler)
Der kleine Fritz (Op. 15/3, from "Fliegendes
Blatt")
Was zieht zu deinem Zauberkreise (Op.
15/4, Carl Müchler)
Ich sah ein Röschen am Wege steh'n
(Op. 15/5, Carl Müchler)
Er an Sie (Op. 15/6, Hofrat Lehr)
Meine Farben (Op. 23/1, Hofrat Lehr)
Liebe-Glühen (Op. 25/1, Friedrich
Wilhelm Gubitz)
Über die Berge mit Ungestüm
(Op. 25/2, August von Kotzebue)
Es stürmt auf der Flur (Op. 30/2,
Friedrich Rochlitz)
Minnelied (Op. 30/4, Johann Heinrich
Voss)
Reigen (Op. 30/5, Johann Heinrich Voss)
Sind es Schmerzen, sind es Freuden (Op.
30/6, Johann Ludwig Tieck)
Mein Verlangen (Op. 47/5, Friedrich
Förster)
Wenn ich ein Vöglein wär'
(Op. 54/6, Gedicht im Volksmunde)
Mein Schatzerl is hübsch (Op. 64/1,
from "Fliegendes Blatt")
Liebesgruss aus der Ferne (Op. 64/4,
from "Fliegendes Blatt")
Herzchen, mein Schätzchen (Op.
64/8, Gedicht im Volksmunde)
Das Veilchen im Thale (Op. 66/1, Friedrich
Kind)
Ich denke dein (Op. 66/3, Friedrich
von Matthisson)
Serenade (Jens Immanuel Baggesen)
Romanze: Sie war so hold (F. de Cussy/C.G.
Grünbaum)
Recorded 27/28 March 1991, 11 September,
Villa Lankwitz, Berlin, Germany
Franz SCHUBERT
(1797-1828)
Heliopolis, D754
Abendstern, D806
Nacht und Träume, D827
Des Sängers Habe, D832
Auf der Bruck, D853
Wanderer an den Mond, D870
Das Zügenglöcklein, D871
Am Fenster, D878
Im Frühling, D882
An Silvia, D891
Alinde, D904
An die Laute, D905
Der Kreuzzug, D932
Des Fischers Liebesglück, D933
Der Winterabend, D938
Die Sterne, D939
Recorded 1987
Felix MENDELSSOHN
(1809-1847)
Der Verlassene (anon.)
Ich weiss mir 'n Mädchen (anon.)
Mary's Dream (6 schottische Nationallieder
No. 2)
We've a bonnie Wee Flower (6 schottische
Nationallieder No. 3)
Minnelied in Mai (Op. 8/1, Ludwig Hölty)
Pilgerspruch (Op. 8/5, Paul Flemming)
Maienlied (Op. 8/7, Jacob von der Warte)
Im Grünen (Op. 8/11, Johann Heinrich
Voss)
Abendlied (Op. 8/9, Johann Heinrich
Voss)
Wartend (Op. 9/3, anon.)
Im Frühling (Op. 9/4, anon.)
Im Herbst (Op. 9/5, C. Klingemann)
Frühlingsglaube (Op. 9/8, Ludwig
Uhland)
Das Schifflein (Op. 99/4, Ludwig Uhland)
Lieblingsplätzchen (Op. 99/3, Friederike
Robert)
Altdeutsches Frühlingslied (Op.
86/6, Friedrich von Spee)
Minnelied (Op. 47/1, Ludwig Tieck)
Meerfahrt (Heinrich Heine)
Weiter, rastlos (anon.)
Frühlingslied (Op. 71/2, C. Klingemann)
Herbstlied (Op. 84/2, C. Klingemann)
Es weiss und rät es doch keiner
(Op. 99/6, Joseph von Eichendorff)
Erntelied (Op. 8/4, Altes Kirchenlied)
Recorded June 1989 and March 1991, Villa
Lankwitz, Berlin
Hugo WOLF
(1860-1903)
Lieder aus der Jugendzeit nach Gedichten
von Heine und Eichendorff
Aus meinen grossen Schmerzen
Sie haben heut'abend Gesellschaft
Ich stand in dunkeln Träumen
Mein Liebchen, wir sassen beisammen
Wenn ich in deine Augen seh
Das ist ein Brausen und Heulen
Mir träumte von einem Königskind
Es blasen die blauen Husaren
Es war ein alter König
Wo ich bin, mich rings umdumkelt
Ernst ist der Frühling
Mädchen mit dem roten Mündchen
Du bist wie eine Blume
Spätherbstnebel, kalte Träume
Mit schwarzen Segeln
Wie des Mondes Abbild zittert
Nachruf
Da fahr ich still im Wagen
Ich geh durch die dunklen Gassen
Wolken, wälderwärts gegangen
Rückkehr
Recorded 1986, Stadthalle Feldkirch,
Austria
Claude DEBUSSY
(1862-1918)
Beau soir (Paul Bourget)
Mandoline (Paul Verlaine)
Le jet d'eau (Charles Baudelaire, from
"Cinq poemes de Baudelaire")
Cheveaux de bois (Paul Verlaine, from
"Ariettes oubliées")
Green (Paul Verlaine, from "Ariettes
oubliées")
Les cloches (Paul Bourget, "Deux Romances")
Dans le jardin (Paul Bourget, "Deux
Romances")
La mer est plus belle (Paul Verlaine,
"Trois Mélodies")
Le son du cor s'afflige (Paul Verlaine,
"Trois Mélodies")
L'echelonnement (Paul Verlaine, "Trois
Mélodies")
En sourdine ((Paul Verlaine, "Fetes
galantes")
Clair de lune (Paul Verlaine, "Fetes
galantes")
Fantoches (Paul Verlaine, "Fetes galantes")
Fleur des blés (André
Girod)
Recueillement (Charles Baudelaire, from
"Cinq poemes de Baudelaire")
De soir (Claude Debussy, "Proses lyriques")
Les ingénus (Paul Verlaine, "Fetes
galantes")
La faune ((Paul Verlaine, "Fetes galantes")
Colloque sentimental (Paul Verlaine,
"Fetes falantes")
Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau (baritone)
Hartmut Höll (piano)
Recorded February 1988, Berlin
Licensed from Claves
and recorded between 1986 and 1991 I’d
not previously been aware of these examples
of relatively late Fischer-Dieskau.
The repertoire is essentially central
to his art, though many will welcome
the opportunity to hear his Debussy
and an extended collection of Mendelssohn.
Such however is the perception of his
musicianship that, even when vocal compromises
intrude, he is powerfully in command
of the very different range of challenges
facing him.
Such can be heard in
his Weber disc – each composer has a
disc each – when, with inimitable grace
and subtle colouration, he spins Was
zieht zu deinem Zauberkreise with
such insidiously romantic impress or,
in the folk settings he vests such rhythmic
exactitude in, say, Über die
Berge mit Ungestüm. He is joined
in no small measure by Hartmut Höll
whose effervescent pianistic hi-jinks
irradiate the hurdy-gurdy exploits of
Reigen. True, there are some
limitations in matter of vocal production
though even here he can make a virtue
out of necessity - try Meine Lieder,
meine Sänge for an example
of his almost tenorial voice pushed
inexorably deeper in the interests of
theatrical scene setting. His Schubert
is particularly fine when he deals with
lyric simplicity and generosity; Nacht
und Träume is especially touching
despite the relative dissipation of
the voice. Höll once more proves
a perceptive accompanist- crisp in Auf
der Bruck for instance where Fischer-Dieskau
is in fuller voice. Together they make
an authoritative case for their Der
Kreuzzug. It would be unreasonable
however to expect the same levels of
insight and vocal accomplishment here
that we know from his earlier traversals
of this repertoire.
It’s only intermittently
that I find his interventionist approach
to the lyric too overbearing. I do find
it in Mendelssohn’s Der Verlassene,
for example, which sounds too mannered
but it’s a treat to hear the two Scottish
folk settings – his English is excellent,
as one would expect (his speaking voice
in English has a patrician warmth) and
the Bonny Wee Flower doesn’t wilt in
the face of his brogue. Elsewhere there
is freshness in Pilgerspruch and,
more strain acknowledged, a fine Herbstlied.
The Wolf disc is one of the most
important; few have been better equipped
to deal with his Heine and Eichendorff
settings than the baritone. It’s once
more necessary to listen through the
relative limitations of range and lack
of mobility in these 1986 recordings.
Those unsympathetic will note strain
in Aus meinen grossen Schmerzen and
intonational problems in Ich stand
in dunkeln Träumen but they
will also, in fairness, listen to some
genuinely noble understanding of an
often elusive art. Try the concise drama
of Wie des Mondes Abbild zittert
or the dramatic brittleness of Das
ist ein Brausen und Heulen. In these
examples Fischer-Dieskau and Höll
prove masterful. The final disc gives
us Debussy. Though recorded a couple
of years later than the Wolf album the
voice isn’t noticeably weaker; there’s
strain of course, as in Les ingénues
– a pity because he catches the
hazy impressionism splendidly and his
dynamic shading offers a master class
in colouration and sensitivity to word
setting. Mandoline is lightly
done – the voice softened – and full
of good rhythm. Cheveaux de bois
and L'echelonnement are charismatically
done and Le son du cor s'afflige
is especially sensitive.
The various recording
locations are not problematic. Texts
are provided though there are no translations.
Given that they are yoked together in
this way the set of five discs may not
appeal universally, though I should
say that the budget price should overcome
such scruples. Imperfect though some
examples may be, these recordings bear
the imprint of Fischer-Dieskau’s intensely
personalised response to text, to nuance
and to the repertoire.
Jonathan Woolf
Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau (baritone) 
