Naxos’s ongoing Schubert-Lied-Edition
takes off in two new directions here.
As always, it is masterminded by Ulrich
Eisenlohr who, as often but not invariably,
also provides the accompaniments. As
always, too, it is based on a particular
group of poets, the poets of Empfindsamkeit;
Eisenlohr’s own notes, excellently translated
by the indefatigable Keith Anderson,
give chapter and verse. It is an interesting
programme of mostly little-known songs
- with two very obvious exceptions -
including a couple of fragments that
just peter out in mid phrase. For a
concert, I suppose these could be rounded
off with a piano postlude based on material
from the song, but for a series like
this I am sure Eisenlohr is right to
"tell it as it is". The songs
seem to have been arranged, not so much
on the principal of contrasting each
one with its neighbours, but to create
an overall emotional curve, beginning
with mainly dark and gloomy ones, leading
to the dramatic ballad "Die Nonne",
and then moving upwards towards happiness,
light and jollity. It’s an interesting
idea, though in effect I found myself
thinking during the first part that
there were too many gloomy ones in a
row, and then later on that there were
too many light-hearted ones, though
I began to appreciate the ordering as
I came to realize it was deliberate.
So far, however, the
series has made use of young singers
from the German-speaking world, many
of them as yet little known. There have
been some encouraging discoveries, but
some severe disappointments too, leaving
the impression that the Hyperion series
was worth the extra outlay (now it has
been boxed all together I’m not sure
that there is an extra outlay, if you
have the ready cash to buy them in one
fell swoop). For the present record,
however, Eisenlohr has enlisted the
services of one of the most celebrated
of today’s baritones specializing in
lieder: the Austrian Wolfgang Holzmair.
Regular readers know that I am not easily
swayed by mere reputations, but I can
happily report that in this case Holzmair’s
beautiful tone, perfect intonation and
emission, clarity of diction and natural
musicianship prove that his fame is
entirely deserved. Since he also provides
a range of colouring and characterization
– snarling in the bitter-comic "Gravedigger’s
Song" ("Totengräberlied"),
black and menacing in the grisly "Die
Nonne", soft and honeyed in the
happier songs later in the recital –
this is lieder singing as good as it
comes.
So far in this series,
at least as regards the issues that
have come my way, a modern piano has
always been used. The second new direction
taken by this latest volume is the use
of a fortepiano or "Hammerflügel".
In his note Eisenlohr remarks that "it
will be quickly be noticed how different
the sound spectrum, the colours and
the dynamic balance are, compared with
the usual modern concert grand piano".
Unfortunately, while stating that it
is "the ‘correct’ instrument for
historically accurate performance of
the music of Schubert’s time",
he does not actually tell us what it
is (a restored original? A replica?).
In many ways it does not differ from
the modern piano as much as many fortepianos
do; it is lighter in the bass and has
a consistently bright sound, but I quickly
found myself acclimatising to it and
accepting it as a fairly "normal"
piano sound. Certainly, when I made
a few spot-checks with recordings played
by Gerald Moore and Graham Johnson I
was immediately aware of a greater mellowness
and depth, but they are presumably playing
Steinways, while this instrument is
recognizably the ancestor of a mid-20th
century small Bösendorfer. It brings
a specifically Viennese flavour to the
recital.
My one concern, and
I don’t know whether this is an effect
produced by the piano or the pianist,
is that it remains resolutely full and
bright. It may not have the grand fortes
of the modern piano but it would appear
not to have the delicate soft shades
either. This results in the one performance
here which I found unsatisfactory. Certainly,
if a pianist played "Auf dem Wasser
zu singen" with such relentlessly
full tone on a modern piano I should
think him deplorably heavy-handed. Since
Eisenlohr has never struck me as heavy-handed
on his records with a modern piano I
have to suppose that the instrument
itself is responsible. And yet he does
obtain more delicacy elsewhere and I
do get the impression that he is aiming,
at a slower tempo than usual, at a grandiose
effect more in keeping with Liszt’s
transcription of this song than Schubert’s
original. He also indulges in heavy
rubato in the introduction but alas,
he is in good company; if any pianist
has matched Edwin Fischer’s sublime
simplicity here, I have yet to hear
him.
Still, this is only
one song, and it is one which most collectors
will already have in alternative versions
anyway. For the rest, an enthusiastic
recommendation. I made just a few comparisons.
In "Seligkeit" Fischer-Dieskau/Moore
are more urgent and DF-D shows imagination
in varying his dynamics for the three
stanzas. He is more admirable than lovable,
though, beside Holzmair’s relaxed charm.
Similarly, Lott/Johnson, at about the
same relaxed tempo as Holzmair, produce
a beautifully hushed last stanza which
nonetheless sounds a little "arty"
compared with Holzmair’s straightforward
simplicity. I think I would prefer Holzmair
to either. Holzmair and Eisenlohr also
find more in "An die Quelle"
than do Mathis and Johnson in the Hyperion
edition. Altogether, those who have
not been following the Naxos edition,
either because they have the Hyperion
one or because they want only a selection
of Schubert lieder on their shelves,
should investigate this.
One minor musical/technical
query. I had always supposed (and most
singers dealing in this repertoire seem
to agree) that little groups of fioriture
such as those on the word "Schattengang"
in "An die Apfelbäume"
are, in such romantic music, to be sung
as smoothly and mellifluously as possible;
Holzmair instead separates each note,
almost aspirating them, rather the way
Cecilia Bartoli sings her agilità
in baroque music (more reasonably
in that context). Is this a weak link
in Holzmair’s technical armoury, or
does he have reason to believe this
manner of execution is the correct one?
Regarding Naxos’s current
policy of providing a booklet with detailed
notes but directing you to their website
for texts and translations, I have already
had my say. If you do pull down the
texts and then put on the disc, remember
to disconnect from internet if you don’t
want to run up a bill for twenty or
so minutes’ internet connection before
the computer disconnects on its own
account.
Christopher Howell
see also review
by Anne Ozorio (January
Bargain of the Month)
For reviews of other releases in this series,
see the Naxos
Deutsche Schubert-Lied Edition page
Wolfgang Holzmair (baritone), Ulrich Eisenlohr
(Hammerflugel) 
