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Richard STRAUSS (1864 – 1949) 1. Zueignung, Op. 10 No. 1 [1:59] 2. Die Nacht, Op. 10 No. 3 [2:51] 3. Die Georgine, Op. 10 No. 4 [3:33] 4. Die Zeitlose, Op. 10 No. 7 [1:43] 5. Allerseelen, Op. 10 No. 8 [3:15] 6. Heimkehr, Op. 15 No. 5 [2:13] 7. Seitdem dein Aug’ in meines schaute,
Op. 17 No. 1 [1:51] 8. Breit’ über mein Haupt dein schwarzes
Haar, Op. 19 No. 2 [1:34] 9. Mein Herz ist stumm, mein Herz
ist kalt, Op. 19 No. 6 [2:56] 10. Ach Lieb, ich muss nun scheiden!Op.
21 No. 3 [2:00]
11. Cäcilie, Op. 27 No. 2 [2:19] 12. Morgen, Op. 27 No. 4 [3:23] 13. Liebeshymnus, Op. 32 No. 3 [2:20] 14. Meinem Kinde, Op. 37 No. 3 [2:15] 15. Befreit, Op. 39 No. 4 [5:15] Alban BERG (1885 – 1935) Sieben frühe Lieder (1907) 16. No. 1 Nacht [3:55] 17. No. 2 Auf geheimem Waldespfade [2:09] 18. No. 3 Das macht, es hat die Nachtigall [2:03] 19. No. 4 Traumgekrönt [2:29] 20. No. 5 Im Zimmer [1:26] 21. No. 6 Im Arm der Liebe schliefen
wir selig ein [1:46]
22. No. 7 Sommertage [1:48]
Michiyo
Iida (soprano), David Lutz (piano)
rec. 19 May 2008, Vienna (?)
German texts and Japanese translations enclosed PREISER
RECORDS PR90755 [55:21]
Juxtaposing
songs by Richard Strauss and Alban Berg isn’t as strange
as it may seem, considering the different paths the two
composers were to take later in life. Strauss started
out as a rather cautious romantic and in the early years
of the new century flirted for a time with modernist
trends (read Elektra) before settling on his own
kind of late-romanticism. Berg on the other hand admired
Beethoven, Mahler and Brahms but influenced by Arnold
Schönberg became a leading force in the Second Viennese
School and a front-runner for atonal music.
On
this disc we meet them both at rather early stages of
their creativity. Through the fifteen Strauss songs we
follow him from the earliest group of songs, published
as Op. 10 when he was 21 and including songs written
as early as 1882, up to Befreit from his Op. 39.
That brings us to just a couple of years from the turn
of the century. Alban Berg’s Sieben frühe Lieder were
published when he was just over twenty and here we can
trace Brahms as well as Debussy and maybe a drop or two
of Strauss as well. It is a clever pairing and Michiyo
Iida and David Lutz should surely have credit for this.
I
am less sure about the execution of the songs. Michiyo
Iida’s biography includes an impressive list of renowned
singers and voice teachers with whom she has studied
and a similar list of operatic roles as well as concert
performances and Lieder. 19 May 2008 may have been a
bad day for her and it may not have been a good idea
to record all these 22 songs at one go. The first impression
is of a singer who isn’t at ease with herself. The delivery
is uneven, the breath-support is insufficient, resulting
in flat tone. The phrasing is occasionally clumsy – breath-control
again – and she sometimes sings under the note.
She also has a somewhat swaying vibrato and the tone
at forte is shrill. It wasn’t a good start and the first
few songs gave very little pleasure. On the other hand
her good intentions are evident as is her insight in
the poems – Allerseelen, a special favourite of
mine, was quite acceptable but still marred by the technical
shortcomings. By degrees she became better – or I adjusted
to her singing – and the last Strauss song¸ Befreit, was
certainly the best of them all. Long before that, however,
I had greatly admired the piano playing of David Lutz,
experienced as few others, and his introduction to Morgen was
masterly.
Interestingly
Ms Iida did herself more justice in the Berg songs. Her
intonation was better, the uneasy vibrato and the flatness
of tone were almost gone and there was a confidence in
her readings that I couldn’t have dreamt of after the
first few Strauss songs. This shows that she certainly
has more capacity than she was able to muster in most
of the Strauss songs. I don’t know whether the songs
were recorded in the order they were presented on the
disc but it seemed that she gained in security and confidence
step by step. It is a pity that she didn’t reach that
stage before the recordings started. As it is this feels
more like a preliminary that should have remained in
the archives.
I
can see little reason to recommend this issue to anyone,
unless it be for the Berg songs and a couple of the later
Strauss songs.
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