Matthias Goerne - Brahms - Vier Ernste Gesange on CD

Description

Brahms wrote a vast number of lieder over a period of 40 years. The 200 or so he permitted to survive show just how important the genre was to his compositional process. The selection presented here illustrates the diversity of a corpus that features Heine (as with so many other composers), but also a wide variety of other poets whom he set to music with the same consummate skill as the Four Serious Songs Op.121, the peak of his magnificent and highly individual output. Review 'But his gravelly low notes can be glorious, his long phrases are powerful and his high pianissimos are especially poignant in Mondenschein, Op 85. The finest-grained colours come from the piano: Eschenbach knows when to push and when to linger, and he has a lovely knack of catching Goerne at the crest of a phrase and then adding his own quiet commentary.' --Kate Molleson The Guardian, 30th June 2016 'Goerne remains a fine lieder singer … he shows a careful attention to text … he finds a contemplative depth for the Four Serious Songs, however, with the sorrow and tenderness of the second beautifully suggested.' --George Hall - BBC Music Magazine, September 2016 GRAMOPHONE EDITOR S CHOICE 'This is supremely seductive Lieder singing, with a natural intelligence and ease with the words, matched by playing from Christoph Eschenbach (also at the keyboard for that final Schubert instalment, a similarly beguiling Winterreise 1/14), that coaxes and caresses the piano with loving delicacy. And listen to the opening of Meerfahrt : you can almost feel in his playing the boat s oars digging deep into the watery depths ... But for all the beauty on show, I never get any sense of self-indulgence or narcissism not even in performances of the Heine pair of Sommerabend and Mondenschein in which time seems to stand still. It s nevertheless the heart-stopping beauty of his and Eschenbach s take on the concluding Wie bist du, meine Königin that lingers in the memory.' --Gramophone

TRACKS

1. Nr. 1 Wie Rafft' Ich Mich Auf In Der Nacht (Nach Texten Von Platen) - Matthias Goerne
2. Nr. 2 Nicht Mehr Zu Dir Zu Gehen (Nach Texten Von Daumer) - Matthias Goerne
3. Nr. 3 Ich Schleich' Umher Betrübt Und Stumm (Nach Texten Von Platen) - Matthias Goerne
4. Nr. 4 Der Strom, Der Neben Mir Verrauschte (Nach Texten Von Platen) - Matthias Goerne
5. Nr. 5 Wehe, So Willst Du Mich Wieder (Nach Texten Von Platen) - Matthias Goerne
6. Nr. 6 Du Sprichst, Daß Ich Mich Täuschte (Nach Texten Von Platen) - Matthias Goerne
7. Nr. 7 Bitteres Zu Sagen Denkst Du (Nach Texten Von Daumer) - Matthias Goerne
8. Nr. 8 So Steh'n Wir, Ich Und Meine Weide (Nach Texten Von Daumer) - Matthias Goerne
9. Nr. 9 Wie Bist Du, Meine Königin (Nach Texten Von Daumer) - Matthias Goerne
10. Nr. 1 Sommerabend (Nach Texten Von Heinrich Heine) - Matthias Goerne
11. Nr. 2 Mondschein (Nach Texten Von Heinrich Heine) - Matthias Goerne
12. Nr. 1 Der Tod, Das Ist Die Kühle Nacht (Nach Texten Von Heinrich Heine) - Matthias Goerne
13. Nr. 3 Es Schauen Die Blumen (Nach Texten Von Heinrich Heine) - Matthias Goerne
14. Nr. 4 Meerfahrt (Nach Texten Von Heinrich Heine) - Matthias Goerne
15. Nr. 1 Denn Es Gehet Dem Menschen Wie Dem Vieh - Matthias Goerne
16. Nr. 2 Ich Wandte Mich, Und Sahe - Matthias Goerne
17. Nr. 3 O Tod, Wie Bitter Bist Du - Matthias Goerne
18. Nr. 4 Wenn Ich Mit Menschen- Und Mit Engelszungen - Matthias Goerne