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Brahms - Vier ernste Gesange op.121, Lieder & Gesange op.32 | Harmonia Mundi HMC902174

Brahms - Vier ernste Gesange op.121, Lieder & Gesange op.32

Label: Harmonia Mundi

Cat No: HMC902174

Barcode: 3149020217429

Format: CD

Number of Discs: 1

Genre: Vocal/Choral

Release Date: 10th June 2016

This product has now been deleted. Information is for reference only.

Gramophone Editor's Choice Gramophone Award Winner

Contents

Works

Brahms, Johannes

Ernste Gesange (4), op.121
Lieder (4), op.96
» no.1 Der Tod, das ist die kuhle Nacht
» no.3 Es schauen die Blumen
» no.4 Meerfahrt
Lieder (6), op.85
» no.1 Sommerabend
» no.2 Mondenschein
Lieder und Gesange (9), op.32

Artists

Matthias Goerne (baritone)
Christoph Eschenbach (piano)

Works

Brahms, Johannes

Ernste Gesange (4), op.121
Lieder (4), op.96
» no.1 Der Tod, das ist die kuhle Nacht
» no.3 Es schauen die Blumen
» no.4 Meerfahrt
Lieder (6), op.85
» no.1 Sommerabend
» no.2 Mondenschein
Lieder und Gesange (9), op.32

Artists

Matthias Goerne (baritone)
Christoph Eschenbach (piano)

About

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.

‘even those who expressed the wish that Matthias Goerne had been singing Schubert or Schumann came away full of new admiration for these wonderful songs... Each time I hear Goerne, his voice seems to have become not only more beautiful but also richer and deeper, and the same can be said of his interpretative skills... Vier ernste Gesänge are amongst the greatest works in the whole song repertory, and here they were given a performance which not only confirmed their greatness but set Goerne apart from every other singer today... Such singing, in which you sense that  the words are being sung through the core of the singer's body, makes other performers seem superficial and  awakens in the listener a sense of wonder at the artistry of this man, still so young and yet already so complete a musician in every way.’ - musicweb-international.com, Brahms Recital, Wigmore Hall, February 2016

Reviews

The longstanding duo of baritone Matthias Goerne and conductor/pianist Christoph Eschenbach bring well-signposted stormy grandeur to a collection of Brahms songs, culminating in a rich-hued account of the Four Serious Songs Opus 111. ... [Goerne’s] gravelly low notes can be glorious, his long phrases are powerful and his high pianissimos are especially poignant in Mondenschein, Op 85.  Kate Molleson
The Guardian 1 July 2016
A couple of years after completing his leisurely mix-and-match Schubert series for Harmonia Mundi, Matthias Goerne has made it on to Brahms. It’s music that’s very well suited to his voice: grainy and gentle and with that characteristic burnished-mahogany tone, but at its most beautiful at around mezzo forte and below … this is supremely seductive Lieder singing, with a natural intelligence and ease with the words, matched by playing from Christoph Eschenbach … that coaxes and caresses the piano with loving delicacy.  Hugo Shirley
Gramophone September 2016

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