Liszt: Freudvoll Und Leidvoll

 
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FRANZ LISZT
Liszt: Freudvoll Und Leidvoll
Jonas Kaufmann (tenor), Helmut Deutsch (piano)

[ Sony Classical / CD ]

Release Date: Friday 17 September 2021

After their album Selige Stunde, Jonas Kaufmann and Helmut Deutsch used the lockdown necessitated by the coronavirus pandemic, to make a further series of recordings. Their second album of songs is devoted to Franz Liszt, a composer for whom both feel a special affinity and whose music has long featured in their shared concert career.

Together with a group of six other songs including Vergiftet sind meine Lieder, Der König von Thule and Ihr Glocken von Marling, the demanding Petrarch Sonnets have been a part of Jonas Kaufmann's repertory for many years, while Loreley, O lieb, solang du lieben kannst and Es muss ein Wunderbares sein are among his regular encores. As he himself explains, the process of studying lesser-known "jewels" such as Goethe's eponymous Freudvoll und leidvoll, two versions of which are heard here, has been a period of intense discovery, during which time he has learnt to value these songs more than ever:

'I'm very pleased that our enforced rest made this album possible - under normal circumstances it would probably not have come into existence quite so quickly. As a result we were able to record not only those Liszt songs that we had already tried out in the concert hall but also a number of others that until now have been overshadowed by Liszt's "great hits". Among them, pride of place goes to Die stille Wasserrose, which I find more beautiful the more often I hear it. I'm very grateful to Helmut for introducing me to these songs, and I think there will be many listeners who share my delight in these discoveries.'

For Helmut Deutsch Liszt was one of the great idols of his youth, alongside Elizabeth Taylor and Herbert von Karajan:

'Thanks to these jewels, Liszt deserves to occupy a leading place in the history of the art song, and yet even today he is denied this status. It is a source of tremendous pleasure for me that I have been able to share my enthusiasm with Jonas Kaufmann and persuade him to record an entire album with me.'

"Kaufmann's album is immensely enjoyable, gusting along on the singer's energy, Deutsch's care over detail and the constant surprises of Liszt's music, served up in a clear and bouncy recording." The Times Five Stars

"At its most larger-than-life, a thrilling recording not for the faint-hearted; but it's also a heart-on-sleeve reminder of Liszt's abiding versatility." BBC Music

"His immaculate German diction and idiomatic Italian are allied to musicianship that often takes the breath away, and the programme climaxes in death-wish repose: Liszt's setting of Goethe's Über allen Gipfeln ist Ruh, inwardly and beautifully sung." Sunday Times

Tracks:

Vergiftet sind meine Lieder, S.289

Freudvoll und leidvoll, S.280

Freudvoll und leidvoll (1st Setting, 2nd Version), S280 / 2

Es war ein König in Thule (2nd version), S278 / 2

Im Rhein, im schönen Strome (2nd version), S272 / 2

Die Lorelei

Ihr Glocken von Marling, S.328

Die drei Zigeuner, S.320

Sonetti di Petrarca (3) for voice & piano, S270

Es muss ein Wunderbares sein, S. 314

O Lieb so lang du lieben kannst (2nd version), S298 / 2

Die stille Wasserrose, S321

Ein Fichtenbaum steht einsam, S309

Es rauschen die Winde, S294

Ich möchte hingehn, S.296

Der du von dem Himmel bist (Goethe), S279

Der du von dem Himmel bist, S279 (3rd version)

Über allen Gipfeln ist Ruh (Wandrers Nachtlied II), S.306

O lieb, solang du lieben kannst, S. 298