Brahms: Lieder / Roderick Williams

WILLIAMS VIGNOLES

Leading British baritone Roderick Williams and distinguished pianist Roger Vignoles have recorded Brahms’ only song cycle, Romanzen aus die schone Magelone in two versions. The songs follow the narrative a novella by Ludwig Tieck (1773-1853), a favourite of Brahms in his youth, which tells of a handsome noble warrior, Count Peter of Provence, who travels to Naples and falls in love with the Princess Magelone. Drama ensues involving pirates, a beautiful Sultan’s daughter and a near-betrayal. Roderick Williams says of the songs ''Either I am a sucker for late-Romantic song or perhaps for histrionic fairytales of derring-do and blushing maidens, but I for one was enthralled on first hearing.” This unique recording presents the original cycle - along with the Four Serious Songs - and a version where Roderick intersperses the songs with Roger’s English translations from Tieck’s original story. He says: ''I hoped it might help persuade some audiences, perhaps unfamiliar with these songs and especially out of their context, that this really is a most terrific and enchanting work. I hoped it might connect with the wide-eyed child in us all, anyone who cannot resist “Once upon a time…” Roderick Williams was the winner of the 2016 RPS Singer award, is the Artistic Director of Leeds Lieder and in demand around the world as a recitalist, in opera and with orchestras. Roger Vignoles has collaborated with some of the world’s greatest singers, and has an extensive discography across a wide range of lieder and song.

Price: $35.98