Awakening / Humm, Polgar

Humm, Äneas; Polgar, Judit

The documentary ‘Ein Wunderkind wird erwachsen – Äneas Humm auf dem Weg zu einer Weltkarriere’ (‘A “Wunderkind” Comes of Age – Äneas Humm’s Pathway to an International Career’) was broadcast on Swiss television in 2014 and generated a wave of international interest. These days, the aspiring singer is still very young and regularly appears in operas, operettas, and countless Lied recitals across Europe and America. With this disc, the young baritone releases his recording debut. Joined by the pianist Judit Polgar, Humm performs songs by Richard Strauss, Hugo Wolf, Alban Berg, and Viktor Ullmann, all of which shed light on moments of initiation and awakening. In their early works, Strauss, Wolf, and Berg address the great issues of coming-of-age with carefree spirit and youthful curiosity: an attitude that can be rendered in heartfelt, touching manner only by a singer of the same age. The music of Viktor Ullmann, in contrast, opens a doorway to a new musical language. Framed by atonal phraseology and percussive effects on the piano, the composer (who was killed in Auschwitz in 1944) tells the story of Hafis: a drunkard who rejects everything that had once been meaningful to him for the sake of his love of an irresistibly beautiful woman. The title ‘Awakening’ captures not only the spirit of these songs, but the fact that this is the debut album of a stunning artist who is sure to enrapture audiences across the globe.

Price: $27.98