Tragödie Op 64 No 3
1 Entflieh’ mit mir und sei mein Weib [1'26] 2 Es fiel ein Reif in der Frühlingsnacht [2'10]
3 Die beiden Grenadiere Op 49 No 1 [3'54] 4 Abends am Strand Op 45 No 3 [3'25]
5 Die feindlichen Brüder Op 49 No 2 [2'27]
Der arme Peter Op 53 No 3
6 Der Hans und die Grete tanzen herum [1'13] 7 In meiner Brust [1'22] 8 Der arme Peter wankt vorbei [2'19]
9 Belsatzar Op 57 [4'56] from Myrthen Op 25
10 Die Lotosblume Op 25 No 7 [1'52]
11 Was will die einsame Träne? Op 25 No 21 [2'06]
12 Du bist wie eine Blume Op 25 No 24 [1'57]
songs originally conceived for Dichterliebe
13 Lehn’ deine Wang’ an meine Wang’ Op 142 No 2 [0'46]
14 Es leuchtet meine Liebe Op 127 No 3 [1'52]
15 Dein Angesicht so lieb und schön Op 127 No 2 [2'20]
16 Mein Wagen rollet langsam Op 142 No 4 [3'20]
Dichterliebe Op 48 [31'47]
17 Im wunderschönen Monat Mai [1'45]
18 Aus meinen Tränen sprießen [1'01]
19 Die Rose, die Lilie, die Taube, die Sonne [0'38]
20 Wenn ich in deine Augen seh’ [2'01] 21 Ich will meine Seele tauchen [0'57] 22 Im Rhein, im heiligen Strome [2'39] 23 Ich grolle nicht [1'41]
24 Und wüssten’s die Blumen, die kleinen [1'15] 25 Das ist ein Flöten und Geigen [1'33] 26 Hör’ ich das Liedchen klingen [2'19]
27 Ein Jüngling liebt ein Mädchen [1'08] 28 Am leuchtenden Sommermorgen [2'52] 29 Ich hab’ im Traum geweinet [2'26]
30 Allnächtlich im Traume [1'37] 31 Aus alten Märchen [2'45] 32 Die alten, bösen Lieder [5'03]
Gramophone Award Winner - Solo Vocal 2009
Juno Award Nominee 2009 - Classical Album of the Year: Vocal or Choral Performance
Gramophone Editor's Choice - November 2008
Why another Dichterliebe recording? Because Gerald Finley has simply one of the greatest voices of his generation, and is an artist at the peak of his powers. He brings to this noble song cycle the supreme technical ability and penetrating musical understanding that characterize all his performances, whether on the concert platform, in the recording studio or on the great opera stages of the world. This is his fourth disc with collaborator Julius Drake, and the partnership has proved to be a uniquely rewarding one.
This fine recital also includes many of Schumann’s other Heine settings. The extremes of elation and despair in Heine’s poetry stimulated Schumann to write some of his most poignant and unforgettable songs. This is truly a disc to treasure.
On Hyperion, Finley and his accompanist Julius Drake present an all-Schumann disc, comprising the song cycle Dichterliebe and other settings of the poet Heinrich Heine. For a lyric baritone, Finley has an unusually rich, resplendent voice – a truly beautiful instrument. But what distinguishes him is his intelligence as a singer. His interpretive insights come across so successfully because of his total technical control. Finley can sing with heroic grandeur or quiet reflection; he gnarls and flattens his voice at moments, and sings with a haunting but fully-voiced whisper at others. Listen to how in song VI of the Dichterliebe he modulates from the gothic grandeur of Cologne’s cathedral to the tender depiction of the Madonna within. In the narrative songs, such as Belshazzar, he shapes the story with dramatic conviction. Drake is an expert pianist and a sympathetic accompanist. In short, these are as compelling and idiomatic performances of Schumann’s songs as any on disc.
Reviewed by Seth Estrin. Reprinted from The Wholenote Magazine (www.thewholenote.com), Oct. 2008.
)
Price: $22.98