German Orchestral Songs, etc Vocal & Song Chandos

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FRANZ LEHÁR

Fieber (1915) *

12:29

(Fever)

Tonduchtung für Tenor und großes Orchester

(Tone Pooem for Tenor and Large Orchestra)

No.5 from Aus eiserner Zeit, Song Cycle for Voice and Piano,

Orchestrated 1916 by the Composer

OSKAR FRIED

Verklärte Nacht, Op.9 (1901) *†

8:22

(Transfigured Night)

for Mezzo-soprano, Tenor and Orchestra

Ruhiges Zeitmaß - Sehr ruhig - Breit - Sehr breit -

ARNOLD SCHOENBERG

Verklärte Nacht, Op.4 (1917, revised 1943)

28:43

after Richard Dehmel

Arrangement for String Orchestra by the Composer

of Version for Two Violins, Two Violas, and Two Cellos (1899)

Grave - Poco più mosso -

2:43

Moderato - Calando -

1:01

A tempo [Poco più mosso] - Poco più mosso - Animato - Poco adagio -

5:01

Poco allegro - Pesante - Grave -

4:06

Pesante - Grave -

1:56

Adagio - Meno mosso - Più mosso, moderato - Poco più mosso -

6:03

Poco adagio - Calando -

3:37

10.

Adagio (molto tranquillo) - Largo - Calando - Adagio

4:13

ERICH WOLFGANG KORNGOLD

Lieder des Abschieds, Op.14 (1920-21) *

13:36

(Songs fo Farewell)

for Tenor and Orchestra

Franz Schalk gewidmet

11.

Sterbelied. Sehr ruhig und gefaßt; mit verhaltener tiefer Empfindung -

3:37

Mit Steigerung - Wieder steigernd - Nachlassend -

12.

Dies eine kann mein Sehnen nimmer fassen. Mit leidenschaftlichem

2:17

Schmerz, mäßig schnell, erregt im Ausdruck - Erregt - Breit -

13.

Mond, so gehst du wieder auf. Mit größter, schmerzlichster Ruhe,

4:07

ganz langsam, stets äußerst gebunden, ausdrucksvoll - Steigerne -

14.

Gefaßter Abschied. Mit liebenswürdigem, heiter-gemütvollem

3:33

Ausdruck - Etwas bewegter - Ein wenig steigernd (im Ausdruck und Zeitmaß) -

Total time: 63:05

Orchestra: BBC Symphony Orchestra

Igor Yuzefovich leader

Conductor: Edward Gardner

“This album offers a fascinating variety of music from fin-de-siecle Vienna, some unfamiliar, all good… The performances of all the music here are excellent, despite good competition. Both singers interpret their lines with intelligence and beauty…”

Don O’Connor – American Record Guide – July/August 2021

HI-Fi News Album Choice

“… it [Fried’s Verklärte Nacht] has here some compelling singing by Christine Rice. The Schoenberg (eight tracks provided) is dramatically varied and distinguished by some really soft BBC SO string playing. But Korngold's four tenor Songs Of Farewell and the Lehár Fever are the real finds here …”

Christopher Breunig – HI-Fi News.com – 29 April 2021

“…Schoenberg’s Verklärte Nacht (1899), with its echoes of Wagner and Richard Strauss, receives a lush, immersive performance here, with a large body of strings. The sense of light and tenderness in the final bars is sublime… Korngold’s abundantly lyrical Songs of Farewell (1920-21) mark the end of the journey. Like everything else here, the singing and playing are exceptionally fine, and although this album isn’t made for continuous listening (given the music’s consistently high cholesterol count), it is immensely rewarding if taken in small doses.” ****

Phillip Sametz – Limelightmagazine.com.au – 25 March 2021

Performance **** Recording ****

“… this is a stimulating disc from first note to last.”

Paul Riley – BBC Music magazine – February 2021

“… Engineering is excellent, well-balanced and satisfying A welcome issue!”

Robert Benson – ClassicalCDReview.com – February 2021

Album of the Week

“… In the Lehar piece and Korngold’s Op 4, Songs of Farewell, Skelton refines his Wagnerian instrument to a ravishing head voice thread. There are plusher-toned accounts of Verklärte Nacht, but few of the orchestral version that are delivered with such a refined ear for its translucent textures and fevered chromatic ecstasy.”

Hugh Canning – The Sunday Times – 24 January 2021

“… one superlative performance of a great masterpiece, plus three comparative rarities … this is imaginative programming from Chandos.”

Gwyn Parry-Jones - MusicWeb-International.com – 1 February 2021

Recommended

“… This is a most recommendable disc, and one with a unique programme, so that comparisons hardly apply. The value of the disc lies in the context it gives to the best-known work, and the discoveries that most of the vocal items will be for collectors. For myself, the Fried and Lehár items were quite new, and I shall return to them in particular. Stuart Skelton is in very good voice … bringing real feeling, even identification, to these pieces. Gardner here continues to demonstrate his mastery of the musical style of the period …The very good booklet note by Paul Griffiths gives all the background you will need for the more obscure works.”

Roy Westbrook – MusicWeb-International.com – 15 January 2021

“Anyone choosing the BBC Symphony Orchestra’s new recording of Verklärte Nacht, conducted by Edward Gardner, will get a subtle and urgent account of Schoenberg’s early work for string sextet, in the composer’s orchestral version… Korngold’s Lieder des Abschieds (Songs of Farewell) bring out the wistful, poetic best in Skelton. And in Verklärte Nacht by Oskar Fried … Skelton is joined by the mezzo-soprano Christine Rice for this little-known, rhapsodic, post-Wagnerian outpouring, lusciously performed by all.”

Fiona Maddocks - The Observer - 10 January 2021

“… Korngold’s Lieder des Abschieds, once again featuring Skelton, is a nice addition to the album. The expansive, almost hopeful sounding melodies of Sterbelied (track 11) belie the fact that the piece is a requiem – but is nonetheless a gripping performance. Skelton displays a skilled voice control that often highlights the composer’s refreshing tonal colors. The liner notes give us not just a historical introduction to the works but some added compositional insights into the two versions of Verklärte Nacht, supplementing the listener’s perspective … Gardner and the orchestra have a solid output, one that captures the deeper subtleties of the music.”

Azusa Ueno – theclassicreview.com – 18 January 2021

Recording of the Month

MusicWeb-International.com – January 2021

Presto Recording of the Week

“As his recent recording of Peter Grimes with Gardner attested, Skelton does anguished delirium very well, though if anything he sounds in healthier voice here...Gardner’s pacing of the big climaxes is once again absolutely spot-on, and the Chandos engineers work their usual wonders in providing ample space for the sound to glow or blaze as required.”

Katherine Cooper – Presto Classical – 1 January 2021

“Edward Gardner finds sumptuous intensity in Schoenberg’s drama, alongside a lesser-known version by Fried and dramatic songs to frame an intriguing collection …” ****

Erica Jeal - The Guardian - 7 January 2021

“What an intoxicating way to start the new year” *****

Richard Fairman – The Financial Times – 1 January 2021

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