**** Excellent Album

“… Ammiel Bushakevitz’s collaboration is praiseworthy – soft and flexible or energetic as needed. It is an example of the partnership that produces the magic of art songs. I can name no album of Brahms songs I’ve enjoyed more than this. That is due partly to the selection of 20 of his best and most performed songs, including some of his folk song settings. Mostly it is because of Richter’s exemplary ability as a lieder singer. Pentatone’s sound quality is superlative.”

Recommended

“The whole album is a gem and a valuable addition to the Brahms discography.”

Classical Album of the Week

“…  this beautifully recorded disc captures the broadening and deepening of Anna Lucia Richter’s voice, which finds a perfect showcase in this selection of Brahms lieder, her first as a mezzo-soprano… Richter’s richly toned mezzo achieves a captivating stillness in Sapphische Ode and Anklänge, and her diction, phrasing and fluidity in Vor dem Fenster are a delight. Richter and Bushakevitz combine thrillingly on the two-way conversations of Vergebliches Ständchen and Liebestreu.”  ****

Choral & Song Choice

Performance *****      Recording *****

“… The lower female voice was Brahms’s favourite vocal type, and Richter’s has a warmly sensual sound which is multidimensional without heaviness, with impressively effortless breath control. Together with Bushakevitz’s expressive, energetic and flexible piano-playing, on a bright, active instrument they make delightful musical chemistry, jointly crafting confident, exuberant characters in compelling technicolour performances…”

“… The word that repeatedly came to mid while listening to this recording was the ‘idea’, on every level, even the 58-miniute playing time, which allows longer-than-usual pauses between songs to absorb what you’ve heard.”