Robert Schumann - Liederkreis Opp. 24 & 39 (Gerald Finley; Julius Drake)

Information

Composer: Robert Schumann

• (01) Liederkreis, Op. 39
• (13) Sechs Gedichte aus dem Liederbuch eines Malers, Op. 36
• (19) Liederkreis, Op. 24

Gerald Finley, baritone
Julius Drake, piano

Date: 2012
Label: Hyperion
https://www.hyperion-records.co.uk/dc.asp?dc=D_CDA67944

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Review

Liederkreis and a rare Reinick cycle from Finley and Drake

Now at the peak of his recording career, Gerald Finley is unsystematically jumping from Ives to Ravel to Schumann, no doubt because he can, though always at a high standard and answering only to his own vocal perimeters. This new recording shows a greater richness in Finley’s voice plus an evolving intimacy in his approach to recording Lieder, one that retreats from the word-by-word vocal painting of Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau.

From the opening moments of the Op 39 Liederkreis, Finley establishes a general tone for any given phrase or stanza, relying on the power of the sung word to carry the details. When a song has a multiplicity of voices, Finley differentiates them with his tone, but not greatly, since his focus is poetic meaning rather than dramatic narrative. A few songs come out in a single emotional crescendo that knits together the verse’s sprawling imagery. As generalised as his approach might seem, it’s not. Each song’s overall conception – of which Julius Drake is a key part – reflects great thought as to its core emotion. Key consonants are more strongly articulated than others and vowels are elongated for expressive emphasis, but only here and there.

Though the Op 39 Liederkreis has no central protagonist like Frauenliebe und -Leben, Finley makes the cycle a journey into deception, his choice of vocal colour tapping into the manifestations of evil that lie beneath attractive surfaces, most obviously with the enchantress Lorelei in ‘Waldesgespräch’, the danger behind the dusk in ‘Zwielicht’ and the terror behind public merriment in ‘Im Walde’. Of course, that concept is significantly interrupted by the ecstatic ‘Mondnacht’. Still, Finley’s approach overall is more deeply insinuating than many.

The rest of the disc is just as beautifully sung – but why record an incredibly minor work such as the Op 36 Reinick cycle? And though Finley’s Op 24 is as articulate and as well sung as any, his soft-grained approach offers no counterbalance to the composer’s subdued respect for the power of the poem. Might Finley be more systematic than he now seems – and is he planning to record Schumann comprehensively?

-- David Patrick Stearns, Gramophone

More reviews:
BBC Music Magazine  PERFORMANCE: **** / RECORDING: ****
http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2012/Oct12/Schumann_Liederkreis_CDA67944.htm
https://www.theguardian.com/music/2012/sep/27/schumann-liederkreis-finley-drake-review
https://www.audaud.com/schumann-liederkreis-liederkreis-sechs-gedichte-aus-dem-liederbuch-eines-malers-gerald-finley-bar-julius-drake-p-hyperion/

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Robert Schumann (8 June 1810 – 29 July 1856) was a German composer and influential music critic. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest composers of the Romantic era, and left an array of acclaimed music in virtually all the forms then known. Schumann's published compositions were written exclusively for the piano until 1840; he later composed works for piano and orchestra; many Lieder (songs for voice and piano); four symphonies; an opera; and other orchestral, choral, and chamber works. Schumann suffered from a lifelong mental disorder, and died in 1856 without having recovered from his illness.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Schumann

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Gerald Finley (born January 30, 1960 in Montreal) is a Canadian baritone opera singer. He received his musical education in St. Matthew's Anglican Church, Ottawa, the University of Ottawa, King's College, Cambridge and the Royal College of Music in London, England. Finley is particularly renowned for his interpretations of Mozart roles such as Guglielmo, Papageno, Figaro, the Count and Don Giovanni. He has been critically praised both in opera and in concert, being praised by audience and critics alike. Finley has appeared on a number of recordings, including several solo albums on the Hyperion label.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerald_Finley
http://www.geraldfinley.com/

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Julius Drake (born 5 April 1959 in London) is an English pianist who works as a song recital accompanist and chamber musician. Drake was educated at the Purcell School and the Royal College of Music; he made his professional debut at the Purcell Room in 1981 and developed a special affinity for the music of Robert Schumann. Drake is now a professor at the Royal Academy of Music and a visiting professor at the Royal Northern College of Music. His numerous recordings include playing on screen in David Alden's 1997 film of Schubert's Winterreise for Channel 4 with Ian Bostridge.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julius_Drake
http://www.juliusdrake.com/

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