Hans Sommer - Orchestral Songs (Various Artists)

Information

Composer: Hans Sommer

1. Freisinn
2. Der König von Thule
3. Mignons Heimath
4. Beherzigung: I. Ach, was soll der Mensch
5. Beherzigung: II. Feiger Gedanken
6. Rastlose Liebe
7. Im Sturme, Op. 4 No. 3
8. Sir Aethelbert, Op. 11 No. 4
9. Lorelei, Op. 13: Lore im Nachen
10. Lorelei, Op. 13: Röslein und Schmetterling
11. Lorelei, Op. 13: Lore und der Junker
12. Lorelei, Op. 13: Im Walde
13. Lorelei, Op. 13: Auf dem Felsen
14. Nachts in der Kajüte
15. Wandrers Nachtlied: I. Der du von dem Himmel bist
16. Wandrers Nachtlied: II. Über allen Gipfeln ist Ruh
17. Erinnerung
18. Im Dorfe blüht die Linde, Op. 2 No. 2
19. Hunold Singuf, Op. 4: No. 1, Zum Gruss
20. Hunold Singuf, Op. 4: No. 6, Sommerspiel
21. Hunold Singuf, Op. 4: No. 21, Lockung
22. Hunold Singuf, Op. 4: No. 31, Istud Vinum

Mojca Erdmann, soprano

Anke Vondung, mezzo-soprano

Mauro Peter, tenor

Benjamin Appl, baritone

Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin

Guillermo García Calvo, conductor

Date: 2022

Label: PentaTone

https://www.pentatonemusic.com/product/hans-sommer-orchestral-songs/

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Review

In all cases but one, this lavish album of orchestral songs by forgotten late-Romantic Hans Sommer (1837-1922) is their world premiere recording. The Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin sounds rich and glossy, with four strong soloists.

Yet I was repeatedly left with the sensation of a composer trying too hard. Most of the songs are dense and meandering. The already opaque ballad ‘Der König von Thule’ loses all meaning. ‘Mignons Heimath’, better known to listeners as ‘Kennst du das Land’, is pure hubris; despite Anke Vondung’s sympathetic performance, one longs for Wolf’s far subtler handling of freely-structured phrases. ‘Sir Aethelbert’ lasts eight interminable minutes, with lines like ‘How tender, how slender, how young, how soft, how blushing and how hot…courting an elf is love’s highest heavenly kingdom.’

An opera composer manqué, Sommer (a former science professor) leaned towards heavy orchestration, chromatic harmonies and irregular phrasing. His melodies are slippery and unfocused, laden with ‘gestures’ but rarely achieving a coherent and memorable shape.

There are some effective moments, such as the opening of ‘Rastlose Liebe’, the harp-accompanied ‘Auf dem Felsen’ from the opera Lorelei, and the almost unbreakable poem ‘Wandrers Nachtlied II’. But Sommer’s elephantine tread flattens the delicate vulnerability of Heine’s poem ‘Nachts in der Kajüte’. The songs for chamber ensemble are more digestible, though the ponderously folksy Hunald Singuf outstays its welcome.

It’s unclear that Sommer’s uneasy amalgam patchwork of Wolf, Wagner and Strauss laced with Mahler really deserves this Rolls-Royce treatment. Perhaps correspondingly, the singers sound somewhat detached, despite their polished performances.

-- Natasha Loges, BBC Music Magazine

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Hans Sommer (20 July 1837 – 26 April 1922) was a German composer and mathematician. Before going into music full-time, Sommer, who served as the director of the Braunschweig University of Technology from 1875 to 1881, was also a noted mathematician. He was most successful as a composer for the theatre; several of his operas used librettos based on fairy tales and were first produced at Brunswick. His many songs, at one time known in England, include the cycles Der Rattenfänger von Hameln, Der wilde Jäger and Sapphos Gesänge; he also wrote orchestral works and male-voice choruses.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hans_Sommer_(composer)

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