Unless it be his theater music, Beethoven's songs are the least often performed portion of his output, and they are sometimes claimed to be inferior works. This is puzzling, inasmuch as An die ferne Geliebte, Op. 98, is a clear point of origin for the Romantic song cycle. Furthermore, Beethoven, to judge by his extensive periods of reworking some of these songs, valued them highly. Goerne explicitly aims to heighten the songs' reputation, and he has produced a collection that has to be reckoned with. His readings stand out ...
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Unless it be his theater music, Beethoven's songs are the least often performed portion of his output, and they are sometimes claimed to be inferior works. This is puzzling, inasmuch as An die ferne Geliebte, Op. 98, is a clear point of origin for the Romantic song cycle. Furthermore, Beethoven, to judge by his extensive periods of reworking some of these songs, valued them highly. Goerne explicitly aims to heighten the songs' reputation, and he has produced a collection that has to be reckoned with. His readings stand out for being very low-key, even more so than in Goerne's usual slow-burn style, and an important discovery here is how youthful pianist Jan Lisiecki, emerging for the first time as a lieder accompanist, grasps Goerne's aims. Goerne offers a clean An die ferne Geliebte and a convincing performance of Beethoven's idealistic and spiritual Sechs Lieder von Gellert, Op. 48. The latter group follows recent trends in reinstating verses that have conventionally been cut, but even better, are...
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![Beethoven: Lieder [Songs] - Jan Lisiecki (piano); Matthias Goerne (baritone)](https://www2.alibris-static.com/beethoven-lieder-songs/cover/o64049l6vev_l.jpg)
![Beethoven: Lieder [Songs]](https://www2.alibris-static.com/beethoven-lieder-songs/cover/o64049l6vev.jpg)
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