Beethoven's An die ferne Geliebte, Op. 98 (To the Distant Beloved), the first true song cycle, lies right in between the tenor and baritone ranges. There have been numerous recordings by tenors, but since the classic recording by Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, baritones have been frequent, and in the Beethoven 250th-birthday year of 2020, strong baritone versions by Matthias Goerne and Roderick Williams appeared early in the year. Yet there's something to be said for hearing the work sung by a tenor, especially a veteran like ...
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Beethoven's An die ferne Geliebte, Op. 98 (To the Distant Beloved), the first true song cycle, lies right in between the tenor and baritone ranges. There have been numerous recordings by tenors, but since the classic recording by Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, baritones have been frequent, and in the Beethoven 250th-birthday year of 2020, strong baritone versions by Matthias Goerne and Roderick Williams appeared early in the year. Yet there's something to be said for hearing the work sung by a tenor, especially a veteran like Ian Bostridge who can make use of what's advantageous in the voice: the tenor is forced into an intimate, quiet register. This is a fine reading with many small details that attract rehearings. Another strong point here is the collection of songs that follow the song cycle, several of them quite rare. Especially interesting are the four settings of the same text, Goethe's "Sehnsucht" ("Nur wer die Sehnsucht kennt," or "Only those who know longing"). This scrap from Beethoven's workshop...
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