This CD is the third in a series of the complete songs of Brahms for solo voice and piano on Hyperion prepared under the auspices of the scholar-pianist Graham Johnson. The first CD in the series featured Mezzo-soprano Angelika Kirschlager while the second featured soprano Christine Schafer. This third volume in the Brahms cycle is the first by a male singer and it features a promising new artist, the German tenor Simon Bode (b. 1984) who is less well-known than the singers on the earlier volumes. Bode is a member of Oper Frankfurt and made his debut in Mozart's Abduction from the Seraglio in 2010. He is scheduled to sing Tamino in The Magic Flute in 2012. This CD is his first recorded lieder recital. Bode sings the Brahms lieder with a beautiful, lyric but rich voice. He sings with clarity in his upper register, as he frequently is required to do in these songs. Bode and pianist Johnson collaborate well together in this recording. The performance by this young singer is on the same high musical level as the earlier volumes in this series.
As does the prior volumes, the CD includes selections from both Brahms' lieder and from his late collection of folksong - type material from the Deutsche Volkslieder. There are six songs from this collection included, three at the beginning and three at the end of the album together with 20 lieder arranged in rough chronological order beginning with selections from opus 14 and continuing through opus 106. In general, Johnson does not present the songs in a single opus in their entirety, but this CD in fact includes one such set: the five songs Brahms published in 1868 as his opus 49.
A major attraction of this series, besides the music, the singing, and the piano is the book-length liner notes written by Johnson. Each song on the CD is given in full text and English translation followed by extensive textual and musical analysis. These notes make the series an ideal way for listeners wanting to explore Brahms' lieder seriously and in detail. The notes need to be used carefully to avoid distraction. Thus, I first listened to the CD straight through and tried to avoid the temptation of reading the notes while listening. I then listened to the songs one-by-one after reading the appropriate discussion by Johnson. This process was laborious but it helped me follow both the notes and the music. I then returned to hear the music on its own, with only the text and translation. The notes make many valuable cross-references to songs by other composers including, for example, Mozart, Schubert, Schumann, Wolf, and Debussy.
Brahms' songs may be unfamiliar, on the whole, even to listeners familiar with the songs of Schubert or Schumann. But this CD includes the one Brahms song that everyone knows: the famous Lullaby, included as part of the opus 49 collection. Most often, the Lullaby is sung by a woman, but Bode's gentle, lilting performance does the music justice. With the exquisite piano part, Brahms Lullaby is a more intricate piece than might be apparent from the usual popularizations.
The remaining songs are of a varied character. Most of them deal with themes of sorrow and loss, but some, such as the little Serenade, op.70 no.5,or "On the Ship", op 97 no.2 are light and playful. Many songs have nature as a theme. Brahms also frequently uses folk material even in his lieder. The melodic lines tend to be flowing emotive while the piano part is frequently contrapuntal and difficult.
In addition to the Lullaby, the highlights of the CD include Brahms' setting of a poem by Eduard Morike, "To the Aeolian Harp", op 19 no.5. This is a tragic song that Morike wrote following the death of his brother. There is another famous setting of this poem by Hugo Wolf which differs greatly from Brahms'. In his notes, Johnson discusses in detail the differences between the two settings. I had not been familiar with Wolf's setting, but the Brahms song and Johnson's discussion prompted me to seek it out.
Brahms frequently used his songs to express intimate feelings that are far less apparent in his larger compositions. A sad, highly personal song in this collection is "In Woodland Solitude", opus 85 no. 6, setting a text by Karl Lemke. This song describes a close encounter by would-be lovers in the woods. The scene is intense, but the relationship stops short of physical consummation. The song captures the frustration of Brahms' few attempted love relations with women in his life, particularly Clara Schumann. Another lovely song with a text by Lemke, "In the garden by the shore", op 70 no. 1, offers a similar reflection on lost love.
The selections from the Deutsche Volkslieder are generally much lighter. The most familiar of the folk songs included in this collection is "My girl has a rosy mouth" with its simple joy and long passages of wordless vocalizing la-la-las.
I enjoyed getting to hear a promising young new singer in this CD. More importantly, the CD gave me the opportunity to continue to hear Brahms' songs in detail and to increase my appreciation and understanding of them. Lovers of art song will treasure Graham Johnson's ongoing cycle of Brahms' lieder.