Robert Schumann's Myrthen, Op. 25, is much less often heard than his other song sets, even though it contains many charming numbers; draws on Heine, Goethe, and the cream of the Germany poetry crop; and played a major role in the composer's personal life: he presented it as a wedding present to Clara Wieck, with a cover decorated with myrtle (an old German symbol of marriage). The issue seems to be that the set is less than a song cycle but more than a group of unconnected songs: it doesn't give the listener the kind of ...
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Robert Schumann's Myrthen, Op. 25, is much less often heard than his other song sets, even though it contains many charming numbers; draws on Heine, Goethe, and the cream of the Germany poetry crop; and played a major role in the composer's personal life: he presented it as a wedding present to Clara Wieck, with a cover decorated with myrtle (an old German symbol of marriage). The issue seems to be that the set is less than a song cycle but more than a group of unconnected songs: it doesn't give the listener the kind of entry portal that the major Schumann song cycles do. This 2019 release is the second in a Schumann series by baritone Christian Gerhaher, and for several reasons, it makes a strong choice. The booklet contains an essay by Gerhaher himself, unusually lengthy for Sony Classical, arguing for a coherent program that Clara would have recognized: Schumann, he claims, imagined the songs as a sort of survey of successful married life. To this end, the songs are specifically designated for a...
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