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Track(s) taken from CDA67645

Urlicht

First line:
O Röschen rot
composer
?1892; subsequently published as No 12 of Des Knaben Wunderhorn (also called Humoresken); reused as the 4th movement of Symphony No 2
author of text
Des Knaben Wunderhorn

Stephan Genz (baritone), Roger Vignoles (piano)
Recording details: February 2007
Tonstudio Teije van Geest, Sandhausen, Germany
Produced by Teije van Geest
Engineered by Teije van Geest
Release date: January 2008
Total duration: 5 minutes 0 seconds

Cover artwork: Apotheosis (detail). Sergius Hruby (1869-1943)
Private Collection; reproduced by kind permission of the copyright holders, Whitford & Hughes, UK / Bridgeman Images
 

Reviews

‘Deeply affecting … warmly recommended’ (Gramophone)

‘Stephan Genz's light, warm and cultured baritone is especially fine in reflecting the ghost voices and moonlight serenades of Mahler's folk-inspired anthology … this is the first time that I've heard a male voice take on 'Urlicht' … and its quiet serenity, as in 'Wo die schonen trompeten blasen', is what Genz does best’ (BBC Music Magazine)

‘Urlicht is beautifully sung … and Vignoles's playing is remarkably expressive throughout’ (The Sunday Times)

‘The charm of Mahler's Lieder-composing style—so close to Schubert's—comes across beautifully. Stephan Genz is more than just a very fine singer: his precision, sensitivity and range of imagination proclaim him a true successor to the great Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau. And Vignoles's booklet note is an informative pleasure in itself’ (Classic FM Magazine)

‘This performance is a revelation, the simplicity of the piano setting and the serenity of Genz's performance casting a benediction on the entire program … Genz and Vignoles have produced a worthy successor’ (Fanfare, USA)

‘There are a number of other collections available … but none of these has the clear and unambiguous sound that this Hyperion release has, especially the excellent piano balance, and Genz sings with a definite point of view and a nice sense of characterization. You have to have one of the orchestral versions, but you will also find much satisfaction in Mahler’s superbly realized piano version as well, and this recording will serve many needs’ (Audiophile Audition, USA)

‘Roger Vignoles palpably revels in the task of conjuring a full Mahlerian orchestra … this CD is partly a demonstration of Genz's technique in this repertoire: the tone remains firm at even the most intimate levels and, most importantly, he binds consonants and vowels into the singing line, so that the lied emerges as a form of heightened speech. But it's a measure of Genz's sensitivity that one doesn't hear simply a great lieder singer at work. Instead, the entire set, with its panoply of characters, emanates from a recognizably 'Wunderhorn' persona—direct, ingenuous, fully in tune with the material's folklore-ish nature’ (Opera News)

‘It is a recording that seems, above all, to be characterised by enormous intelligence and sensitivity, from both singer and pianist … most prefer to here these songs in Mahler's brilliant and scathing orchestral versions but the artistry on show here makes me glad to hear them in the intimate, piano-only versions … this disc, then, allows us to experience these wonderful songs close-up in all their variety, humour and pathos. Highly Recommended’ (Musical Criticism.com)

‘This is a vibrant rendering of Mahler's Des Knaben Wunderhorn in the versions for voice and piano, a setting which requires the idiomatic approach Vignoles uses for the accompaniment and the nuanced tone Genz uses to evoke a sense of chamber music. Lacking the sonorous orchestral accompaniment, the singer is more exposed, and this allows Genz to display his vocal finesse well’ (Opera Today, USA)

‘Vignoles's pianism is so persuasive that one hardly misses the orchestral versions. In Revelge, for instance, his accompaniment to the song about the marching soldier has a suitably martial quality, while his playing of the lowest register of the piano to represent the drum rolls at the beginning of Der Tamboursg'sell is eerie and unforgettable. Genz, meanwhile, provides a well-characterised interpretation, his voice superbly controlled both in the vehemence of the prisoner's defiance in Lied des Verfolgten im Turm and in the beautiful pianissimos of Wo die schönen Trompeten blasen’ (MusicOHM.com)
Urlicht is the most remarkably spiritual song of the set. Recycled a year after its composition as the fourth movement of the second symphony, it is deceptive in its simplicity. The extraordinary serenity of the chorale-like section, for instance, is the product of a constantly changing time signature that punctuates the phrases and allows pauses for reflection. Both earthly sorrow and heavenly bliss are sketched in with vivid economy, the singer’s ‘broad path’ signalled by birdsong in the manner of Ich ging mit Lust—a vision of heaven as a paradise of nature, while the impassioned tremolandi and yearning intervals of the climax expand a mere five minutes of music into an entire treatise on the human condition. Nothing could better illustrate the crucial importance of the Wunderhorn world to Mahler’s vision—musical, emotional and spiritual.

from notes by Roger Vignoles © 2008

Urlicht est le lied le plus remarquablement spirituel du corpus. Recyclé un an après avoir été composé pour servir de quatrième mouvement à la Symphonie no 2, il est d’une simplicité trompeuse. L’extraordinaire sérénité de sa section de type choral, par exemple, est le fruit d’un signe de la mesure constamment changeant, qui ponctue les phrases et ménage des pauses pour la réflexion. L’affliction terrestre et la félicité céleste sont esquissées avec une parcimonie vibrante, le «large chemin» du chanteur étant balisé par un chant d’oiseau comme dans Ich ging mit Lust—le ciel est vu comme un paradis de la nature, tandis que les tremolandi passionnés et les intervalles ardents du climax font de ces cinq minutes de musique toutes simples un véritable traité sur la condition humaine. Rien ne saurait mieux illustrer l’importance cruciale de l’univers du Wunderhorn dans la vision musicale, émotionnelle et spirituelle de Mahler.

extrait des notes rédigées par Roger Vignoles © 2008
Français: Hypérion

Urlicht ist das am frappierendste spirituelle Lied der Sammlung. Es wurde ein Jahr nach seiner Komposition als vierter Satz der zweiten Symphonie wiederverwertet und trügt in seiner Schlichtheit. Der außerordentliche heitere Frieden des choralhaften Abschnitts zum Beispiel wechselt ständig im Metrum, was die Phrasen unterstreicht und Pausen zum Sinnieren erlaubt. Sowohl die irdische Not als auch die himmlische Seligkeit werden mit anschaulicher Ökonomie gezeichnet; der „breite Weg“ des Sängers wird in der Art von Ich ging mit Lust durch Vogelgezwitscher gewiesen—eine Vision des Himmels als Naturparadies—während die leidenschaftlichen Tremolandos und sehnsuchtsvollen Intervalle des Höhepunkts ein Musikstück, das nur fünf Minuten währt, in eine ganze Abhandlung über die conditio humana ausweitet. Nichts könnte die ausschlaggebende Bedeutung der Wunderhorn-Welt für Mahlers—musikalische, emotionale und spirituelle—Vision besser illustrieren.

aus dem Begleittext von Roger Vignoles © 2008
Deutsch: Renate Wendel

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