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Track(s) taken from CDJ33001

Nähe des Geliebten, D162

First line:
Ich denke dein, wenn mir der Sonne Schimmer
composer
Second version; published in 1821 as Op 5 No 2
author of text

Dame Janet Baker (mezzo-soprano), Graham Johnson (piano)
Recording details: February 1987
Elstree, United Kingdom
Produced by Martin Compton
Engineered by Antony Howell
Release date: December 1987
Total duration: 2 minutes 15 seconds
 

Other recordings available for download

The Songmakers' Almanac, Anthony Rolfe Johnson (tenor), Graham Johnson (piano)

Reviews

‘Dame Janet is in glorious voice’ (The Penguin Guide to Compact Discs)

‘One of the loveliest records even Dame Janet has made’ (The Guardian)

‘A generous and revelatory recital of Goethe and Schiller settings. Janet Baker breaks the champagne bottle over one of the most important recording projects of the half century’ (The Times)
This song is the twelfth of Schubert's long line of Goethe settings which began with Gretchen am Spinnrade in 1814 and continued with unabated enthusiasm in 1815. Nahe des Geliebten shows that the eighteen-year-old composer was brilliantly capable of choosing when to abandon his through-composed style, so perfect for Gretchen, and return to a strophic treatment of the text. The poem is a litany, and if the music were to vary from verse to verse, Goethe's depiction of a lover's constancy would have been undermined. The piano introduction (played only once) is a miracle: with each change of chord we perceive the opening of a loving heart, the unfolding realisation of deep devotion. The singer enters, the home key is reached, a promise is kept, and the power of imagination has surmounted the agony of separation.

from notes by Graham Johnson © 1988

Other albums featuring this work

Schubert: The Complete Songs
CDS44201/4040CDs Boxed set + book (at a special price) — Download only
Schubert: The Songmakers' Almanac Schubertiade
CDD220102CDs Dyad (2 for the price of 1) — Download only
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