Wolf: Italienisches Liederbuch / Italian Songbook (Great Recordings of the Century)

Elisabeth Schwarzkopf - Wolf: Italienisches Liederbuch / Italian Songbook (Great Recordings of the Century)

Wolf: Italienisches Liederbuch / Italian Songbook (Great Recordings of the Century)
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CD Details

Artist: Elisabeth Schwarzkopf
Composer: Hugo [Composer] Wolf
Performer: Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau
Performer: Gerald Moore
Edition: Music CD
Format: Original recording remastered
CD Release Date: 2003-10-07
Music Label: EMI Classics
Soundtracks:
  1. Auch Kleine Dinge B
  2. Mir Ward Gesagt S
  3. Ihr Seid Die Allerschonste B
  4. Gesegnet Sei B
  5. Selig Ihr Blinden B
  6. Wer Rief Dich Denn? S
  7. Der Mond Hat Eine Schwere Klag Erhoben B
  8. Nun Lass Uns Frieden Schliessen B
  9. Dass Doch Gemalt B
  10. Du Denkst Mit Einem Fadchen
  11. Wie Lange Schon S
  12. Nein, Junger Herr S
  13. Hoffartig Seid Ihr B
  14. Geselle, Woll'n Wir B
  15. Mein Liebster Ist So Klein S
  16. Ihr Jungen Leute S
  17. Und Willst Du Deinen Liebsten
  18. Heb' Auf Dein Blondes Haupt B
  19. Wir Haben Beide S
  20. Mein Liebster Singt S
  21. Man Sagt Mir S
  22. Ein Standchen Euch Zu Bringen
  23. Was Fur Ein Lied B
  24. Ich Esse Nun Mein Brot S
  25. Mein Liebster Hat Zu Tische S
  26. Ich Liess Mir Sagen S
  27. Schon Streckt' Ich Aus B
  28. Du Sagst Mir S
  29. Wohl Kenn' Ich Euren Stand S
  30. Lass Sie Nur Geh'n B
  31. Wie Soll Ich Frohlich Sein S
  32. Was Soll Der Zorn S
  33. Sterb' Ich, So Hullt In Blumen B
  34. Und Steht Ihr Fruh B
  35. Benedeit Die Sel'ge Mutter B
  36. Wenn Du, Mein Liebster S
  37. Wie Viele Zeit Verlor' Ich B
  38. Wenn Du Mich Mit Den Augen Streifst B
  39. Gesegnet Sei Das Grun S
  40. O War' Dein Haus Durchsichtig S
  41. Heut' Nacht Erhob Ich Mich B
  42. Nicht Langer Kann Ich Singen B
  43. Schweig' Einmal Still S
  44. O Wusstest Du B
  45. Verschling' Der Abgrund S
  46. Ich Hab' In Penna S

Music reviews of Wolf: Italienisches Liederbuch / Italian Songbook (Great Recordings of the Century)

Music Review: Hugo Wolf's Italian Songbook
Rating: 5 Stars

Hugo Wolf (1860 --1903) ranks with Schubert, Schumann, and Brahms as a composer of art songs. But particularly in the United States, his work remains little known. Wolf's achievement, unlike his predecessors, is almost entirely in the realm of song. (He composed a string quartet and an opera but little else beyond the songs that is much remembered.) In addition, Wolf brought something new and creative to the art song. His songs are generally short and thorough-composed in form. Wolf pays close attention to his text and tries to make every note and every nuance tell. He sets texts line-by-line with great attention to detail. To simplify, I think he is in a tradition that begins with Gluck and runs through Berlioz and Wagner in an attempt to shape his music tightly around the written word. His songs do not have the spontaniety or lyric flow of Schubert's, but they speak in their own voice. They are intimate and moving creations.

Wolf worked in spurts, and most of his songs are gathered into several lengthy songbooks. Thus, he composed the first half of his Italian Songbook in 1891 and only returned to compose the second half in 1896. It is probably the greatest of Wolf's song collections.

Wolf set a series of anonymous Italian poems which had been translated into German in 1860 by a man named Paul Heyse. The verses consist mostly of short, simple poetry all of which deal with human love in its many aspects. There are 46 songs in the collection closely divided between songs for a man and songs for a woman. There is little, if anything, specifically Italian in the poems or in Wolf's settings. They have a quality which is both universal and personal.

The songs for male voice in the Italian Songbook tend to be intense songs of devotion extolling the beauty and character of the beloved. They are highly romantic and charged. But there are some lighter songs as well, such as no. 14 which is in the voice of a lecherous monk attempting to secure access to the home of an ill young girl in order to seduce her.

A minority of the songs for woman's voice also are in the language of passionate love. But the larger number of these songs deal with matters such as betrayal, rebuffs, anger, mockery, promiscuity, or coldness and inability to love. One of the best known songs in the collection is the last, no. 46, which is a short "catalogue song" similar to Leporello's in Don Giovanni in which the singer boasts her many conquests. Some of the songs are "paired" in that there are songs for one voice which seem to be answers to a song that was heard earlier in another voice. A bit of listening with the text will make this clear.

The songs are in a variety of styles but all feature a close, winding interplay between the piano and voice as they wrap around the text. Wolf's many preludes and postludes for the solo piano are integral parts of these songs.

There are not many available recordings of the entire Italian Songbook, but we are blessed with this reissue of a 1969 release with Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, baritone, Elizabeth Schwarzkopf, soprano, and Gerald Moore, the incomparable pianist of lieder. This CD amply deserves its billing as one of the "Great Recordings of the Century." Fisher-Dieskau and Schwarzkopf are rare masters of this difficult music. Fisher-Dieskau sings with smooth passion while Schwarzkopf rasps, snarls, cries, and dramatizes the many different moods in the woman's songs in this collection.

This CD comes with texts and translations for the songs. It is essential to follow the text while listening to Wolf.

This recording will be most enjoyed by those listeners who have some exposure to songs, such as Schubert's, and want to explore further the development of this unique type of art music.
More Wolf: Italienisches Liederbuch / Italian Songbook (Great Recordings of the Century) free music reviews:
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