Search - Ludovic Konya, Nicolae Bretan, Ferdinand Weiss :: Bretan: My Lieder-Land

A Surprise from Transylvania

06/30/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Nimbus Records are rumored to headquarter in the stones of an ancient castle: our curiosity leads us to wonder whether those historic blocks and their inhabitants are related in some most unnatural way to the Transylvanian treasures on this disc.We have Nicolae Bretan-the Transylvanian composer of heart-rendingly beautiful melodies; the lyrics of the Old World's most soulful-Goga, Ady, Eminescu, Cosbuc, Eftimiu, Rilke; the superb singing and playing of Transylvania's baritone Ludovic Konya and pianist Ferdinand Weiss.The cover and tray card tell us about the baritone and pianist, but the real surprise is within: once one looses the nails from the shrink-wrapped jewel-case/coffin, and crow-bars out the gothic-proportioned booklet from its crypt, one discovers that Nimbus have kept another pianist-Martin Berkofsky-prisoner in its dungeon.Perhaps this Berkofsky is not allowed into the daylight, or worse, perhaps Nimbus have already dosed him with the requisite stake in the heart. Neverthess be Berkofsky one of the living or one of the living dead, his partnership (eight of the 22 tracks on this disc,) with Konya reaches those rare and sublime heights of truth to the composer.Nimbus' crypt yields no biographical information of any of the performers and we wonder if they all are cursed to perpetual darkness.Or perhaps this is all a clever advertising ploy like the soft-drinks' purveyors "open to see if you have won a prize." We have opened and we have definitely won a grand prize."