Amazon.comIf not for his contemporary, Schubert, whom he outlived by 41 years, Carl Loewe might well have been recognized as the greatest composer of German lieder before Schumann. His melodies can be lovely, and his settings of a wide variety of poets are sensitive and expressive; his work pales only before Schubert's greater efforts (of which there are, admittedly, many) and well deserves a complete traversal. The performances on this volume are excellent: spirited, beautifully proportioned, and balanced. A number of poems, also famously set by Schubert, allow for interesting comparisons, which Loewe knew would be made. He tried, with considerable success, to be different. --Paul Turok