Search - Richard [1] Strauss, Roger Vignoles, Christine Brewer :: Strauss: The Complete Songs, Vol. 1

The Compleat Strauss Begins - with a Brilliant Christine Bre

Grady Harp | Los Angeles, CA United States | 08/21/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Richard Strauss wrote over 200 songs for voice and piano/orchestra and the fine Hyperion label has committed to recording the Complete Songs in eight CDs. If all eight rise to the brilliance of this first installment, we are indeed in for a luxurious treat!



Volume I, now released, contains eighteen songs written from 1882 to 1928, not all of them are outstanding but each of these songs is historically significant. Strauss understood the female voice range from mezzo to coloratura and wrote some of the most hauntingly beautiful songs in the repertoire. Opening with the 'Zueignung' (still one of his most often performed songs) and proceeding in chronological order of writing, this recital continues with unknown songs along with familiar ones. It is a feast!



Making this recital consummate is the gifted young singer Christine Brewer, a musician with a near faultless, gorgeous vocal technique and interpretative ability to probe the poetry as well as the musical line as well as any singer living. Having experienced her live in the infamous Los Angeles Philharmonic production of 'Tristan und Isolde' makes it easy to attest to her stage demeanor and communicative powers. She is a rising giant. Her capable collaborator on this disc is pianist Roger Vignoles who not only matches Brewer's quality, he also enhances the intellectual aspect of this recording venture with exception Program Notes.



Be advised that this series has begun and if all of the subsequent installments are of the standard of this Volume I, the Strauss lovers should plan to collect them all. Highly recommended. Grady Harp, August 05"

A wonderful recital from a wonderful artist

C. EGBUNIWE | West Hollywood, CA United States | 06/24/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Finally a truly great Strauss recital disk! Of course, there have been great Strauss recitals in the past but none in quite a while. Of the recent recordings, Renee Fleming is too in love with her voice, Karita Mattila sounds uninvolved (which is weird since she's almost always incredibly expressive), Felicity Lott is impassioned but her voice isn't always pristine, Soile Isokoski sounds a little light. Then comes Brewer with the total package: intelligence, involvement, musicality, and a big gorgeous gorgeous voice. This is an artist! Each selection is sung with care without becoming fussy and overdone. There could be a tad more weary sorrow in "Befreit" (Debbie Voigt shattered me in her Carnegie Hall performance) but her voice is so naturally expressive that it doesn't really matter. The ever popular "Zueignung" sounds fresh and original. I highly recommend this disk!"

Stratospheric waves of sound - Straussian rarities

Ingrid Heyn | Melbourne, Australia | 11/06/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Christine Brewer is not a name that springs to mind when it comes to Lieder singers, and it's easy to understand why. Her career has focused upon opera, and there's little doubt that is where Ms Brewer's greatest love lies. Her voice is more than ample - often luscious, often beautiful, and with a fabulous range.



I listened to this recording with pleasure, even though that pleasure was alloyed with some dissatisfaction. To sing Lieder is not the same as singing opera. It's much more intimate and much more detailed on a smaller scale - it's like a painting seen up close, so that every flaw is laid bare, every quiver and tremble, every moment of blandness, every lack of wordplay.



With the best Lieder singers in the world, one is in a ferment of delirious pleasure. The words come alive, highlighted with highly intellectual and yet deeply emotional use of the musical aspects of the Lied, given edge and dimension by exquisite and pointed use of the words themselves. There really are not many great Lieder singers in the world today...



What we see in Ms Brewer is musical intelligence and a glorious voice, some quite good approach to the Lieder, but not that perfect connection between words and music which speaks to the listener without doubt, without a single loss of textual meaning, without a moment's veering from the beauty of the song to the strings of the heart. The Lieder singing on this disc is good, but not great. In terms of sheer singing...? Lovely, but that's not exactly the same thing.



Christine Brewer's voice and technique give many of the songs on this recording a beautiful sense of spacious richness, soaring easily into the notes. The text did not soar... Perhaps I am expecting too much, but that is what I want with Lieder singing. Ms Brewer did best with the dramatic coloratura Lieder, where her voice showed what a magnificent vehicle it is. But when it came to the more intimate Lieder, "Zugeignung" for instance, or in PARTICULAR the heartbreaking "Befreit", the problem becomes apparent - she does not move the heart with the poetry that should strike like an arrow through the soul. For this, we must still rely on the Schwarzkopf recordings, or a very moving recording made by Margaret Price.



Some of the Lieder on this disc are unusual, and it is strange indeed to see such masterpieces not in the public repertoire. Perhaps this recording will remedy the lack.



In spite of my faint qualms, I consider this a very good disc, and I look forward to more in the series."