Search - Franz Schubert, Johannes Brahms, Robert Schumann :: Vesselina Kasarova - Schubert, Brahms, Schumann Lieder

Thrillingly individual

m.nell@rf.roccadefinance.nl | Kampen, The Netherlands | 07/04/2000

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Having followed Kasarova's meteoric rise in the world of opera with keen interest I was torn asunder by this release: could this glorious mezzo really adapt her art to the intimate realm of Lieder, especially this particular repertoire which is, after all, already overpopulated by the full spectrum of the sublime to the horribly bad? The answer for me is a resounding "yes", although I can understand any misgivings others might have. I do not find her approach too operatic. It is one of the dichotomies of the disc: the voice is huge, but the approach is intimate to the point where, as the editorial review points out, she seems to almost over-interpret the words. A handy comparison would be to listen to Jessye Norman in similar repertoire - now that is an operatic approach! What differentiates this disc from so many others is that Kasarova and Haider deliver the songs as if they have no knowledge of what has been done before. Their delivery is sometimes quirky and almost uniformly unusual. Is this good? Once again: I think so. Standards like Schubert's "Im Fruhling" and "Auf dem Wasser zu singen" suddenly sound fresh and new. The mood darkens considerably for the Brahms section of the programme, the sublime "Von ewiger Liebe" being given a marvelously calculated performance. The Schumann section is again slightly lighter, but equally satisfying.Kasarova's timbre is really a miracle. She can shade the basic coppery character into a veritable pallet of colours. Her diction is close to perfect, although her German is sometimes idiosyncratic, to say the least. Haider's accompaniment is very satisfying indeed. The artists seem to truly share a common vision and it works wonders. Years of working together in recital (often with Haider's wife Edita Gruberova) have obviously paid off.I have only one quibble about this disc, which is why it receives four and not five stars from me: Kasarova is recorded too closely. Although it is good to hear the singer breathing the close recording unfortunately overaccentuates the way in which she chops up phrases for interpretive purposes as well as her tendency to lisp. In summary: if you are the kind of Lieder connoisseur who believes that the Elly Ameling approach is the begin-all and end-all of Lieder singing, this one is not for you. If, on the other hand, you are more adventurous and tend to believe that traditions are there to flirt with, you might just love it, as I do."

Unusual but stunning

Benjamin Rous | The Netherlands | 04/13/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"It's true, this is not the typical lieder approach. Indeed, it's often daring, pushing the limits of what a song can bear before it turns operatical. And yet, Vesselina kasarova manages to pull it off marvelously. She has such a variety in tonal colour that she brings something new and fresh to every song she sings. The Schubert selections are great, and the Schumann as well, but she is simply magnificent in the Brahms lieder. I wonder if there will ever be such a perfect, touching, almost heart-rending rendition of "Feldeinsamkeit". Listen to the emotional build-up in "Von ewiger Liebe". This is simply a beautiful disc, giving immense pleasure every time you put it on. Minor quibbles about imperfect German or a too close recording fall into nothing besides the sheer qualities of this disc. A desert island one, no question about it..."

Magical!

Kicek&Brys | USA/UK | 02/21/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"What a marvellous disc! Truly amazing! A young singer whose Lieder recital has something to say and does it so beautifully!
I don't know where to start the praise - maybe with the voice itself, which is simply astonishing in its richness. Kasarova has great powers of communication and the courage to `speak her mind' in which she reminds me of Brigitte Fassbaender. Also her voice, though beautiful in a more conventional way, has some of the qualities of the great German artist's. Like Fassbaender, Kasarova is a great story-teller; she knows that Lieder singing is about telling a story and not `just' singing it. And how she tells them! Her approach is a perfect illustration of a very important quality in Lieder singing which seems to be forgotten nowadays - singing should be like pure speech. One of the greatest Lieder interpreters, Harry Plunket Greene, called speech in song "one of the most moving human gifts". Unlike many young (not only!) singers, Kasarova possesses this gift and together with Bartoli and Terfel shows that `speaking' through singing is the best way of communicating with the audiences.
Kasarova is neither the first nor the last singer to sing in a foreign language and her German sometimes sounds idiosyncratic (though I better leave this problem to the native speakers), but she is certainly one of the few among today's young Liederists who actually is not afraid of pronouncing words clearly. If that can occasionally lead to overemphasis, as some native speakers may quibble, it is certainly a minor offence. Clear pronunciation in singing becomes harder and harder to come by; it is like in movies, where the ill-conceived virtue of `expressing oneself' makes everything else irrelevant, never mind that the viewer has a hard time understanding what is being said, however beautiful it may be. It has become customary to criticize such great singers as Elisabeth Schwarzkopf for paying too much attention to `the meaning of the words' which creates the impression of a lack of spontaneity! Nothing could be more absurd! In this recital, you get the most spontaneous and sincere singing imaginable but you can be sure that lots of work and time went into creating both the programme and the final effect. And the final effect is one of those recitals that are simply difficult to talk about and even more difficult to argue with. How can one argue with such sincere conviction and technically supreme singing? If there is a high point in this sequence of gems, it certainly is Brahm's "Von ewiger Liebe". This `big song', as Gerald Moore called it, certainly gets a big `treatment' here and leaves the listener in a state of wonder. Almost every song brings something new - as somebody on this page said, Kasarova and Haider deliver these songs as if they have no knowledge of what has been done before. I couldn't put it better. But it is obvious that it is not self-indulgence that guides them. As I said, it is a very well-prepared programme that sounds fresh and sincere, with no signs of calculation or mannerisms, enemies of any Lieder singing.
Too operatic a voice? Not at all! What is a `Lieder voice' after all? It is a voice that can make poetry speak through the singer and that is exactly how Kasarova uses her instrument here. Her voice is indeed caught very closely but this closeness adds to the overall atmosphere of the recital (though I understand that some reviewers were rather bothered by it) - it is like participating in an exceptional Liederabend with a well designed programme that has only one flaw: it leaves you hungry for more. Imagine her Erlking, The Dwarf or The King of Thule - some of the most haunting stories told in Lieder. I wish Kasarova recorded more Lieder, but judging from her recordings and appearances all over the world, she is rather involved in standard operatic repertoire with an emphasis on belcanto. Since I am no fan of bel canto, I am left with the impression that she doesn't exist. Happily this disc together with her debut and Mozart arias albums are such joys that can make up for this apparent loss (she also released a disc with Berlioz's "Nuits d'ete" and Ravel's "Sheherezade" but I haven't heard it yet).
This CD is now one of my top favorites among the recent female Lieder recitals next to von Otter's Schumann and Schubert discs. It will always have a very special place in my record collection and I don't hesitate to put it among the recitals of the greatest Lieder singers! (Kicek)"