The additional Heine settings by Schumann seemed to carry this momentum forward. There was a quiet poignancy and fragility, yet also a heroic, decisive side – and always an intensity of utterance that allowed the completion of the story in the most vivid vocal terms. The last song,’Mit Myrten und Rosen, lieblich und hold’ may not have the distinction of the others but it was remarkable how all the singer’s previous expression was put together here. ‘Schone Wiege meiner Leiden’ captured a lovely contrast between strong defiance and tender reflection while the ‘wild boatman’ song allowed him to open out excitingly to his full power and weight. Even by the third and fourth songs, and especially ‘Lieb’ Liebchen, leg’s Handchen’, we had a clear indication of the tenderness of his phrasing and his ability to absorb himself in a deeply-felt melancholy. He certainly began with composure and exact articulation but, song by song, increasingly drew on greater and more varied vocal resources to strengthen the intensity of the (often distressed) feeling. His ability to negotiate the tensions of this 9-song collection was quite masterly. In Schumann’s celebrated Liederkreis, I was immediately impressed with Florian Boesch as a story teller, always gravitating to a reflective posture, but being able to open out, or pare down, his voice to capture the many subtle shades of the cycle’s sadness. He could have had no better partner for this journey than the distinguished veteran accompanist, Roger Vignoles. This concert featured the above composers in Heinrich Heine settings of consuming sadness and grief (see his CD on Onyx). With his clean tone and flexible articulation, he seems to aim to make each song totally involving and his own. The singer has a wonderfully-natural empathy with composers such as Schubert and Schumann and probes their texts with fluency, imagination and emotional awareness. His immediate success is not difficult to understand. As so often happens, his ascending star was likely put in place by two concerts where he stepped in at short notice for, respectively, Thomas Quasthoff and Robert Holl - with brilliant results in the core of German romantic song. Austrian baritone Florian Boesch has quickly become one of the most exciting lieder (art song) singers before us.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |