This disc collects two sets of songs by Janacek; one is a proper song cycle, the other is a collection of folk melodies for piano and voice.
Tag: Lieder
Ives: Concord Sonata; Songs (2004) by Pierre-Laurent Aimard with Susan Graham
This is one of those discs that pairs two different types of music and so, right off the bat, kind of annoys me. Ives has plenty of songs to release a whole disc (or many discs) of them, without instrumental music. (For example, one of his collections is called 114 Songs.) And he’s got plenty …
Gustav Holst: Vedic Hymns, Four Songs for Voice and Violin, Humbert Wolfe Songs, etc. [English Song Series 6] (2003) by Various Artists
This is a scattershot collection of 33 of Holst’s approximately 70 lieder, performed by various people from various times.
Grieg: Songs (1993) by Anne Sofie von Otter; Bengt Forsberg
This is a collection of Grieg’s songs that includes both Haugtussa and other songs from his numerous sets, picked, I guess, arbitrarily. Haugtussa is the highlight for me and a reason to rate this set higher than just an arbitrary collection of a composer’s songs should be rated.
Berlioz: Les Nuits d’Ete; Faure; Ravel (2004, Virgin Classics) by David Daniels, Ensemble Orchestral de Paris conducted by John Nelson, et al
I have always sort of been annoyed by our collective obsession with vocalists. The human voice is indeed a powerful instrument, but it is hardly the only instrument out there. And I always am mystified when I see releases credited to vocalists when that vocalist isn’t even present on every track.
The Songs of Henri Duparc (1989) by Sarah Walker, Thomas Allen, Roger Vignoles
For reasons I can’t quite articulate, I find lieder tough to get into. My first reaction is to be a little surprised that this guy’s status in the canon rests on this.
Songs (2006) by Frederick Delius, performed by Yvonne Kenny and Piers Lane
This somewhat arbitrary collection of songs is decent enough. It would be nicer to hear complete sets. I can’t say that I hear enough of what I love about impressionism to really rave about it. On the other hand it is clear that these songs mark a departure from much of what was standard at …