Track Listing

Disc 1:

1. Songs (3) for voice & piano (after Shakespeare's 'Hamlet;' 'Ophelia Lieder'), Op. 67/1-3 (TrV 238/1-3): No. 1: Wie erkenn ich mein Tr
2. Songs (3) for voice & piano (after Shakespeare's 'Hamlet;' 'Ophelia Lieder'), Op. 67/1-3 (TrV 238/1-3): No. 2. Guten Morgen, 's ist S
3. Songs (3) for voice & piano (after Shakespeare's 'Hamlet;' 'Ophelia Lieder'), Op. 67/1-3 (TrV 238/1-3): No. 3. Sie trugen ihn auf der
4. Enoch Arden, melodrama for speaker & piano, Op. 38 (TrV 181): Part 1: Prelude. Andante
5. Enoch Arden, melodrama for speaker & piano, Op. 38 (TrV 181): Part 1: "So these were wed"
6. Enoch Arden, melodrama for speaker & piano, Op. 38 (TrV 181): Part 1: Allegro appassionato
7. Enoch Arden, melodrama for speaker & piano, Op. 38 (TrV 181): Part 1: Tranquillo
8. Enoch Arden, melodrama for speaker & piano, Op. 38 (TrV 181): Part 1: Annie's dream. Langsam
9. Enoch Arden, melodrama for speaker & piano, Op. 38 (TrV 181): Part 2: Prelude. Allegro moderato
10. Enoch Arden, melodrama for speaker & piano, Op. 38 (TrV 181): Part 2: "Thus over Enoch's early-silvering head"
11. Enoch Arden, melodrama for speaker & piano, Op. 38 (TrV 181): Part 2: Allegro agitato
12. Enoch Arden, melodrama for speaker & piano, Op. 38 (TrV 181): Part 2: Langsam

Disc 2:

1. Piano Sonata in B minor, Op. 5 (TrV 103): 1. Allegro molto appassionato
2. Piano Sonata in B minor, Op. 5 (TrV 103): 2. Adagio cantabile
3. Piano Sonata in B minor, Op. 5 (TrV 103): 3. Scherzo. Presto - Trio. Un poco pi� lento
4. Piano Sonata in B minor, Op. 5 (TrV 103): 4. Finale. Allegretto vivo
5. Pieces (5) for piano, Op. 3 (TrV 105): No. 1: Andante
6. Pieces (5) for piano, Op. 3 (TrV 105): No. 2: Allegro vivace scherzando
7. Pieces (5) for piano, Op. 3 (TrV 105): No. 3: Largo
8. Pieces (5) for piano, Op. 3 (TrV 105): No. 4: Allegro molto
9. Pieces (5) for piano, Op. 3 (TrV 105): No. 5: Allegro marcatissimo

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #77825 in Music
• Brand: Sony
• Released on: 1992-11-10
• Number of discs: 2
• Dimensions: .44 pounds

Amazon.com
This pairing of Glenn Gould and Elisabeth Schwarzkopf is an essential asset to the collection of any lover of the vocal repertoire. Strauss's "Ophelia" suggests that the last word on German lied had not yet been sounded by the 20th century. Gould's interpretation is not, of course, lushly romantic; it's endowed with his unmistakable, brilliant clarity, and casts a new light. As always, to hear Gould tackle any repertoire remains astonishing. --Joshua Cody

Customer Reviews

An Interesting GG Set...
Tennyson's Enoch Arden, edited and set for recital with musical interludes. I've always liked Claude Rains; and, needless to say, GG is superb here: my only complaint is rather in the form of a wish or suggestion: I wish GG (or Sony) had simply released GG playing Strauss' music without recitation. Why? While Rains is great, and the poem is nice--a few times around--it later wears thin: its dated Victorian sentimentality. We end up hearing more Rains and Tennyson than GG and Strauss. Still, this is a unique and interesting performance; and GG's realization of Strauss' piano music is scintillating. The earlier Piano Sonata is great, as well as the Klavierstucke.

GG's collaboration with Elisabeth Schwarzkopf is infamous. GG always admired Dame Liz; and he wanted to record many lieder with her (viz., Schoenberg's, Hindemith's, etc.). The problem was this: Gould wanted to lead in the aesthetic realization of any collaboration. He was able to do so with Menuin, Laredo, and some lesser vocalists, etc.; however, Schwarzkopf was not to be outdone: she was already a great and respected soloist, and she found GG's eccentric vision for realization too unusual. Indeed, she took offense at GG's playing of the songs. So, after a few cuts, the session was called off short--and that was that. Well, what can one say? Sometimes great minds don't always work well together.

FANTASTIC RECITING VOICE AND STRAUSS' UNDESERVEDLY NEGLECTED PIANO MUSIC
I bought this album to get Claude Raines reciting Tennyson's "Enoch Arden." It did not disappoint me, in fact it was incredible. A somewhat forgotten actor, who seldom had the roles he deserved, and who possessed one of the finest speaking voices in the 20th century, Mr. Raines recited the poem such that I felt like pulling to the side of the road (I was driving at the time of listening) and bursting into tears. As Kipling once said of someone, "The man could read." This is not to take away from the rest of the album. Elizabeth Schwarzkopf's "Ofelia Lieder" is wonderful, as only she is singing lieder. She had a voice equalled by very few sopranos (soprani), and they didn't sing lieder! Her performance ranks with her recording of the "Four Last Songs" with George Szell. To get to the star of the album (it is the Glenn Gould Edition, after all), he performs the Piano Sonata, Op. 5, and the 5 piano pieces, Op.3, with which I was unfamiliar. I had always known Strauss as an opera, tone poem and lieder composer, but these are powerful pieces, not unlike some of Brahms' lesser known solo piano works, and are played by Gould with a power and tempo that I had previously associated only with Robert Casadesus. Also, God be praised, he doesn't sing, hum, or make other unitelligible noises during any of the performances. For those who love lieder, spoken voice, and great solo piano, this is a wonderful album.