Track Listing

1. No. 1, "Morgens steh' ich auf und frage"
2. No. 2, "Es treibt mich hin"
3. No. 3, "Ich wandelte unter den Baumen"
4. No. 4, "Lieb' Liebchen, leg's Handchen"
5. No. 5, "Schone Wiege meiner Leiden"
6. No. 6, "Warte, warte, wilder Schiffsmann"
7. No. 7, "Berg' und Burgn schaun herunter"
8. No. 8, "Anfangs wollt' ich fast verzagen"
9. No. 9, "Mit Myrthen und Rosen"
10. No. 03, Abends am Strand
11. No. 01, Die beiden Grenadiere
12. No. 02, Dein Angesicht
13. No. 02, Lehn deine Wang'
14. No. 03, Es leuchtet meine Liebe
15. No. 04, Mein Wagen rollet langsam
16. No. 1, "Im wunderschonen Monat Mai"
17. No. 2, "Aus meinen Tranen spriessen"
18. No. 3, "Die Rose, die Lilie, die Taube"
19. No. 4, "Wenn ich in deine Augen seh'"
20. No. 5, "Ich will meine Seele tauchen"
21. No. 6, "Im Rhein, im heiligen Strome"
22. No. 7, "Ich grolle nicht"
23. No. 8, Und wussten's die Blumen, die kleinen"
24. No. 9, "Das ist ein Floten und Geigen"
25. No. 10, "Hor' ich das Liedchen klingen"
26. No. 11, "Ein Jungling liebt ein Madchen"
27. No. 12, "Am leuchtenden Sommermorgen"
28. No. 13, "Ich hab' im Traum geweinet"
29. No. 14, "Allnachtlich im Traume seh' ich dich"
30. No. 15, "Aus alten Marchen winkt es hervor"
31. No. 16, "Die alten, bosen Lieder"

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #58546 in Music
• Released on: 1998-03-17
• Number of discs: 1

Amazon.com
The texts used in these 32 songs are all by Heinrich Heine, a miniaturist poet whose unique, characteristic mixture of wistfulness and irony, often tinged with self-pity, was ideal material for the genius of that wistful, ironic musical miniaturist, Robert Schumann. Every lover of Lieder must regret that Franz Schubert did not discover Heine until he was dying and composed only a few Heine songs in his Schwanengesang. But that regret is mitigated by the fact that Schumann gave so much attention to Heine during the brief, intense period when he was focused on songwriting. Dichterliebe is one of the finest song cycles in the German language--surpassed, if at all, only by Schubert's Schoene Muellerin and Winterreise; and the other songs in this collection are comparable in quality. Bostridge's light, expressive voice captures every musical and emotional nuance, and Drake plays masterfully the virtuoso piano part. --Joe McLellan

Customer Reviews

Not bad, not good.
I was pleased to buy a recording so well-received and was anxious to hear not only Dichterliebe, but the op. 24 Liederkreis. (This particular Liederkreis is considered by many to be the most underrated.)

It took me awhile to form an opinion, other than that I was nonplussed. The most famous moment, 'Ich grolle nicht', is a good example of a well-practiced but ultimately boring rendition of music that is simply beyond Bostridge's training or inclination or both. Yes, he hits all the notes with complete security, but there is no thrill, no conviction, no pain. All is very academic, as if grown in a hothouse or nurtured in a cloister. I agree with a previous reviewer that Bostridge's voice is perhaps better-suited to lighter, less passionate material. (I'm not familiar with his other recordings, but I might very much enjoy hearing him sing the music of Harty or Stanford.) His voice is thin, nasal, and with a very narrow color palette. It's a very good voice, but a very studied, calculated one that seems not to have internalized the text. I would prefer a few cracks or idiosyncracies rather than such a bloodless interpretation as this. Drake's accompaniment is a perfect match, and that's not much of a compliment. The recording's engineering is excellent, however.

Those looking for some excellent Schumann would do better to consider Terfel, Fischer-Diskau (despite transposition to lower keys), or the wonderful Wunderlich.

My least favorite Liederkreis Op. 24
The winds of fashion are always changing, and they've definitely been blowing in the direction of Ian Bostridge, whose voice is not one I love or even tolerate for more than a few songs. He uses it intensely and artistically, but its native quality is a typcial "white" English tenor, light in tone, mostly projected form the head, and of an irritatingly nasal timbre--one is constantly reminded of an adolescent whose voice has just changed. People do seem to love it, especiallly the English, and Bostridge's fussy way with texts is also admired.

For anyone who isn't thrilled by him, there is an overlapping recital of Schumann's Heine songs--oddly enough, also on EMI--by Thomas Hampson at his very best with Wolfgang Sawallisch as accompanist. For a tenor version sung by someone with a much fuller voice and less mannered approach to the texts, there is Christoph Pregardien on RCA/BMG. Having owned all three, I was happy to toss out this CD.

A deservedly celebrated recording
If you're looking at this, you probably already know who Ian Bostridge is. He's the newest, best and brightest of the lyric tenors in the world today. In addition to his beautiful voice and the accomplished singing technique, Bostridge, only 33, has earned a doctorate in history and philosophy, written two books, and won two major Gramophone prizes, including the best 1998 solo vocal for the recording you're looking at. For idiosyncratic reasons, I still prefer Mark Padmore, but Bostridge's singing is so undeniably beautiful that even someone with the deepest biases is bound to be swayed.