Track Listing

1. Adelaide, song for voice & piano, Op. 46
2. Das Veilchen, song for voice & piano, K. 476
3. An Chloe ('Wenn die Lieb''), song for voice & piano, K. 524
4. Das Traumbild ('Wo bist du, Bild'), song for voice & piano, K. 530
5. Die betrogene Welt ('Der reiche Tor'), song for voice & piano, K. 474
6. Lob der Faulheit, song for voice & keyboard, H. 26a/22
7. Gegenliebe, song for voice & keyboard (from Lieder f�r das Clavier II), H. 26a/16
8. Trost ungl�cklicher Liebe, song for voice & keyboard (12 Lieder f�r das Clavier, I), H. 26a/9
9. Die zu sp�te Ankunft der Mutter, song for voice & keyboard, H. 26a/12
10. Die ihr des unermesslichen Weltalls Sch�pfer ehrt, cantata for voice & piano, K. 619
11. O Tuneful Voice, song for voice & keyboard, H. 26a/42
12. Sailor's Song, for voice & keyboard, H. 26a/31 (from English Canzonettas II)
13. Sympathy, song for voice & keyboard, H. 26a/33
14. The Spirit's Song ('Hark! Hark! what I tell to thee'), song for voice & keyboard, H. 26a/41
15. Fidelity ('While hollow burst the rushing winds'), for voice & keyboard (English canzonettas I), H. 26a/30
16. Transport of Pleasure ('Ah me how scanty is my store'), song for voice & keyboard (English Canzonettas II), H. 26a/36
17. Piercing Eyes, song for voice & keyboard, H. 26a/35 (from English Canzonettas II)
18. She Never Told Her Love, song for voice & keyboard, H. 26a/34 (from English Canzonettas II)
19. An die ferne Geliebte, song cycle for voice & piano, Op. 98: "Auf dem Hugel sitz ich spahend"
20. An die ferne Geliebte, song cycle for voice & piano, Op. 98: "Wo die Berge so blau"
21. An die ferne Geliebte, song cycle for voice & piano, Op. 98: "Leichte Segler in den Hohen"
22. An die ferne Geliebte, song cycle for voice & piano, Op. 98: "Diese Wolken in den Hohen"
23. An die ferne Geliebte, song cycle for voice & piano, Op. 98: "Es kehretder Maien, es bluhet die Au"
24. An die ferne Geliebte, song cycle for voice & piano, Op. 98: "Nimm sie hin denn diese Lieder"

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #336878 in Music
• Released on: 2000-05-09
• Number of discs: 1

Customer Reviews

What a sweet voice, fresh and earnest performance.
Holzmair gives us a very sweet and fresh performance here. His interpretation of some famous lieder( for example, Beethovan's An die ferne Geliebte ) gives new insight, and always in a delicate mood .In fact this is the best An die ferne Geliebte I've listened to. While with great Beethovan and fair Mozart, In my opinion the most outstanding part in this cd is Haydn's lieder. These sweet songs are almost forgotten by singers, and very few listeners know THERE WERE Haydn's lieder. Holzmair sings these songs with earnest and true understanding. And I think, If Holzmair could focus on words more, brings out the deep insight and power of every word in lieder, he will and must be a shining star in the lieder-singer world .Cooper's piano is excellent, the acostics balanced as well .

Like it but better out there
I very much enjoy Wolfgang Holzmair and enjoyed his Beethoven and Haydn songs. They are not the last word in this music, however. Recordings of Beethoven's "An die Ferne Geliebte" by Thomas Allen and, especially, Stephen Genz, sweep away the Holzmnair version.

Both the Englishman Allen and the German Genz have bigger voices they use to greater advantage than Holzmair in the raw emotional sections of Beethoven's only song cycle. In addition, the Genz CD contains 18 of Beethoven's German songs and Allen's contains a wonderful concert recorded by British radio that includes songs by Haydn, Beethoven and Wolf.

Allen does not have Holzmair's sensitivity but he more than makes up for it by blowing the top of the building he sings in. His immense vocals are overpowering but still no match for Genz, one of the most brilliant young singers to come around in many years. He matches Allen's vocal power and exceeds Holzmair's sensitivity to the text.

Fans of Holzmair can hear him at his very best in the Schubert song cycle "Schwanengesang" on Philips, if it is still in print. This is a venue that is most well suited to Holzmair's voice, style and delivery and is a cycle where he can excel against all comers. In Beethoven, I'm afraid he is of the second rank.

German lieder not by Schubert
Franz Schubert so dominates the world of German art song, both in quality and quantity, that it's easy to forget that other composers have contributed beautiful examples. Holzmair's current CD attempts to redress the balance by offering works by the great Viennese Classicists: Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven, some familiar, others less so. Certainly Beethoven's _An die ferne Geliebte_ and Mozart's setting of Goethe's _Das Veilchen_ match anything by Schubert in emotional profundity and matching of music and text. The late Masonic "Cantata," K. 619, by Mozart is also a real find. Haydn's songs, while pleasant, occupy on the whole a somewhat lower musical plane.

Holzmair and his pianist Imogen Cooper offer elegant, highly polished performances. The baritone has a light, smooth voice, almost tenor-like in timbre (he soars to easy high Gs and A-flats), and though he is never less than fully committed emotionally, at times one misses a weightier tone quality, especially in the Beethoven cycle. His diction in the Haydn English songs is not always easily understandable (admittedly the poetry is florid and old-fashioned). Still, this CD makes for much enjoyable listening of frequently unfamiliar repertoire.