BaL 12.02.11 Brahms's Four Serious Songs

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

With Richard Wigmore.

Some available recordings:

Kirsten Flagstad
Jonathan Lemalu
Kathleen Ferrier (x 2)
George Zeppenfield
Andreas Schmidt
Nathan Berg
Robert Holl
Christian Gerhaher
Olle Persson
Theo Adam
Madeleine Jalbert
Shura Gehrman
Sherrill Milnes
Max Lembeck
Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau
Hans Hotter
Jan DeGaetani
Kurt Moll
Natalie Stutzmann
John Shirley-Quirk
Jose Van Dam
Janet Baker
Alexander Kipnis
Thomas Quasthoff

[LeMartinPecheur]

EA: wot, no Alexander Kipnis?

Apart from Kipnis I can field Ferrier, Flagstad and Lemalu from your list, plus Janet Baker (is she really NLA?) and Norman Bailey, and single songs by Emmi Leisner and Hans Hotter.

[LeMartinPecheur]

Looking at Amazon the following caught my eye:

Jan DeGaetani
Kurt Moll
Natalie Stutzmann
John Shirley-Quirk
Jose Van Dam

Janet Baker is still available and so is Kipnis

And for those who don't like singers, you can choose between Maisky playing cello transcriptions of 1-3, or a solo piano version arr. Reger. Talk about Hamlet without the prince

[BBMmk2]

I do not know this work, so it be an ideal oppurtunity to hear these songs.

[salymap]

I just have the two Ferriers.These songs are thought provoking and beautiful. They and the Richard Strauss Four Last Songs are streets ahead of any similar sets to me.

[Roehre]

I just have the two Ferriers. These songs are thought provoking and beautiful. They and the Richard Strauss Four Last Songs are streets ahead of any similar sets to me.

Seconded. Salymap, one of the two Ferrier sets is with Sargent conducting his orchestration of the songs, I guess?

[salymap]

Roehre, yes it is. The recording you thought I was being flippant about some time ago,if you remember. I know he loved the songs and his arrangment was made at a very sad time in his life. Whatever I said 'came out wrongly' as it sometimes does. bws

[verismissimo]

I appear to have the Kipnis with Gerald Moore from the late 1930s, the DFD with Barenboim and Norman Bailey with John Constable. Plus sundry individual songs (Leisner, Hotter etc).

[Estelle]

EAlpensinfonie, another recording is by Thomas Quasthoff accompanied by Justus Zeyen on DG. The title is "Schubert: Schwanengesang; Brahms: Vier Ernste Gesänge."

It comes highly praised:

http://www.amazon.com/Schwanengesang-Ernste-Gesange-Thomas-Quasthoff/dp/B00005AAFB/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1297022571&sr=1-3

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

EAlpensinfonie, another recording is by Thomas Quasthoff accompanied by Justus Zeyen on DG. The title is "Schubert: Schwanengesang; Brahms: Vier Ernste Gesänge."

It comes highly praised:

http://www.amazon.com/Schwanengesang...7022571&sr=1-3

Noted and added to the list.

[Eudaimonia]

I'm not sure how many are still in print, but Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau recorded this several times over the years: With Hertha Klust early in his career, Gerald Moore for EMI, Jorg Demus on DG, and again with Moore for a live recording from the Salzburg Festival in the 60s released on Orfeo; probably several more I can't remember off the top of my head. In any event, you can't go wrong with Gerald Moore.

[verismissimo]

And DFD with Sawallisch, which earlier I wrongly attributed to Barenboim.

[Estelle]

Am I the only listener who would appreciate a listing on the "CD Review" programme page of the CD/DVDs under consideration in "Building a Library?" It is difficult to hear and understand a long foreign name without being able to consult a listing. Is there a tradition of keeping the contenders selected for this programme secret before the broadcast? I simply cannot understand this omission, especially when it would be so helpful. I am a neophyte who would appreciate being advised as to why no listing is provided!

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Possibly a full listing would be misleading. For reasons of time, it would not be possible to compare all available versions. But if only the ones under discussion were mentioned, there would be howls of protest.

[Estelle]

E.A., Do you think an advance listing of only the works to be heard and discussed on the programme would cause problems? I would think listeners understand that time limitations allow the host to select those performances which s/he considers worthy of consideration. Listeners are given complete playlists for all other R 3 programmes; why is this one hour exempt?