MOZART: Complete Songs

Eisenlohr, Ulrich, Lorch, Ariane, Odinius, Lothar, Ziesak, Ruth

8.557900-01

The notes to this 2CD set suggest that it includes all Mozart’s Lieder, but a volume of Mozart songs that I possess includes (e.g. the famous Warnung) that are not included here. However, for what we do have, we should be very grateful. • Many of these songs are known to music lovers from the still available records made years ago by Elisabeth Schwarzkopf and Irmgard Seefried, but it seems to me that Ruth Ziesak and Lothar Odinius outdo the older singers. The modern singers deploy their art with less affectation. Both Ziesak and Odinius have excellent voices and the right sense of style. It was a good idea to have some of the songs sung by a man; ‘An Chloe’, for example, is certainly the property of a male. • Ulrich Eisenlohr (who wrote the informative notes) is a superb accompanist. Some of the songs are accompanied, in accordance with Mozart’directions, by a mandolin; one of them is ‘Komm liebe zither’ which sounds like a precursor of Don Giovanni’s Serenade. The least interesting are those associated with Freemasonry. The singers do not always sing all the verses in the strophic songs, texts and translations can be accessed from the Internet. The recording throughout is excellent with none of the metallic edge that so many CD recordings give to voices. All in all, this CD is an important and enjoyable release and evidence of the extraordinary renaissance of Lieder singing that has taken place in Europe in recent years. • Richard Gate, Limelight, July 2009

CD x 2

Naxos

5/5/08

747313290024