Schumann: Liederkreis; Frauenliebe und Leben; Berg: Sieben frühe Lieder

Dorothea Röschmann / Mitsuko Uchida

(Digital Download - Decca #)

Review by James Manheim

The pairing of soprano Dorothea Röschmann and pianist Mitsuko Uchida is a somewhat odd one, but it seems to have been enthusiastically undertaken by both parties. This recording was made live, drawn from a tour in which the pair performed this exact program on both sides of the Atlantic. They know the music well and get deeply into it. Röschmann is a soprano much prized these days by those who value sheer richness of tone; she doesn't interact much with the great Eichendorff texts of the Liederkreis, Op. 39, although somehow she seems to connect more with Berg's Seven Early Songs; their Straussian flavor fits her voice perfectly. Uchida, as accompanist, is entirely different: her lines seem to flow like a river with its own energy beneath the text, and she is quietly probing in her playing. This combination gets to the similarity between the otherwise divergent Schumann and Berg; Schumann's songs, as much as those of the much later Berg's, are conversations between singer and pianist. Whether that conversation occurs here may be a matter of individual reaction, but the performance has both beauty and distinctiveness. Decca's engineers have gotten near-studio clarity from London's Wigmore Hall and captured the live excitement.

Track Listing

Title/Composer Performer Time Stream
Liederkreis, Op. 39
1 Dorothea Röschmann / Mitsuko Uchida 01:45 Amazon
2 Dorothea Röschmann / Mitsuko Uchida 01:53 Amazon
3 Dorothea Röschmann / Mitsuko Uchida 02:38 Amazon
4 Dorothea Röschmann / Mitsuko Uchida 01:49 Amazon
5 Dorothea Röschmann / Mitsuko Uchida 03:52 Amazon
6 Dorothea Röschmann / Mitsuko Uchida 01:22 Amazon
7 Dorothea Röschmann / Mitsuko Uchida 03:19 Amazon
8 Dorothea Röschmann / Mitsuko Uchida 01:25 Amazon
9 Dorothea Röschmann / Mitsuko Uchida 02:40 Amazon
10 Dorothea Röschmann / Mitsuko Uchida 03:30 Amazon
11 Dorothea Röschmann / Mitsuko Uchida 01:36 Amazon
12 Dorothea Röschmann / Mitsuko Uchida 01:34 Amazon
Sieben frühe Lieder
13 Dorothea Röschmann / Mitsuko Uchida 04:14 Amazon
14 Dorothea Röschmann / Mitsuko Uchida 02:18 Amazon
15 Dorothea Röschmann / Mitsuko Uchida 02:14 Amazon
16 Dorothea Röschmann / Mitsuko Uchida 02:42 Amazon
17 Dorothea Röschmann / Mitsuko Uchida 01:21 Amazon
18 Dorothea Röschmann / Mitsuko Uchida 01:57 Amazon
19 Dorothea Röschmann / Mitsuko Uchida 02:00 Amazon
Frauenliebe und -leben Op. 42
20 Dorothea Röschmann / Mitsuko Uchida 02:40 Amazon
21 Dorothea Röschmann / Mitsuko Uchida 03:41 Amazon
22 Dorothea Röschmann / Mitsuko Uchida 01:58 Amazon
23 Dorothea Röschmann / Mitsuko Uchida 03:02 Amazon
24 Dorothea Röschmann / Mitsuko Uchida 02:15 Amazon
25 Dorothea Röschmann / Mitsuko Uchida 04:43 Amazon
26 Dorothea Röschmann / Mitsuko Uchida 01:33 Amazon
27 Dorothea Röschmann / Mitsuko Uchida 04:39 Amazon
blue highlight denotes track pick