Robert Schumann: Lieder

Reissue of a CD that put Hampson on the map

No current American singer -- and precious few from the past -- have established a career in German art song to the extent that Hampson has. He began early, winning praise and prizes for a series of recordings on Teldec. This is a reissue of one of the most arcane, since it contains the rarely heard Kerner-Lieer Op. 35 and the even rarer Andersen Lieder Op. 40. I found no notable songs in the latter group, but the Kerner Lieder, while not as inspired as Schumann's four famous song cycles (Dichtrliebe, Frauenliebe und lebel, and the two Liederkreis Op. 24 and 39), still deserve a listen.

Fischer-Dieskau dominates in Lieder, of course, and he made a wonderful recording of the Kerner-Lieder when he was around thirty, in 1954 (recently brought to CD by Audite), yet Hampson exhibits the same abilities at the same high level: he's fresh, direct, in perfect technical command, and persuasive with the text. As a native speaker, F-D's German carries more nuance and feeling. Still, Hampson's youthful voice is thrilling, and Geoffrey Parsons was a better accompanist than Gunther Weissenborn for F-D.

In sum, this is a fairly arcane recording, definitely not the place to start if you don't know Schumann's songs, but a treasure for lovers of lieder as an art. January 20, 2008

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