Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Marie-Joseph Canteloube, Stephen Sondheim, Franz Schubert, Gian Carlo Menotti, Franz Joseph Haydn, Johannes Brahms, Richard Rodgers, Carl Maria von Weber, Manuel de Falla, Xavier Montsalvatage, Aaron Copland, Miguel Kertsman, Alexander Zemlinsky, Angelika Kirchschlager, Roger Vignoles, Helmut Deutsch, John [guitar] Williams, Yuri Bashmet, London Metropolitan Ensemble, Jonathan Rees - Angelika Kirchschlager - when night falls

This record is most notable for its performances. Kirchschlager's singing is ravishingly beautiful and deeply expressive; the pianists and other instrumentalists are all first rate. Its content seems designed less for consistent musical quality and a balanced program than for variety and popular appeal. Yet the predominantly slow songs induce a certain monotony, and Mozart and Menotti, Brahms and Broadway musicals make strange stylistic bedfellows. However, many gems stand out in the mix: the two Brahms songs with viola, in which the renowned Yuri Bashmet is unfortunately almost inaudible; two Schubert Cradle Songs, one famous, one unknown; several enchanting Spanish songs; a Haydn arrangement of a Welsh lullaby better known as "All through the Night"; a lovely romantic song by Zemlinsky; and a lush, soaring one by Miguel Kertsman written for Kirchschlager and just right for her expressively inflected voice. She identifies with every idiom and pours so much care and affection into each song that one can well imagine a loving mother singing to her child, and indeed the record is dedicated to her little son. --Edith Eisler Amazon.com

Only a little crossover in this beautiful recital

This is a luscious album. When I listen attentively I'm struck by some incongruities inherent in the project of mixing operatic voice and lullaby, which I'll ruminate on below. But as a recital it's for the most part very successful.

Kirchschlager is an operatic mezzo-soprano with a wonderful, creamy voice. There are three songs here I'd consider crossovers for her, the first two and the last, all Broadway tunes. I think few Broadway songs stand up well to an operatic voice, and these are no exceptions, but K modulates her rich, swelling vibrato uncommonly well for one with her training. "Edelweiss" is still a bit out of its element, a simple song somewhat overpowered by K's instrument, and none of the three is ideally suited to her, but I may be in the minority in feeling that way. Even so, Sondheim's "Stay with Me," in particular, which ends the collection, is hard to resist. It's more tender here than in its original context (Into the Woods).

All the other pieces were written with operatic voices, or close enough, in mind, and she carries them off with feeling and fine shaping of each line and note. It's hard to pick favorites, as there are so many. Possibly the Montsalvatge piece ("Cancion de cuna") calls for a bit more fire at times, but it's quite nicely turned in its way, which is suitable to a lullaby.

Some have mentioned a certain uniformity of mood, which is of course intentional. The styles of music vary considerably, though, from Haydn and Mozart to Copland and the Montsalvatge. There is also some variety in instrumentation, with guitar, piano and viola trading off or combining. The interpretations are on the quiet side, as we should expect. What Santa Fe listener says about lack of imagination may reflect a less daring sense of taste than von Otter's, but that may not be a bad thing on the whole.

It helps to keep in mind the purpose of the album, perhaps imagining K singing to her beautiful baby son (shown in her arms on the back of the CD booklet). On a practical level, when I picture K singing these pieces as recorded here to her child, I realize that for them to function as lullabies she would have to sing them from the next room, or in some cases the next house (which may explain why, as she says in her dedication to him, he never fell asleep when she sang them). Of course, if played at a low enough volume the swells won't alarm baby, but neither will the quieter parts of the music be fully audible.

Not that K ever sounds like she's wearing a helmet with horns on it--quite the opposite, she's always very much in tune with the mood of the music. This is only a reminder that the natural dynamics of an operatic voice really aren't suited to true lullabies. What we call lullabies here are representations of lullabies designed for public performance. While I suppose some babies may find them soothing (some will sleep to Led Zeppelin, for that matter), I think they'll be more soothing, and moving, to the rest of us, who think of the meaning of the songs and perhaps imagine babies sleeping as we do. April 11, 2008

Gentle crossover that gets a bit sleepy

When Sony's artist executives were German, they tried to promote the young Austrian mezzo Angelika Kirchschlager, but because of her difficult name (I am guessing) and the slackening classical music market, she never caught on. Today Kirchschlager is a star in Europe, and one sees her name on the Met roster. This, her second CD, is a gentle recital of lullabies, made more varied by adding Broadway tunes into the mix and bringing in star musicians like John Williams on guitar and Yuri Bashmet on viola.

The result is winning and thoroughly professional. Kirchschlager sings especially well in English, with a hybrid British-American accent but almost no German mannerisms. The closest comparison in terms of high mezzos would be with von Otter, and Kirchschlager's voice is at least as beautiful. But she lacks von Otter's imaginaiton, and after a while everything sounds a bit too square and placid--after all, these songs may be for babies, but the intended audience is also adults who go to lieder recitals, isn't it? June 1, 2006

An Example of When Crossover Works

Angelika Kirchschlager is well known on the operatic stage and in chamber and orchestral programs where her forte is Mozart and Bach. Hers is a voice creamy rich and produced with incredible intelligence. She is also a communicator - in recital, in opera, in anything she does. It comes as no surprise then that an artist of this caliber (or her agent....!) is able to set the standard for the now ubiquitous 'crossover album' that most of the major singers find it necessary to make to gather in more admirers.

Selecting a wide variety of lullabies with varying settings feels so natural in Kirchschlager's elegant mezzo-soprano voice. Other artists have produced recitals of lullabies: Dawn Upshaw and Richard Goode immediately come to mind. But in this album, though not all of the works are of genius quality, Kirchschlager gives each her considerable talent and the result is a little night music that is equally as lovely for adults as for the intended audience of children (and of course their parents...).

With fine support from the London Metropolitan Ensemble, pianists Roger Vignoles and Helmut Deutsch, guitarist John Williams and violist Yuri Bashmet among others, Kirchschlager offers a rich variety of songs from Mozart, von Weber, Haydn, Brahms, Schubert, Canteloube, de Falla, Copeland, Sondheim, Rogers and Hammerstein and Zelimsky. And no matter the language or the setting they all work. This is an album to cherish and share and raises the respect for Angelika Kirchschlager even higher. Highly Recommended. Grady Harp, January 06 January 9, 2006

Lullabies for All Ages

I bought this CD as a gift for my first grandchild to introduce her to the world of classical music. But when I played it, it enchanted me and my grandchild's parents even more than it did the baby. Angelika Kirschlager is a young Austrian mezzo-soprano who had previously been unknown to me. She sings these simple songs with a beautiful round warmth of tone.

The twenty selections on this CD include Brahms famous lullaby together with two lesser-known songs of Brahms accompanied by piano and viola. Schubert's two lullabies are included, and they are melting. There is a Mozart song (the theme of which he used in the third movement of his final piano concerto) and a Haydn arrangement of the Welsh folk -song "All Through the Night", which features an accompanying trio of violin, cello, and piano.
Aaron Copland's arrangement of "All the Pretty Little Horses" will delight young listeners, and there are songs by Richard Rogers, Steven Sondheim, C.M. Von Weber, and others to fill out an enchanting CD of music and dreams. Ms Kirschlager's singing is the highlight of this CD. She is accompanied well by a variety of pianists and by performers on the guitar, violin, cello, and flute. Texts and translations for the songs are included in the liner notes.

Although I bought this CD for my granddaughter, others dear to me have expressed interest, and I will be buying another copy.

Thanks to my Amazon friend Scott Morrison for recommending this CD and to the other perceptive reviewers of this lovely music.

Robin Friedman July 12, 2005

A Wonderful Gift for a Baby!

Our family has just been blessed with a new grandson and one of my very thoughtful friends had the brilliant and generous idea to send the baby a copy of this wonderful collection of lullabies and nightsongs done so stunningly by the marvelous German mezzo, Angelika Kirchschlager. I am happy to report that the very first selection, Schubert's 'Wiegenlied' ('Cradle Song'), seemed to make him smile, even at his tender age. This bodes well for his developing discriminating musical taste because Ms Kirchschlager is a terrific singer. Her various accompanists provide sensitive support for her lovely and perfectly managed voice. She sings with impeccable diction in several languages and even in English I don't pick up any accent at all.

I must point out, however, that Amazon has listed the contents of this disc in an order different from that on the CD, but the musical samples they provide do match the titles listed.

Scott Morrison February 14, 2005

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