Back in 1998 I interviewed André Previn for Piano & Keyboard magazine, and asked him what music he listened to at home. Previn waxed enthusiastically about Korngold’s songs. I confessed my unfamiliarity. “They’re gorgeous, and you should get to know them,” Previn said. I took Previn’s advice, and soon acquired Anne Sophie von Otter’s gorgeous Korngold song performances on Deutsche Grammophon. Needless to say, I was hooked.
Several notable Korngold recitals have been released in subsequent years, notably from baritone Dietrich Henschel (Harmonia Mundi), and in the first volume of Naxos’ Korngold song survey. Not to be outdone, Capriccio now brings forth the first comprehensive Korngold song edition, from juvenilia and early mature masterpieces to the celebrated late-1930s Shakespeare songs and myriad miscellany.
Fifty-two of the 60 selections feature baritone Konrad Jarnot, whose light timbre and natural agility are just right for the scampering humor of “Adieu, Good Man Devil”, from Songs of the Clown Op. 29, and the Quinquaginta-Foxtrott. Yet his pearly legato and effortless breath control serve the lyrically eloquent Op. 38 songs as well as anyone. He handles the wide-ranging mood shifts of the teenage Korngold’s Eichendorff settings a bit more adroitly than Henschel, although I still prefer a woman’s voice in the Op. 14 Abschiedslieder; perhaps I’m still spoiled by the telepathic repartée between Anne Sophie von Otter and her pianist Bengt Forsberg.
For all of her power and solidity, Adrianne Pieczonka’s accented English yields to Otter’s impeccable diction throughout the Op. 31 Shakespeare Songs, but the great first-act aria from Korngold’s Die tote Stadt (“Gluck, das mir verblieb”) reveals this singer’s warmer, tender side. Reinild Mees is more than just a collaborative pianist, she’s a musicianly virtuoso. Nothing fazes her: not the thicker orchestrally-oriented keyboard writing, nor the unwieldy runs and contrapuntal commentaries. I also should mention the excellent program notes by Korngold biographer Brendan Carroll. Unfortunately, the song texts are not translated beyond their original German or English, while several texts are omitted altogether due to copyright restrictions. That drawback aside, art song devotees and Korngold fans surely will welcome this release.
