A voice teacher and professional lieder singer I know and respect entered the room during Bernarda Fink’s performance of Mondnacht on this new recording of Schumann lieder. “Now that’s exactly the kind of voice that should be singing that song,” she said without hesitation, and without knowing the singer’s identity (Mondnacht is her most cherished song in all of the lieder repertoire). The vibrant, centered tone, roaming that agreeable timbral realm between alto and soprano, its expressive character informed by a singer who has lived life and given careful thought to the songs both as human-felt utterances and as artful, poetic creations–that was what this singer/teacher recognized, and that’s what makes this entire recital a pleasure to hear.
It takes just a little while for a listener to feel the entirety of Fink’s vocal and interpretive capabilities exhibiting themselves with the singer’s usual facility and confidence–and the rather stark Queen Mary songs, which come second on the program, are not among Schumann’s more inspiring or ingratiating. But by the second of the Rückert songs–Die Blume der Ergebung (Op. 83 No. 2)–we are in the very special, intimate world of a virtuoso lieder-singer for whom the songs have become personal and vital. Here we truly sense the singer’s mood of resigned anticipation, yet retaining that small, glimmering flame of hope, and in this and the following Lied der Braut I (Op. 25 No. 11) we are treated to the exemplary qualities of Fink’s finest vocalism–effortless technical control, sensitivity to textual inflection, mature interpretive insight, and the understanding of how to use the tonal characteristics of her voice for enhancing a song’s emotional effect, Mondnacht and the later Wehmut being prime examples.
Not everything is perfect–a few of the highest-register notes in Waldesgespräch (from Liederkreis) do not sound especially comfortable–and several of the Myrthen songs seem just slightly unsettled or tentative; but overall, this is a splendid effort from one of the world’s great lieder specialists. Although this repertoire–particularly Liederkreis–is not often performed by a mezzo or alto, Fink and her excellent accompanist Anthony Spiri join distinguished interpretations by Marie-Nicole Lemieux (Naïve) and Sarah Connolly (Chandos) as an easy first choice. While I prefer Lemieux in Liederkreis, the couplings are vastly different, and the more I listen, the more I find Fink’s interpretive insights in these songs indispensable. Highly recommended.
