Your guide to classical music online

Pfitzner: Orchestral Lieder/Begemann

David Hurwitz

Artistic Quality:

Sound Quality:

CPO already has recorded the complete Pfitzner Lieder for voice and piano, surely not one of the label’s best-selling projects. This disc suggests that the music deserves more serious attention, at least from Lieder fans. The performances here are wholly wonderful and show this fitfully inspired composer in the best possible light. His scoring is invariably deft and colorful, and his tunes are ingratiatingly singable.

Pfitzner isn’t known for his sense of humor (my colleague Bob Levine memorably described his monumental opera Palestrina as “Parsifal without the laughs”), but just listen to De Heinzelmännchen (The Little People), an adorable fairy-tale tone poem for voice and orchestra lasting around 10 minutes. It’s the biggest number in the program (there are 18 in all), full of good humor and vocal high-jinks, brilliantly exploiting a large orchestra. At the opposite end of the size scale come the brief but opulent Op. 4 Heine settings. Two others among the poets most frequently encountered: Eichendorff and, of course, Goethe (“Wanderers Nachtlied”, “An den Mond”, and others).

Baritone Hans Christoph Begemann is about as fine a Lieder singer as we have any right to expect. His voice is smooth and even throughout its range, and he knows how to characterize a text without shouting, crooning, or otherwise indulging in the usual Lieder singer’s book of irritating tricks. In large pieces such as the ballad-like Herr Oluf (text by Herder) he captivates with his story-telling ability and sense of drama. The accompaniments under conductor Otto Tausk couldn’t be more aptly judged, or more finely engineered. If you enjoy the orchestral Lieder of Mahler and Strauss, then this disc is a must.


Recording Details:

Reference Recording: none

HANS PFITZNER - Orchestral Songs

  • Record Label: CPO - 777 552-2
  • Medium: CD

Search Music Reviews

Search Sponsor

  • Insider Reviews only
  • Click here for Search Tips

Visit Our Merchandise Store

Visit Store
  • Ideally Cast Met Revival of Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette
    Metropolitan Opera House, Lincoln Center, NY; March 19, 2024—The Met has revived Bartlett Sher’s 1967 production of Gounod’s R&J hot on the heels of its
  • An Ozawa Story, November, 1969
    Much has justifiably been written regarding Seiji Ozawa’s extraordinary abilities and achievements as a conductor, and similarly about his generosity, graciousness, and sense of humor
  • Arvo Pärt’s Passio At St. John The Divine
    Cathedral of St John the Divine, New York, NY; January 26, 2024—When one thinks of musical settings of Christ’s Passion, one normally thinks of the