One of the last bastions of the German Romantic Derriere-Guard, Hans Pfitzner’s instrumental output has its fair share of turgid, orchestral essays and overwrought chamber works that are long on chromatic density and short on charm. Pfitzner’s songs, however, reveal an altogether different and more accessible side of this curmudgeonly composer. CPO’s complete Pfitzner Lieder Edition reaches its conclusion with Volume Five, which is as good a starting point as the previous four to discover one of the most underrated and absorbing vocal composers of his era. Pfiztner may not possess the effortless, melodic fluency of his better-known contemporary Richard Strauss, nor Hugo Wolf’s feverish intensity. Yet his gift for word setting sets his creative wheels spinning in whimsical directions, and the deftly textured piano accompaniments never fail to sound fresh. Julie Kaufmann is the one arguable weak link among the three vocalists sharing this collection, due to her wobbling pitch above the staff. Her selections are given slightly opaque engineering, which contrasts with the warm, clear miking elsewhere. Robert Holl projects the Op. 32 and Op. 41 cycles with charged fervency and commanding presence, while Iris Vermillion’s sensitive mezzo-soprano tellingly colors the six songs in Op. 40 and the two Mörike settings that highlight the Op. 30 quartet. All three pianists equate themselves marvelously in these challenging works, and CPO provides complete texts, translations, and comprehensive notes.
