While I Dream: Liszt & Schumann Songs

While I Dream: Liszt & Schumann Songs

Schumann's Dichterliebe cycle, set to poems of Heinrich Heine, describes the course of an ill-fated love from the perspective of the jilted male lover. Barbara Bonney stakes out her claim to this territory by affirming her right to break old boundaries, interpreting the songs as the woman's retelling of her old lover's painful tale. That leads to interpretive decisions such as draining the edgy anger from "Ich grolle nicht," singing it as "an introverted, self-deprecating love song." In context, this approach works thanks to Bonney's sensitive phrasing and lovely voice, though there's no getting around the ultimate distortion of the composer's intent or the continued superiority of male singers in this cycle. No such objections apply in some of the non-gender-specific songs, like "Im wundersch&oouml;nen Monat May," in which the poet sings of the blossoming of buds on trees and love in his heart. Bonney captures the verdant feeling beautifully and even in "Ich grolle nicht," where a barking baritone makes more sense of the meaning, her approach convinces while you're listening. The Liszt songs are nicely done as well. She sings them with great inwardness, paying attention to the verbal nuances but never at the expense of the musical line. Pappano's accompaniments are admirable. A fascinating and different recital. --Dan Davis
Country USA
Manufacturer Decca
Binding Audio CD
ItemPartNumber 028947028925
ReleaseDate 2002-02-05
UnitCount 1
UPCs 028947028925
EANs 0028947028925

Country	USA
Manufacturer	Decca
Binding	Audio CD
ItemPartNumber	028947028925
ReleaseDate	2002-02-05
UnitCount	1
UPCs	028947028925
EANs	0028947028925

While I Dream: Liszt & Schumann Songs

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