Franz Schubert (1797-1828)
Lieder with Orchestra
Benjamin Appl (baritone)
Münchner Rundfunkorchester/Oscar Jockel
rec. 2022, München, BR, Studio 1, Germany
No texts or translations included
BR Klassik 900346 [73]
I must begin with an admission: I rarely get on with songs with piano. On the other hand, I love orchestral songs. This is no problem with Berlioz, Wagner, Mahler, and Strauss, who made their own orchestrations (Wagner only partly), but for Schubert I rely on orchestral versions made by others. Schubert orchestrated only one of his own songs (Brüder, schrecklich brennt die Träne, D. 535, not included here), but many distinguished figures, including a number of composers, have been drawn to do so. Many singers perform them, so there are now several recitals of Schubert songs in orchestral form to choose from.
These include Anne Sofie von Otter and Thomas Quasthoff with Claudio Abbado conducting (review), Wiebke Lehmkuhl and Stanislas de Barbeyrac with Laurence Equilbey (not reviewed on MWI), and Matthias Goerne with Florian Donderer (review). Now Benjamin Appl has made his contribution, with Oscar Jockel conducting. Appl is a former pupil of Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau and has become well-known as a Lieder singer in his own right. He has made numerous recordings, including some of Schubert.
The poets Schubert set here include great names, such as Goethe, Schiller, Heine – and Shakespeare, in German translation (‘Who is Sylvia?’ from The Two Gentlemen of Verona), but also mediocre ones. Such as Wilhelm Müller, who wrote both Die Schöne Müllerin and Winterreise, and the downright feeble Helmina von Chézy, who wrote both the play Rosamunde, for which Schubert wrote incidental music, and, incidentally, the libretto for Weber’s Euryanthe. Other authors are less well-known, at least to me. Of course, one needs to have the text and a translation before one in listening to these songs, so shame on BR Klassik for not providing them. It is no excuse to say that many of them are extremely well known. Thanks to the Oxford International Song Festival, which has all the songs on its website, in the original German and in English versions by Richard Wigmore, taken from his book Schubert: the complete song texts (Gollancz). I looked them up one by one on my tablet as I listened.
The orchestrations Appl uses include some by Mottl (who also orchestrated most of Wagner’s Wesendonk Lieder), Brahms, Reger, Webern and others, including one each by Offenbach and Britten. There are also some whom I have not heard of. However, they all took the challenge of orchestrating Schubert seriously, and often belie their reputations: Webern is more full-blooded, Reger less massive and Offenbach more serious than usual. It is a little strange that Appl uses Webern’s version of the Romanze from Rosamunde, rather than Schubert’s own, which you can hear in the complete recording of that work by Abbado.
The songs are occasionally interspersed with orchestral versions of a set of German Dances – see the listing below. These provide a break from the intensity of the songs.
I was immediately taken by the beauty of Appl’s voice, the sensitivity of his phrasing and the sense of controlled power behind the voice. I noted this throughout the recital, but I would pick out Ständchen for showing the variety he achieves in a short text. In Erlkönig, with which the recital ends, he characterises the four voices distinctly: the narrator, the father, the child and the Erlking. When the Erlking entered, I felt a shiver down my spine and the end brought tears. I have known this song for most of my life, but I felt as if I were hearing it for the first time.
The power of these songs can be very great: Der Tod und das Mädchen, orchestrated by Mottl, and Gruppe aus dem Tartarus, orchestrated by Reger, sound positively Wagnerian. Prometheus, to a poem by Goethe, is really an extended scena rather than a song, and here in Reger’s version it sounds halfway between Florestan’s aria in Fidelio and Wotan in the second act of Die Walküre.
However, Appl also excels in a gentler mood. Die Forelle, orchestrated by Britten, is light and delicate, apart from the twist at the end. Im Abendrot is serene but rises to a climax, while Litanei auf das Fest Allerseelen, a hymn for All Souls’ Day and the only song with a religious element, is serene throughout. An die Musik is most skilfully phrased.
I could go on, but this is enough to make the point. Appl is an excellent artist, and the orchestrations are well done and rewarding. I should add that Oscar Jockel and the Munich Radio Orchestra provide sensitive support. The recording is excellent. If this had included the texts, I would have recommended it enthusiastically,
Stephen Barber
Previous review: Göran Forsling
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Contents
1 Abendstern, D 806 (1824) 2:41
Text: Johann Baptist Mayrhofer ∙ Orch. Alexander Schmalcz
2 Romanze aus „Rosamunde“, D 797 (1823) 3:02
Text: Helmina von Chézy ∙ Orch. Anton Webern
3 Einleitung (Moderato poco moto) – Tanz I – Tanz II 3:23
aus „Deutsche Tänze“ (Serie 1)
Orch. Johann von Herbeck
4 Geheimes, D 719 (1821) 1:36
Text: Johann Wolfgang von Goethe ∙ Orch. Johannes Brahms
5 Du bist die Ruh, D 776 (1823) 4:18
Text: Friedrich Rückert ∙ Orch. Anton Webern
6 Tränenregen aus „Die schöne Müllerin“, D 795 (1823) 4:40
Text: Wilhelm Müller ∙ Orch. Anton Webern
7 Tanz III – Tanz IV – Tanz V aus „Deutsche Tänze“ (Serie 1) 2:28
Orch. Johann von Herbeck
8 Ganymed, D 544 (1817) 4:22
Text: Johann Wolfgang von Goethe ∙ Orch. Kurt Gillmann
9 Der Tod und das Mädchen, D 531 (1817) 2:10
Text: Matthias Claudius ∙ Orch. Felix Mottl
10 Gruppe aus dem Tartarus, D 583 (1817) 3:02
Text: Friedrich Schiller ∙ Orch. Max Reger
11 Ihr Bild aus „Schwanengesang“, D 957 (1828) 2:46
Text: Heinrich Heine ∙ Orch. Anton Webern
12 Die Forelle, D 550 (1817) 1:51
Text: Christian Friedrich Daniel Schubart
Orch. Benjamin Britten
13 Tanz VI – Tanz VII – Tanz VIII aus „Deutsche Tänze“ (Serie 1) 3:31
Orch. Johann von Herbeck
14 Im Abendrot, D 799 (1825) 3:26
Text: Karl Gottlieb Lappe ∙ Orch. Max Reger
15 An die Musik, D 547 (1817) 2:32
Text: Franz von Schober ∙ Orch. Max Reger
16 An Sylvia, D 891 (1826) 2:22
Text: William Shakespeare / Eduard von Bauernfeld
Orch. Alexander Schmalcz
17 Der Wegweiser aus „Winterreise“, D 911 (1827) 3:20
Text: Wilhelm Müller ∙ Orch. Anton Webern
18 Nacht und Träume, D 827 (1825) 3:44
Text: Matthäus von Collin ∙ Orch. Max Reger
19 Ständchen aus „Schwanengesang“, D 957 (1828) 3:33
Text: Ludwig Rellstab ∙ Orch. Jacques Offenbach
20 Tanz IX – Tanz X aus „Deutsche Tänze“ (Serie 1) 2:10
Orch. Johann von Herbeck
21 Prometheus, D 674 (1819) 5:32
Text: Johann Wolfgang von Goethe ∙ Orch. Max Reger
22 Litanei auf das Fest Allerseelen, D 343 (1816) 3:26
Text: Johann Georg Jacobi ∙ Orch. Max Reger
23 Erlkönig, D 328 (1815) 3:59
Text: Johann Wolfgang von Goethe ∙ Orch. Max Reger
