Songs of the Night: Schubert, Mendelssohn, Robert Schumann, Clara Schumann, Hugo Wolf, Richard Strauss, Hans Pfitzner; Rowan Pierce, Julien van Mellaerts, Lucy Colquhoun; Champs Hill Records
Reviewed 14 November 2023
A trio of young artists in an engaging and imaginative disc exploring the highways and byways of the Austro-German lied with night ever-present
Night is an ever present topic in the classic German and Austrian lied repertoire, from evocation of night itself to night as a backdrop for emotional turmoil. A recent disc from Champs Hill Records, Songs of the Night brings together songs by Schubert, Mendelssohn, Robert Schumann, Clara Schumann, Hugo Wolf, Richard Strauss, and Hans Pfitzner exploring the wide range of the subject, and showcasing two young singers, soprano Rowan Pierce and baritone Julien van Mellaerts with pianist Lucy Colquhoun.
The disc is full of good things because Colquhoun has cast her net quite widely. Deliberately avoiding the familiarity of Schubert's Erlkönig, the disc allows us to compare and contrast Schubert's well-known setting of Goethe's Wandrers Nachtlied with Robert Schumann's far less familiar setting, and includes two of the rather underappreciated songs of Hans Pfitzner. The songs are shared out between van Mellaerts and Pierce with the two coming together at the very end for a pair of duets by Mendelssohn.
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| Songs of the Night recording session - Lucy Colquhoun, Julien van Mellaerts at the Music Room, Champs Hill (Photo: Patrick Allen) |
We begin with Schubert. Julien van Mellaerts introduces things with Schubert's very large scale Schlegel setting, Waldesnacht with a lovely flexible tone and great attention to the words, telling us the story in this darkly mysterious piece. Pierce sings with vibrant tone in a lovely concentrated account of Nachtstück, whilst van Mellaerts and Colquhoun conjure pure magic in Wandrers Nachtlied II.
Mr Schumann comes next. Van Mellaerts is vividly characterful in Die feindlichen brüder and Der Hidalgo, and in the latter I loved the contrast between his serious tone and Colquhoun's strong dance rhythms in the piano. More storms, in voice and piano, in Es stürmet am Abendhimmel with Pierce wonderfully urgent. She is calm and thoughtful in Schumann's setting of the Goethe poem, whilst in Abends am Strand the piano gives a real sense of the composer's love for Bach.
There are only two Clara Schumann songs on the disc, but both are gems. Er is gekommen is familiar territory, and Pierce is passionately urgent over Colquhoun's stormy piano, whilst Am strande (a setting of a translation of Burns) is also remarkably unsettled. This latter was one of the songs Clara gave to Robert at Christmas 1840, their first Christmas as a married couple.
Hugo Wolf's Der Tambour rather breaks the mood with its vivid character, yet van Mellaerts and Colquhoun bring out the underlying edge to the jolly melodic rhythms. Ganymed sets the Goethe poem in a very different way to Schubert's version, here van Mellaerts is all focused intensity over Colquhoun's lovely unfolding piano, and he makes Nächtliche Wanderung passionate and complex.
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| Songs of the Night recording session - Rowan Pierce, Julien van Mellaerts at the Music Room, Champs Hill (Photo: Patrick Allen) |
Hans Pfitzner is one of those serious post-World War I Austro-German composers (like Franz Schmidt) whose solid reputation has not quite outshone their flashier contemporaries. Here, we hear two of Piftzner's songs (he published over 100), both setting Eichendorff. Nachts contrasts Pierce's finely focused vocal line with the restless, rather chromatic piano accompaniment whilst van Mellaerts is vividly urgent in Nachtwanderer.
The Strauss group begins relatively early in 1900 with Des Dichters Abendgang in a passionately expansive performance from van Mellaerts, but then we go right back to 1883 for Rote Rosen where Pierce really brings out the words. Lied an menem Sohn from 1902 is rather intriguing, the poem by Richard Dehmel encourages sons to rebel against their fathers! It combines a stormy piano with an almost Schubert-esque vocal line, with van Mellaerts and Colquhoun rising to an impressive climax. Pierce returns for a characterful account perhaps the best-known Strauss song of the group, Schlechtes Wetter.
The disc ends with two of Mendelssohn's delightful duets, both lovely examples of an underrated genre.
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| Songs of the Night recording session - Rowan Pierce, Julien van Mellaerts at the Music Room, Champs Hill (Photo: Patrick Allen) |
This disc is a lovely opportunity to hear a pair of highly talented young singers, both characterful and engaging, creating a recital that is imaginatively put together. Colquhoun's selection of songs manages to avoid the obvious and in a much-recorded field, all three create something memorable
Franz Schubert (1797–1828)
Waldesnacht
Nachtstück
Wandrers Nachtlied II
Robert Schumann (1810–1856)
Die feindlichen Brüder
Der Hidalgo
Es stürmet am Abendhimmel
Nachtlied
Abends am Strand
Clara Schumann (1819–1896)
Er ist gekommen
Am Strande
Hugo Wolf (1860–1903)
Der Tambour
Ganymed
Nächtliche Wanderung
Hans Pfitzner (1869–1949)
Nachts
Nachtwanderer
Richard Strauss (1864–1949)
Des Dichters Abendgang
Rote Rosen
Lied an meinen Sohn
Schlechtes Wetter
Felix Mendelssohn (1809–1847)
Ich wollt’, meine Lieb’ ergösse sich
Maiglöckchen und die Blümelein
Rowan Pierce (soprano)
Julien van Mellaerts (baritone)
Lucy Colquhoun (piano)
Recorded in the Music Room, Champs Hill, 30-31 August, 1 September 2022
CHAMPS HILL RECORDS CHRCD171 1CD [70.38]
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