Bernarda Fink has the goods. The Argentinean mezzo soprano had turned in fabulous recordings before -- remember her passionately controlled Scena di Berenice by Haydn and her fervently sincere Sesto from La Clemenza di Tito by Mozart? -- but they can't match her disc ofBrahms' songs. In fact, not even
Fink's earlier discs of songs by Schumann, Wolf, and Dvorák, good as they were -- and the Wolf disc was very good -- can beat this Brahms disc. The ardent warmth of Brahms' melodies, the artful simplicity of his settings, and the direct sentimentality of his tone suit
Fink's temperament from top to bottom, and, characterization-wise, her performances are always right on the money. Take her Der Gang zum Liebchen: doesn't she sound like a lover going to meet her lover? Or her Feldeinsamkeit: doesn't she sound like someone who's lost in the clouds? Or, maybe best of all, take her Wiegenlied: doesn't she sound like a mother singing to a baby? Just listen to
Fink's sweet vibrato, to her supple lines, to her knowing phrasing, to her absolute aesthetic honesty -- whatever you want in a Brahms singer, she's got it. Accompanied by supremely skillful pianist Roger Vignoles and recorded in superlatively faithful sound by Martin Sauer in Teldex Studio,
Fink's disc is a Brahms' recital to treasure forever.