In an interview with baritone
Michael Volle in the program notes to
Ein Liederabend, the singer emphasizes his commitment to lieder as an important counterbalance to his predominantly operatic career, so it's ironic that most of the songs he selects have an operatically dramatic quality.
Schubert's 23-minute setting of Schiller's ballad, Der Taucher, written when the composer was 18, may not be a mature masterpiece, but it's a thoroughly engaging example of abundant youthful exuberance. More like an eclectic operatic scene than a song, it encompasses
Schubert's characteristic lyricism, Handelian recitative, and even foreshadows Wagnerian harmonies. Wolf's seven Mörike Lieder are more conventionally songlike, but their distinctive musical arcs offer
Volle the opportunity to invest them with intense dramatic contrasts. The rarities of the collection are three Hölderlin songs by
Hermann Reutter (1900-1985). He was a near-contemporary of
Erich Wolfgang Korngold's and while his writing is stylistically similar to
Korngold's post-Romanticism, his music doesn't have the same level of lush lyricism.
Strauss' rarely performed three Rückert Lieder, Op. 87, are effusively sweet in their lovely melodies and harmonies.
Volle has an expansive, warmly generous voice and he sings with spontaneity and unaffected energy. His technique is secure throughout his wide range, and his obvious dramatic gifts are evident in his close attention to the texts. He's especially effective in coloring the (usually) subtle moods of the Wolf songs, and (except for a pitch glitch in "Vom künftigen Alter")
Strauss' soaring lines. The exaggerated characterizations of his interpretation of Wolf's Abschied might seem extreme, but the approach suits the extreme silliness of the song. It's balanced by the measured dignity of his performance of
Schubert's Wandrers Nachtlied that closes the album. (The included texts are in German only.) Pianist
Helmut Deutsch provides a crisp, responsive, and understated accompaniment. Oehms' sound is clean, detailed, and intimate.