This disc of Ernst Krenek's lieder feels rather like a double album: not only are two stylistically different song cycles presented, but the performances by the two pairs of artists are distinct as well, particularly in tone, execution, and interpretation. Of the two works, Durch die Nacht, Op. 67 (1930-1931) seems, in spite of its tone rows and atonality, oddly post-Romantic in expression; soprano Hanna Dóra Sturludóttir and pianist Isabel Fernholz lavish these settings of Karl Kraus' mournful poems with the kind of sorrowful lyricism and richness usually reserved for
Mahler or Berg. Gesänge des späten Jahres, Op. 71 (1931), a setting of Krenek's own texts, is more fiercely expressionistic and experimental in its abrupt gestural language and flitting dark moods. Mezzo-soprano Liat Himmelheber and her accompanist Axel Bauni render these lieder with a marked increase of tension and melodramatic aggressiveness, quite the opposite of the first performers' languid and delicate delivery. While fine overall, the sound quality is strikingly contrasted in the recordings: slightly muted in Durch die Nacht, but louder and much more penetrating in Gesänge. This is probably due to some engineering changes made between the two sessions (1999 and 2000, respectively), even though the venue is the same for both.