There's something to be said for a good old-fashioned Lieder recital organized around the works of a particular poet. In this case, the poet in question is
Joseph von Eichendorff, the quintessential German Romantic. The composers are the quintessential German Romantic composers from
Schumann to Wolf and even into the present with a set of songs by
Aribert Reimann. The performers are light baritone
Wolfgang Holzmair and pianist
Imogen Cooper. There is no malice in describing
Holzmair as a light baritone; after all,
Sinatra was a light baritone and it didn't seem to slow him down. And although
Holzmair's interpretation might have been a bit light for works like
Schubert's Winterreise, his interpretations of these
Eichendorff songs are ideally suited for their sensuous, sentimental, and deeply melancholy world. And although there have been more penetrating performances of
Schumann's Eichendorff Lieder, that is principally because there have been so many superlative recordings of the cycle over the years. But in works like
Mendelssohn's or especially
Pfitzner's
Eichendorff settings, it's doubtful there have been many recorded performances that can match
Holzmair's for beauty of tone and depth of understanding.
Imogen Cooper is the perfect pianist for
Holzmair; her tone and interpretations match his and she is as much a full partner as an accompanist. Philips sound is accurate and lifelike.