Schubert: Schiller-Lieder, Volume 1

Franz Schubert wrote over 600 songs, but only a small number are frequently performed in recitals or available in CD compilations. In their unabashed lyricism, warmth, and romanticism many of the songs richly reward a hearing. The songs were recorded in their entirety on the full-priced Hyperion label, and now the budget-priced Naxos label is duplicating that achievement in a series featuring young German singers under the supervision of pianist Ulrich Eisenlohr. It presents an outstanding opportunity to get to know the Schubert songs in depth. The Naxos series is organized under the poets that Schubert set.

Schubert set more texts by the great German poet and dramatist Frederich Schiller (1759 -- 1805) than any other writer with the exception of Goethe. In this CD baritone Martin Bruns performs ten Schiller songs accompanied by Ulrich Eisenlohr. This is first rate, expressive singing with Bruns particularly impressive on the ballads in the collection.

The CD includes only ten songs because the first of the songs,"The Diver", D. 111, runs almost 25 minutes, the longest song Schubert composed. Schubert set a ballad which became classic in Germany that tells how a young squire dived into a whirlpool at the challenge of the king to retrieve a goblet. The poem includes a description of the terrors of the deep and of the hero's miraculous escape. The king persuades the hero to try his luck again, with the hand of his daughter promised for success. Foolishy, the squire dives in and this time, alas, does not return. The young Schubert's setting captures the passion of this poem, with impressive piano writing highlighting the terrors of the ocean depth and of the whirlpool. The song is worth its 25 minute length.

The remaining nine songs are shorter and present Schubert in a variety of moods. I enjoyed the two songs Schubert set to Schiller's love poems to "Laura" (a poetic figure based on Petrarch.) The first, "Laura at the Piano" D. 388, is a love poem which praises its subject's ability to play beautiful music. It opens with a stunning piano passage of Schubert's own, followed by singing in both recitive and broadly lyrical styles. The second poem, "Enthralled by Laura" D. 390, is flowing and melodious throughout as both Schubert and Schiller celebrate love for a beautiful woman.

The CD includes three exhuberant songs which on one level celebrate the power of drink but on another level speak of human victory and hope. Schubert set each song at a different stage of his life. The song are the early "Drinking Song" D. 253, a simple strophic song, the much more complex, thorough-composed "Elysium" D.584, and the late, ecstatic song "Dithyrambe" D. 801.

The remaining songs on this collection include "The Alpine Hunter" D. 588, a ballade featuring a dialogue between an impetuous, callow young man and his mother, the thorough-composed "The Fugitive" D. 402, another ballade-like song which describes the appeal of nature and solitude to the romantic imagination, "The Struggle" D. 594, with a theme similar to the more famous "Doppelganger" as a young man struggles to free himself from a passion he cannot consummate, and "The Youth by the Stream" D. 638, a melancholy, lyrical song of unfulfilled love.

The CD includes informative liner notes and, as is becoming too rare, full texts and translations of the songs.

There are worlds of inspiration in the Schubert songs. This CD will allow the listener with basic familiary with Schubert to get to know the Schiller settings.

Robin Friedman

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