Search - Johann Nauwach, Heinrich Albert, Johann Caspar Fischer :: Andreas Scholl - German Baroque Songs

Significant service to Baroque music

J. R. Gunsell | Cambridge, UK | 12/16/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The tracks on this CD convey many different moods, from the passionate young suitor to the old, melancholy man; from a drinking song to a cheeky treatise on kissing; from the mournful to the magical. Some of the composers and most of the songs were unknown to most people until Scholl recorded this CD and he has done Baroque music excellent service by doing so. The recording quality is typically Harmonia Mundi, excellent throughout: expertly close-miked to convey the Scholl voice without being too close. Andreas Scholl's tone is as pure as ever on every track, his diction famously clear and his expression excellent. The lute song An der Eisamkeit (Solitude) is particularly affecting and reminiscent of Dowland's sad songs. For Scholl fans, even those whose German is shaky or non-existent, this is a must - Scholl full-on. For countertenor fans, a revelation of some delightful elements of the early German CT repertoire - a significant discovery. One of my very favourite Scholl CDs."

A voice teacher and early music fan

George Peabody | Planet Earth | 02/09/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"SCHOLL IS IN HIS ELEMENT WHEN HE SINGS THESE SONGS!

The earliest examples of the German Baroque solo song are to be found in a collection by Johann Nauwach as early as l627. Nauwach was the first to venture into the continuo accompanied solo song. It seems perfectly natural for a German singer to put out a recording of some of these songs. And it is a great disc!



I think Scholl is in his element when he sings these German songs for it should be a person who knows every meaning of every word he sings so that every nuance is automatically built into each word. They include all the human emotions that one experiences in a lifetime. I particularly enjoyed : "The Rhenish Wine dances so merrily" and "The Art of Kissing".



The accompanying booklet includes all the translations and once you have followed them you need not look again for Scholl's interpretations will cue you into the correct understanding."