Search - Wolf, Bar, Von Otter :: Spanisches Liederbuch

An Excellent Lieder Collection

Barbara J. Chaplin | Saskatoon, Saskatchewan Canada | 09/18/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Hugo's Spanish Songbook is a superb collection of German Lieder. If you like art songs, you will not be disappointed by this cd. The Lieder recorded here are among the best ever written, and the performances are excellent. An earlier version, recorded in the 1960s by Fischer-Dieskau and Schwarzkopf, is also excellent, but the sound quality of this more recent recording is of course better.
The accompanying booklet has a short article about the music, but it does not include the lyrics. The German words and a translation into English can be found at EMI's classical website."

Wolf performance at the highest level

Santa Fe Listener | Santa Fe, NM USA | 09/24/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Sublime--the Spanish Songbook consists of agonizing Christian sorrow shot through with ecstasy, followed, strangely, by flirtatious love songs that contain their own kind of pangs. Only the greatest performances can bring ecstasy into the agony--otherwise, the whole thing collapses in tears and depression. This is a great reading, especially from von Otter, who actually manages to outdo Elisabeth Schwarzkopf in her prime lieder repertoire. But Olaf Bar, whose career was cut short by vocal problems, rises to the occasion as well. Incidentally, von Otter is assigned a few of the early religious songs rather than giving them all to the baritone, as is customary.



I think all in all this is the best Wolf recording of the past thrity years. It belongs on the shelf beside the famous account from 1967 where Fischer-Dieskau and Schwarzkopf go even deeper emotionally. The new set is easier to listen to, if that makes a difference. These are painfully intense songs no matter which set you choose."