Search - Johannes Brahms, Daniel Barenboim, Jessye Norman :: Jessye Norman - Brahms: Lieder / Barenboim

Some of Brahms' best by an incomparable singer

Allan Brain | Houston, TX USA | 01/25/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Ask someone about Lieder, meaning basically German "art songs"

and he or she will immediately think of Schubert or perhaps

Schumann. Brahms is just not that well known for his songs,

and it's a shame because they are among his best works.



Jessye Norman is famous for her artistry in Lieder; I still

recall hearing her in recital over twenty years ago. This is

a fabulous recording; you will fall in love with most of these

songs on first hearing. As a bonus, the two record set actually

includes full texts and translations. whereas the trend

these days is to omit those and you're lucky if the company

offers them "on line". This is among the most treasured recordings in my

huge collection. Don't miss it!"

A treasure in the Brahms lieder catalog

Santa Fe Listener | Santa Fe, NM USA | 09/29/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Acclaimed as she was as a lieder singer, Jessye Norman showed a special affinity for Brahms. She made no less than three complete recitals of his songs, more than any other singer I can remember except Fischer-Dieskau. Not every lied is a mstepiece, and most are either folk-based or imitate folksongs in their simple strophic design. This can make for tiring listening after ten songs or so, but Norman's plush voice is to richly suited to Brahms's romanticism that it's hard to pull away.



Her initial recital on Philips with Geoffrey Parsons (1980) was a greatest hits collection, and Norman was wise not to overlap too many on her later two recitals with Barenboim. She was rather grand on that first disc. Here, she sings with great delicacy and sensitivty. In many ways this is her best Lieder recording, despite the unevenness of the material. Don't expect Mainacht or the famous lullabye or Von ewiger liebe. And I wouldn't advise anyone to tr and listen to this two-fer straight through. That said, Barenboim equals Norman in his artistry, so all told, this release is a treasure."