The Hyperion Schubert Edition 8 / Sarah Walker, Graham Johnson

Amazon.com
Mezzo soprano Sarah Walker is one of those singers with a real communicative gift--regardless of language, she really knows how to put over a song in such a way that the listener really gets involved in the story. It's doubtless for this reason that she gets the most famous Schubert song of all: Erlkönig (The Elf-King), composed when he was all of 18 years old. This song is the final item in a fantastic program of songs, both familiar and unfamiliar. An outstanding disc, even in this fine series. --David Hurwitz

The Hyperion Schubert Edition 8 / Sarah Walker, Graham Johnson,Franz Schubert,Sarah Walker,Graham Johnson,Cecile Kelly,Edward Perry,Johann Mayrhofer,David Barnard,David Beezer,Jason Bella,Richard Edgar-Wilson,Hyperion,Choral,Choral Music,Classical,Classical Composers,Classical Music,Classical Vocals,Romantic Music for Voice and Keyboard,Vocal

Average customer rating: Beware Mislabeling! Discovering the Schubert Songs FOUR-AND-TWENTY SINGERS

The Hyperion Schubert Edition - "A Voyage of Discovery", a selection from the first 27 volumes Manufacturer: Hyperion UK ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD All Works by Schubert | Schubert, Franz | ( S ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music Chamber Music | Forms & Genres | Romantic (c.1820-1910) | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music Vocal & Song | Romantic (c.1820-1910) | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music Allen, Thomas | ( A ) | Featured Performers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music General | Classical | Styles | Music General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music Romantic (c.1820-1910) | Historical Periods | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music German | Languages | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music CDs $7 - $10 | Classical General | Classical | Today's Deals in Music | Formats | Music All Bargain Titles | Classical General | Classical | Today's Deals in Music | Formats | Music CDs $7 - $10 | Choruses | Opera & Vocal | Today's Deals in Music | Formats | Music All Bargain Titles | Choruses | Opera & Vocal | Today's Deals in Music | Formats | Music CDs $7 - $10 | Operas | Opera & Vocal | Today's Deals in Music | Formats | Music All Bargain Titles | Operas | Opera & Vocal | Today's Deals in Music | Formats | Music Classical | Imports | Stores | Music 4-for-3 Classical | 4-for-3 Music | Stores | Music 4-for-3 All Music | 4-for-3 Music | Stores | Music Similar Items: The Hyperion Schubert Edition 11 / Brigitte Fassbaender, Graham Johnson The Hyperion Schubert Edition 20 ~ An 1815 Schubertiad / Rozario, Ainsley, Bostridge, George; Graham The Hyperion Schubert Edition 33 - The Young Schubert / McLaughlin, Murray, Wyn-Rogers, Langridge, D. Norman, A. Thompson, Koningsberger, Varcoe; Graham Johnson The Hyperion Schubert Edition 2 / Stephen Varcoe, Graham Johnson The Hyperion Schubert Edition 27 / Matthias Görne, Graham Johnson ASIN: B000002ZDZ Release Date: 1997-02-10

Tracks:

1. Der liebliche stern
2. Am See
3. Mein! (From Die schone Mullerin)
4. Auflosung
5. Lied eines schifers An Die Dioskuren
6. An Silvia
7. An die Sonne
8. Die Unterscheidung
9. Die Allmacht
10. Am Strome
11. An Emma
12. Als ich sie erroten sah
13. Sehnsucht
14. Lob der Tranen
15. Elkonig
16. Lied
17. Der Jungling an der Quelle
18. Blondel zu Marien
19. Trost im Tranen
20. Ruckweg
21. Alinde
22. Standchen
23. Romanze
24. Seufzer
25. An den Fruhling
26. Am Bach im Fruhling

Customer Reviews:

Beware Mislabeling!.......2007-04-20

I have no quibble with the excellent reviews accorded this COMPILATION OF TRACKS FROM THE FIRST 27 ALBUMS of the Hyperion Schubert Edition. HOWEVER, the labeling here is misleading. THIS IS NOT #34 of the Schubert Edition!!! I purchased it thinking it was, and then discovered it's just a teaser compilation to purchase the set. Now I have duplication.

Whoever tags items has a great responsibility to consumers to do so very carefully. I got my copy from someone listing off this site. Because the original is mislabeled, so are all the new/used offerings linked to this site.

Amazon employees, please fix the problem and remove the desgnation "34" before the next unsuspecting consumer buys something she doesn't want.

Discovering the Schubert Songs.......2005-07-02

Franz Schubert (1779 -- 1828) composed more than 600 songs beginning from the age of about 14 until days before his death. He virtually invented the art song, and he remains the greatest composer of song in any form. Schubert had astonishing lyrical gifts and the best of his songs flow with an irrestible spontaneity. If he had composed nothing else, his output of songs would be among the treasures of music and would entitle him to the highest rank as a composer. Brahms, who was also a master of the art song, once said that there was something to be learned from each of Schubert's efforts in this form. I have loved Schubert's songs for many years and know of no other music that so readily melts my heart.

There are many ways to approach Schubert's songs and a multitude of choices on CD of both historical and contemporary recordings. The CD under discussion "A Voyage of Discovery" bids fair to be the best place to start for a newcomer. This CD is part of a monumental project, consisting of 37 CDs, to record Schubert's entire song output on Hyperion, a British label. The project was conceived by pianist Graham Johnson who is the accompanist throughout the series. Each CD in the Hyperion series comes with an extensive booklet including the texts of the songs and great detail about the poetry, Schubert's life, and the music. Each CD is also performed by one of the great singers of our day, beautifully accompanied by Johnson. But each of these CDs, alas, is expensive. And all but devoted listeners might be intimidated by 37 CDs of song.

Thus, this sampler is valuable because it is culled from the first 27 CDs in the series and includes selections by 24 outstanding singers such as Peter Schrier, Lelicity Lott, Ian Bostridge, Brigette Fassbaender, Elly Ameling, and many more. The CD was obviously prepared to encourage the listener to explore the Hyperion series further, buy it also serves as an outstanding introduction to Schubert. The songs on this CD are among Schubert's masterworks, and each is performed by a different artist. Thus the listener receives a rare opportunity to hear an introductory selection of Schubert performed by many singers in different styles. (Most samplers feature the work of only a single artist or two.) And the disk is much less expensive than its companions in the Hyperion series.

The works flow and sing, and the best way to approach this CD is to sit back, listen and enjoy. The CD encourages this approach because there is little in the way of program notes and song texts are not provided -- not even the names of the poets. But the music is lyrical and of immediate appeal. My favorites pieces here include Peter Schreier singing "Der Liebiche Stern"; Dame Felicity Lott singing "Am See"; Ian Bostridge's inspired rendition of "Mein!" from Schubert's song-cycle "Die Schone Mullerein"; John Mark Ainsley's rendition of Shakspeare's "An Silvia", Adrian Thompson's "Trost im Tranen", and Elly Ameling singing " An den Fruhling". I also enjoyed Arleen Auger's singing of a Schubert "Romanze" which features a part for the clarinet and Sarah Walker singing a version of "Standchen" with an accompaning chorus. But the entire CD is moving, lovely music.

This CD is a joy in itself for those listeners who can be satisfied with a basic exposure to the Schubert songs. But it is also a good place to begin for listeners who want to hear more of Schubert -- either on the Hyperion series or on the many other CDs of the songs that are readily available to be explored and enjoyed.

Robin Friedman

FOUR-AND-TWENTY SINGERS.......2004-05-24

How the numbers have been done is a little obscure. 26 songs, sung by 24 singers, have been selected from the first 27 records in the omnibus set of Schubert Lieder from Hyperion. Bostridge features twice, and I imagine there will be no complaints about that. The other artist to appear twice is Sarah Walker, and that is more of a mixed blessing, for several reasons. The songs are not exclusively solo works. The `Staendchen' here is neither the familiar Rellstab number from the Schwanengesang nor the Shakespeare `Hark hark the lark' but a piece with solo and male chorus, and the Romance sung by Arleen Auger has a clarinet obbligato played by Thea King. The piano accompaniment is provided throughout by Graham Johnson.

A few minor quibbles apart, this is my idea of a perfectly heavenly record, outstandingly well engineered. The selection is a judicious mix of familiar and unfamiliar. Who Is Sylvia is here, as are the Erlking and Mein from the Mill songs. Special favourites of my own are Der Allmacht and Mayrhofer's Aufloesung, both superb opportunities for a big voice, and the works cover all of Schubert's short career with Deutsch numbers ranging from 113 to 920. I think I would have liked Elizabeth Connell to hit Der Allmacht just a little harder. At the start I thought that Johnson might have been using a little too much pedal, but when I felt that most in the Sailor's Song to the Dioscuri he immediately delighted me with a lively and bouncing accompaniment in the next number Who Is Sylvia. My one real reservation concerns Erlkoenig, sung by Sarah Walker. For me, this is just not a song for a woman. Three of the four parts - father, child and the Erlking himself -- are explicitly male, and I imagine one takes the narrator to be male as well. Even more, for the one and only time on the entire disc I'm not happy with the performers' concept of the song. The tempo is too fast for my liking - the father is galloping rapidly, but any suggestion of panic ought to be reserved for the end. I also like a clean drumming sound in the piano right hand with a good strong accent on each of the four beats, clearly suggesting the hoofbeats of the horse, and too much pedal spoils it for me. What is also lost is the wonderful way the tension should relax without loss of pace before the Erlking's first song, and there is no sinister quality to the Erlking's tone as there needs to be. Fischer-Dieskau and Moore are not supplanted in my affections here.

And that's about it by way of criticisms. A disc featuring Schreier, Lott, Bostridge, Fassbaender, Allen, Baker, Mathis, Rolfe Johnson, Auger, Ameling and Varcoe to name but some can be expected to be a bit of a celebration, and that's exactly what it is. The liner booklet is even more than usually inadequate with no texts. It does not tot up the playing time either, but for me this recital was over almost as soon as it began, so much did it keep me in raptures. Strongly recommended.

Average customer rating: Perfection amidst perfection Impressive

The Hyperion Schubert Edition 8 / Sarah Walker, Graham Johnson Franz Schubert , Sarah Walker , Graham Johnson , Cecile Kelly , Edward Perry , Johann Mayrhofer , David Barnard , David Beezer , Jason Bella , and Richard Edgar-Wilson Manufacturer: Hyperion ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD All Works by Schubert | Schubert, Franz | ( S ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music Chamber Music | Forms & Genres | Romantic (c.1820-1910) | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music Vocal & Song | Romantic (c.1820-1910) | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music General | Classical | Styles | Music General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music Classical | Imports | Stores | Music Similar Items: The Hyperion Schubert Edition 6 / Anthony Rolfe Johnson, Graham Johnson The Hyperion Schubert Edition 21 / Edith Mathis, Graham Johnson The Hyperion Schubert Edition 11 / Brigitte Fassbaender, Graham Johnson The Hyperion Schubert Edition 3 / Ann Murray, Graham Johnson The Hyperion Schubert Edition 9 / Arleen Augér, Graham Johnson ASIN: B000002ZF2 Release Date: 1993-09-01

Tracks:

1. An den Mond, D259
2. Romanze, D114
3. Stimme der Liebe, D418
4. Die Sommernacht, D289
5. Die fruehen Graeber, D290
6. Die Mondnacht, D238
7. An den Mond in einer Herbstnacht, D614
8. Die Nonne, D208
9. An Chloen, D462
10. Hochzeitslied, D463
11. In der Mitternacht, D464
12. Trauer der Liebe, D465
13. Die Perle, D 466
14. Abendlied der Fuerstin, D495
15. Wiegenlied, D498
16. Staendchen (Zoegernd leise), D920
17. Berthas Lied in der Nacht, D 653
18. Erlkoenig, D328

Amazon.com

Mezzo soprano Sarah Walker is one of those singers with a real communicative gift--regardless of language, she really knows how to put over a song in such a way that the listener really gets involved in the story. It's doubtless for this reason that she gets the most famous Schubert song of all: Erlkönig (The Elf-King), composed when he was all of 18 years old. This song is the final item in a fantastic program of songs, both familiar and unfamiliar. An outstanding disc, even in this fine series. --David Hurwitz

Customer Reviews:

Perfection amidst perfection.......2002-06-03

If you know any CDs in the Hyperion Schubert series, you know that all of them are excellent and that some are so close to perfection they will bring a lump to your throat. Walker's Schubert, number 8 in the series, is one that will bring a tear to your eye -- or, in at least two bands, a chuckle to your lips. Ranging from one of Schubert's now strange-to-our-understanding Gothic horrors, Die Nonne, to the lovely cradle song, Walker hits the right mood every time. In Die Nonne, she manages to give the work the respect due to it in spite of the outrageous story line -- a nun, seduced and betrayed, who turns to a very violent and bloody revenge -- and bring it to our ears as a whopping great ghost story. In Wiegenlied, the cradle song, she captures precisely the great tenderness of the work, as well as imbuing the piece with the appropriate hints -- (from the lyrics) -- of potential infant mortality. Her Erlkönig is chilling, and her Standchen light-hearted and humorous. All this great interpretation, plus a ravishing voice, unsurpassed phrasing, and perfect technique. How can you resist?

Impressive.......2001-03-15

The Hyperion Schubert Edition has plenty of extraordinary discs, but Sarah Walker's is a hidden treasure. Her voice is warm, beautiful, expressive and she is such a gifted interpreter that each song has an atmosphere of its own. She makes wonders of strophic songs and each stanza has completely different inflections and vocal colouring. She also givis vivid and exciting performances of the ballads and her Erlkönig is one of the most impressive - the voice of the boy is eerily real. Johnson is - as usual - a nicest accompanist

Music Review:

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2. The Piano Virtuoso
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4. Trumpet, Corno Da Caccia And Organ
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9. Ancient Airs & Dances
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