COMPOSERS: Franz Schubert
LABELS: Delphian
ALBUM TITLE: Schubert Lieder
WORKS: Nacht und Träume; Gretchen am Spinnrade; Ave Maria; Die Forelle; Die junge Nonne; Du bist die Ruh; Lachen und Weinen, etc
PERFORMER: Ailish Tynan (soprano), Iain Burnside (piano)
CATALOGUE NO: DCD 34165
This is the first volume in Iain Burnside’s ‘carefully crafted voyage of Schubert song’. All the songs deal with women in love, love of various kinds from men to God, even trout. Ailish Tynan is the light-voiced soprano who seems far more suited to some of these than to others. She has the kind of voice one associates with Despina in Così fan tutte, naturally giving an impression of mischief, with a decidedly acid tang. Sometimes, as in the last song here, Nacht und Träume (Night and Dreams), she floats a pure, beautiful line which is entirely appropriate. In the famous Gretchen am Spinnrade she has just the right tone of impetuous vulnerability.
It goes without saying that Iain Burnside’s accompaniments are ideal, detailed in the modern manner but never obtruding, and in all respects the disc shows two dedicated artists who have given a lot of thought to every aspect of these marvellous pieces. Where I have doubts is in that edge which Tynan’s voice sometimes takes on, especially when she is singing loudly. Over more than an hour that does become irritating, and I’d advise that this carefully organised disc should be taken in two or three doses. It’s possible to sound as young as Tynan does without ever sounding shrill, as witness the immortal Elisabeth Schumann.
Michael Tanner
