Editorial Reviews

If there were any justice in this world, the songs of Franz Schreker would be as revered as the songs of Mahler or Strauss. The composer of the great Expressionist operas "Der ferne Klang," "Die Gezeichneten," and "Der Schatzgräber," Schreker demonstrated a technical fluency, an emotional acuity, a dramatic intensity, and a sense of lyrical ecstasy fully as developed as either Mahler or Strauss' and his songs breathe the same exalted emotional air as they. This reissue of the 1995 recording by Swiss soprano Noëmi Nadelmann and German baritone Andreas Schmidt with pianist Adrian Baianu is a wonderful single-disc introduction to the ineffable songs of Schreker. It contains many but by no means all his best songs -- the throbbing setting of Tolstoy's "Unendliche Liebe," the radiant setting of Rilke's "Und wie mag die Liebe dir kommen sein?," the gorgeous setting of Dora Leen's "Sommerfaden" -- in performances of aching beauty. Schmidt is a mellow-voiced, stout-hearted heir to Fischer-Dieskau and Nadelmann is a less polished but more ardent Schwarzkopf, and together with sensitive but not unassertive accompanist Baianu they make Schreker's songs glow with passionate expressivity. More human and less spiritual than Mahler and as sensual but less vulgar than Strauss, Schreker's songs deserve to be heard and this disc is an excellent place to start. Arte Nova's sound is vivid but a bit thin. James Leonard, All Music Guide

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