Schubert: Schiller-Lieder, Vol. 2 (2002)

The Schubert Songs -- Schiller Lieder vol. 2

There is little in music that I find as melting, lyrical, and rewarding as the songs of Franz Schubert. The Naxos label is in the process of releasing the complete songs of Schubert at a budget price. I have found these releases well-performed and they offer an excellent opportunity for the listener to get a broader exposure to Schubert's songs than the relatively small handful of songs generally performed on single albums.

Naxos's series is arranged by the poets that Schubert set, with the CD I am discussing the second in its release of the composer's settings of Frederich Schiller (1797--1828). Thus, this CD offers the opportunity to get to know Schiller's poetry, too little known in the United States beyond Beethoven's setting of "Ode to Joy", as well as Schubert's music.

Mezzo-soprano Regina Jakobi is a major attraction on this CD. I hadn't heard of her before, but she has a burnished, rich voice. It is a joy to be adventurous and to get to know young performers. Her accompanist is pianist Ulrich Eisenlohr, who is directing the Schubert cycle for Naxos. The CD includes text and translations together with thorough liner notes.

The CD includes 14 songs, including the lengthy ballad "The Bond", D246, which celebrates the friendship and faithfulness between two men, even to the point of death. Schubert frequently uses tone-painting in his songs, and his score moves back and forth as at captures the changing story of Schiller's ballad. The collection also includes a setting of another, shorter ballad, "The Knight of Toggensburg", a romantic poems which celebrates hopeless, yet faithful love.

The set includes two Schiller poems which Schubert set twice, Sehnsucht (Longing), D.52 (a very early effort) and D.636(much more polished) and Hope, D. 251 and D.637. It is instructive to watch the development of Schubert's artistry as he returned to revisit a text.

My favorite song on the CD is "The Pilgrim" D.794, a relatively late work which lyrically tells the story of one who drifts uncertainly through life. Other songs I particularly enjoyed includes "The Maiden's Complaint" D 191, a passionate dark-hued work to a poem that Schubert had set earlier (not included on this CD.) There are two dramatic, almost operatic songs, "Hector's Farewell", cast in the form of a dialogue between Hector and Andromachae, and Amalia, together with an allegory of the power of poetry, "The Maiden from a Foreign Land", and an early love song to a beloved who has died, "To Emma."

These songs can be enjoyed simply by closing one's eyes and listening and taking the flow of Schubert's melody and emotion and the beauties of Jakobi's voice. Or the songs can be heard closely, text and translation in hand, with an attempt to follow their subtelties, as detailed in the liner notes. Schubert's songs are among music's great treasures. This CD and its companions will help you get to love them.

Robin Friedman