There’s a clarity and flexibility about Austrian mezzo-soprano Sophie Rennert that makes her a natural when it comes to Schubert Lieder. An instinctive storyteller, she effortlessly inhabits the kind of narrative ballads presented here, from Gothic tales such as Erlkönig, to passionate outpourings like Gretchen am Spinnrade.
Rennert’s favourite song, she writes, is Des Fischers Liebesglück, an enigmatic love song where a fisherman observes the light in his beloved’s bedroom window shimmering like a will-o’-the-wisp (the word in German is Irrlicht, which Rennert pluralises for her album’s title Irrlichter). Such nocturnal phenomena, like the glitter of starlight on waves, or the moon shining through the branches of trees, offer a rich seam that runs through this beautifully curated, immaculately engineered recital.
The album opens with Der Zwerg, a grisly tale of a dwarf who drowns the queen who has spurned his love. Rennert’s way with the text is just right, avoiding the temptation to slather on the horror. She contrasts the tale’s dual voices neatly, while Joseph Middleton, sensitive throughout, urges the drama forward on the keyboard. Des Fischers Liebesglück, one of Schubert’s loveliest works realised in both voice and piano, is wonderfully restrained, Rennert really thinking about the words as the song lilts its way toward a conclusion that is far from certain.
Her substantial mezzo can be muscular, as in an emotionally turbulent Wilkommen und Abshied, or thoughtful, as in the underrated Im Freien. Her Gretchen, deeply troubled from the outset, rises to a full-throated climax before a heart stopping diminuendo on the word “kuss”.
The contrasts, as in the jaunty Taubenpost, are never there simply to leaven the mood, while understated rarities like the eight-minute Winterabend are frequently elevated to Lieder’s first rank. The four voices required four Erlkönig generally fit a man more comfortably than a woman. Here Rennert pulls it off with enormous subtlety while Middleton’s shapeshifting accompaniment dredges up a kaleidoscope of colours. An den Mond in einer Herbstnacht, sung and played with a touching delicacy, round off one of the most satisfying Schubert recitals of recent years.
Composer: Schubert
Work: Irrlichter
Performers: Sophie Rennert s, Joseph Middleton p
Label: BIS BIS-2458
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