Mark Padmore, Kristian Bezuidenhout - Robert Schumann: Dichterliebe, Liederkreis; Franz Lachner: Five songs (2010)

Mark Padmore (b.1961) started his musical activities as a clarinetist and singer. During the early 1980s he sang with The Sixteen and the Hilliard Ensemble. With the Hilliards he can be heard on ‘Perotinus’, an ECM album that has meanwhile achieved legendary status. In the 1990s he worked as a soloist with William Christie, Philippe Herreweghe and John Eliot Gardiner, and was much sought after as the Evangelist in the Passions of Johann Sebastian Bach. In 2002 he appeared for the first time in a lieder recital, singing Schubert’s ‘Die Schöne Müllerin’. His accompanist, Roger Vignoles, encouraged him to concentrate on the lied repertoire, and as a result, Padmore now spends a large amount of his time on the recital podium. He performs with seasoned accompanists: Julius Drake, Graham Johnson and Malcolm Martineau, and has also forged performing relationships with famous pianists: Imogen Cooper, Till Fellner and Paul Lewis. The latter accompanied him in very successful recordings of Schubert’s great song-cycles, ‘Die Winterreise’ and ‘Die Schöne Müllerin’.

For his most recent recital tour Padmore opted for a collaboration with fortepianist Kristian Bezuidenhout, an artist who was invited by Harmonia Mundi to record Mozart’s complete solo piano music. Padmore dedicated his tour to the poet Heinrich Heine, who was a fount of inspiration for Franz Schubert. Robert Schumann visited Vienna in 1838, ten years after Schubert’s death, and became acquainted with the older composer’s Ninth Symphony and the song cycles ‘Winterreise’, ‘Müllerin’ and ‘Schwanengesang’. Despite the fact that Schumann initially looked down on the Lied phenomenon, but in 1840, just married to Clara, in his new role as family man felt obliged to provide a more substantial income. Considering the popularity of the lied genre with the middle class in those days, publishing songs was a logical way to bolster his wages. Schumann’s preference for Heinrich Heine was no coincidence. Heine’s ‘Das Buch der Lieder’, published in 1820, enjoyed an immense popularity and inspired nineteenth-century composers to write no less than 8000 songs. On this CD five of those are placed between Schumann’s opp. 24 and 48. They were selected from the volume ‘Sängerfahrt’ by Franz Paul Lachner (1803-1890). During the last two years of Schubert’s life Lachner befriended Schubert, who was six years his senior. Lachner’s music pays homage to Schubert, and some of his settings employ texts that were also set by Schubert and Schumann. On this recital they are ‘Im Mai’, the opening song of ‘Dichterliebe’ (‘Im wunderschönen Monat Mai’), and ‘Das Fischermädchen’, also known in a setting by Schubert. They are a resounding testimony to the difference between talent and genius.

On the recordings of Schubert’s ‘Die Winterreise’ and ‘Die schöne Müllerin’ pianist Paul Lewis opted for a modern Steinway. Kristian Bezuidenhout decided upon an 1837 Erard, not exactly a brand that one would associate with Robert and Clara Schumann. Add that Bezuidenhout has his very own and very free way with Mozart, as performed on his first disc for Harmonia Mundi, and a bit of trepidation might well be expected from the prospective listener. Luckily things work out to the contrary: Bezuidenhout lets the music speak for itself, and his instrument sparkles and buzzes quite stylishly. This is exactly the kind of sound on which Padmore’s light tenor rides easily.

Padmore’s voice fits in the tradition of his countrymen Peter Pears, Anthony Rolfe Johnson and Philip Langridge - sadly the last two passed away last year. It carries less weight than Langridge’s, and sounds slightly less warm than Rolfe Johnson’s. Another difference from his great predecessors is that his lighter tenor is not (yet) capable of an operatic role like Peter Grimes. On the British music scene Ian Bostridge, who has an even lighter sound, is another singer who occupies himself on the same level with this repertoire. He has also recorded Schubert’s great cycles, and has also sought the collaboration of famous pianists like Leif Ove Andsnes and Mitsuko Ushida. Both tenors excel in very clear diction, a phenomenon that appears more often with vocalists that have to sing outside their native language. A slight British accent is a small price to pay.

The differences in interpretation between Bostridge and Padmore are enormous. In a few words: Bostridge ‘interprets’ and in doing so discovers all kinds of detail that detracts from the essential. In Heine’s woods he pauses at every tree, thus managing to distract from the music and putting his own persona between the composer and the public. Padmore lets the notes speak for themselves, tries to erase himself, and puts the composer center-stage. Better yet, in his own words, he wants, above all, the poet’s voice to be heard. Both artists have a substantial following. The content of this disc was also the program of Padmore and Bezuidenhout’s recital tour. The concerts they gave in Carnegie and Wigmore Halls met with large audiences and were very favorably discussed in the press. Both Padmore and Bezuidenhout possess rich and sympathetic communicative powers; on CD we have only the sound to consider, but the enjoyment does not suffer. In the song ‘Im Rhein, im heiligen Strome’, with its baritonal opening register, Padmore lacks somewhat in strength, but is royally compensated for that in Bezuidenhout’s sharply etched rhythms - something that seems to stem from his experience in older music.

‘Dichterliebe’ belongs with ‘Winterreise’ and ‘Müllerin’ in the top five of most beloved song-cycles, and has, in the course of recorded history, been taped numerous times. Peter Schreier immediately springs to mind as an unforgettable performer in this repertoire. Every generation has its own favourites, who might well be intolerable for the next one - something that becomes apparent upon listening again to the classic performance of Lotte Lehmann and Bruno Walter. Mark Padmore is a tenor for the twenty-first century and in Kris Bezuidenhout he has found an ideal partner. The choice of the instrument plays no mean role in all of this. Together they make a new noise, which has been captured in ideal acoustic circumstances.

Review by Siebe Riedstra, MusicWeb International

Exact Audio Copy V1.1 from 23. June 2015

EAC extraction logfile from 12. March 2016, 21:36

Mark Padmore, Kristian Bezuidenhout / Schumann - Dichterliebe, Liederkreis

Used drive : HL-DT-STDVDRAM GU70N Adapter: 1 ID: 0

Read mode : Secure
Utilize accurate stream : Yes
Defeat audio cache : Yes
Make use of C2 pointers : No

Read offset correction : 48
Overread into Lead-In and Lead-Out : No
Fill up missing offset samples with silence : Yes
Delete leading and trailing silent blocks : No
Null samples used in CRC calculations : Yes
Used interface : Native Win32 interface for Win NT & 2000

Used output format : User Defined Encoder
Selected bitrate : 128 kBit/s
Quality : High
Add ID3 tag : No
Command line compressor : C:\Program Files (x86)\Exact Audio Copy\Flac\flac.exe
Additional command line options : -V -8 -T "Date=%year%" -T "Genre=%genre%" %source%


TOC of the extracted CD

Track | Start | Length | Start sector | End sector
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––-
1 | 0:00.00 | 0:57.67 | 0 | 4341
2 | 0:57.67 | 1:15.31 | 4342 | 9997
3 | 2:13.23 | 3:36.01 | 9998 | 26198
4 | 5:49.24 | 0:47.29 | 26199 | 29752
5 | 6:36.53 | 4:13.11 | 29753 | 48738
6 | 10:49.64 | 1:57.15 | 48739 | 57528
7 | 12:47.04 | 3:48.07 | 57529 | 74635
8 | 16:35.11 | 1:00.14 | 74636 | 79149
9 | 17:35.25 | 3:46.38 | 79150 | 96137
10 | 21:21.63 | 2:17.72 | 96138 | 106484
11 | 23:39.60 | 3:24.27 | 106485 | 121811
12 | 27:04.12 | 3:30.65 | 121812 | 137626
13 | 30:35.02 | 4:01.62 | 137627 | 155763
14 | 34:36.64 | 4:25.27 | 155764 | 175665
15 | 39:02.16 | 1:35.51 | 175666 | 182841
16 | 40:37.67 | 0:55.08 | 182842 | 186974
17 | 41:33.00 | 0:37.58 | 186975 | 189807
18 | 42:10.58 | 1:42.32 | 189808 | 197489
19 | 43:53.15 | 0:58.40 | 197490 | 201879
20 | 44:51.55 | 2:29.28 | 201880 | 213082
21 | 47:21.08 | 1:43.70 | 213083 | 220877
22 | 49:05.03 | 1:16.44 | 220878 | 226621
23 | 50:21.47 | 1:27.09 | 226622 | 233155
24 | 51:48.56 | 2:15.27 | 233156 | 243307
25 | 54:04.08 | 1:08.66 | 243308 | 248473
26 | 55:12.74 | 2:27.42 | 248474 | 259540
27 | 57:40.41 | 2:18.59 | 259541 | 269949
28 | 59:59.25 | 1:31.67 | 269950 | 276841
29 | 61:31.17 | 2:40.65 | 276842 | 288906
30 | 64:12.07 | 4:38.72 | 288907 | 309828


Range status and errors

Selected range

Filename C:\temp\HMU907521 - Schumann - Dichterliebe - Padmore, Bezuidenhout\Schumann - Dichterliebe, Liederkreis.wav

Peak level 98.4 %
Extraction speed 2.2 X
Range quality 99.9 %
Test CRC F8B3C057
Copy CRC F8B3C057
Copy OK

No errors occurred


AccurateRip summary

Track 1 accurately ripped (confidence 10) [6119BC3A] (AR v2)
Track 2 accurately ripped (confidence 10) [08B8AD1C] (AR v2)
Track 3 accurately ripped (confidence 10) [8B032119] (AR v2)
Track 4 accurately ripped (confidence 10) [32BCE904] (AR v2)
Track 5 accurately ripped (confidence 10) [DD26A397] (AR v2)
Track 6 accurately ripped (confidence 10) [87E46072] (AR v2)
Track 7 accurately ripped (confidence 10) [6104DA96] (AR v2)
Track 8 accurately ripped (confidence 10) [ABC0899F] (AR v2)
Track 9 accurately ripped (confidence 10) [1401B8EC] (AR v2)
Track 10 accurately ripped (confidence 10) [6A2D46D3] (AR v2)
Track 11 accurately ripped (confidence 10) [6D1EA21C] (AR v2)
Track 12 accurately ripped (confidence 10) [794394FE] (AR v2)
Track 13 accurately ripped (confidence 10) [F0A6CE2D] (AR v2)
Track 14 accurately ripped (confidence 10) [86A752BB] (AR v2)
Track 15 accurately ripped (confidence 10) [6353CFBE] (AR v2)
Track 16 accurately ripped (confidence 10) [44A37C63] (AR v2)
Track 17 accurately ripped (confidence 10) [C50C91E6] (AR v2)
Track 18 accurately ripped (confidence 10) [A3E8D9BE] (AR v2)
Track 19 accurately ripped (confidence 10) [676A5327] (AR v2)
Track 20 accurately ripped (confidence 10) [F0D348B9] (AR v2)
Track 21 accurately ripped (confidence 10) [8A3F78E8] (AR v2)
Track 22 accurately ripped (confidence 10) [53A866E4] (AR v2)
Track 23 accurately ripped (confidence 10) [C70A5540] (AR v2)
Track 24 accurately ripped (confidence 10) [F273315B] (AR v2)
Track 25 accurately ripped (confidence 10) [1AE7B60E] (AR v2)
Track 26 accurately ripped (confidence 10) [BD373150] (AR v2)
Track 27 accurately ripped (confidence 10) [49EAD9B5] (AR v2)
Track 28 accurately ripped (confidence 10) [75BC9A1F] (AR v2)
Track 29 accurately ripped (confidence 10) [1A25F9AA] (AR v2)
Track 30 accurately ripped (confidence 10) [013A9ED4] (AR v2)

All tracks accurately ripped

End of status report

==== Log checksum 4FB8D83DBD2E66D97E8EFB47D6EC6C6A4E4F1937432DCF53FCB8E49BCD5FFD66 ====

foobar2000 1.2 / Dynamic Range Meter 1.1.1
log date: 2016-03-18 02:02:28

––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Analyzed: Mark Padmore, Kristian Bezuidenhout / Schumann - Dichterliebe, Liederkreis
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

DR Peak RMS Duration Track
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
DR14 -9.18 dB -28.27 dB 0:58 01-Liederkreis, Op.24 - Morgens steh' ich auf
DR14 -2.05 dB -21.04 dB 1:15 02-Liederkreis, Op.24 - Es treibt mich hin
DR15 -9.91 dB -31.48 dB 3:36 03-Liederkreis, Op.24 - Ich wandelte unter den Bдumen
DR13 -13.26 dB -30.22 dB 0:47 04-Liederkreis, Op.24 - Lieb' Liebchen
DR14 -4.14 dB -24.47 dB 4:13 05-Liederkreis, Op.24 - Schцne Wiege meiner Leiden
DR14 -0.29 dB -20.31 dB 1:57 06-Liederkreis, Op.24 - Warte, warte, wilder Schiffmann
DR13 -9.91 dB -28.89 dB 3:48 07-Liederkreis, Op.24 - Berg' und Burgen schau'n herunter
DR12 -7.46 dB -24.41 dB 1:00 08-Liederkreis, Op.24 - Anfangs wollt' ich fast verzagen
DR16 -4.23 dB -26.14 dB 3:47 09-Liederkreis, Op.24 - Mit Myrten und Rosen
DR12 -5.71 dB -24.00 dB 2:18 10-Lachner: Sдngerfahrt, Op.33 - 6. Im Mai
DR14 -0.14 dB -19.95 dB 3:24 11-Lachner: Sдngerfahrt, Op.33 - 8. Die Meerfrau
DR15 -5.93 dB -27.35 dB 3:31 12-Lachner: Sдngerfahrt, Op.33 - 10. Das Fischermдdchen
DR16 -0.27 dB -22.90 dB 4:02 13-Lachner: Sдngerfahrt, Op.33 - 12. Ein Traumbild
DR16 -2.29 dB -25.30 dB 4:25 14-Lachner: Sдngerfahrt, Op.33 - 13. Die einsame Trдne
DR14 -8.52 dB -28.14 dB 1:36 15-Dichterliebe, Op.48 - Im wunderschцnen Monat Mai
DR12 -13.29 dB -30.99 dB 0:55 16-Dichterliebe, Op.48 - Aus meinen Trдnen sprieЯen
DR14 -8.61 dB -26.57 dB 0:38 17-Dichterliebe, Op.48 - Die Rose, die Lilie, die Taube
DR13 -9.34 dB -29.97 dB 1:42 18-Dichterliebe, Op.48 - Wenn ich in Deine Augen seh'
DR12 -11.34 dB -26.98 dB 0:59 19-Dichterliebe, Op.48 - Ich will meine Seele tauchen
DR13 -8.43 dB -25.24 dB 2:29 20-Dichterliebe, Op.48 - Im Rhein, im heiligen Strome
DR12 -0.15 dB -18.69 dB 1:44 21-Dichterliebe, Op.48 - Ich grolle nicht
DR14 -2.05 dB -22.34 dB 1:17 22-Dichterliebe, Op.48 - Und wьЯten's die Blumen
DR13 -3.86 dB -21.18 dB 1:27 23-Dichterliebe, Op.48 - Das ist ein Flцten und Geigen
DR13 -13.01 dB -31.42 dB 2:15 24-Dichterliebe, Op.48 - Hцr' ich das Liedchen klingen
DR13 -4.01 dB -22.80 dB 1:09 25-Dichterliebe, Op.48 - Ein Jьngling liebt ein Mдdchen
DR14 -14.90 dB -33.67 dB 2:28 26-Dichterliebe, Op.48 - Am leuchtenden Sommermorgen
DR17 -4.03 dB -29.38 dB 2:19 27-Dichterliebe, Op.48 - Ich hab' im Traum geweinet
DR14 -11.26 dB -29.18 dB 1:32 28-Dichterliebe, Op.48 - Allnдchtlich im Traume
DR15 -0.59 dB -21.76 dB 2:41 29-Dichterliebe, Op.48 - Aus alten Mдrchen
DR15 -0.85 dB -23.26 dB 4:39 30-Dichterliebe, Op.48 - Die alten, bцsen Lieder
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

Number of tracks: 30
Official DR value: DR14

Samplerate: 44100 Hz
Channels: 2
Bits per sample: 16
Bitrate: 449 kbps
Codec: FLAC
================================================================================