**** The song programme on this new Challenge Classics cd represents for me the discovery of a beautiful baritone voice and at the same time of a strong personality for the genre.
This should indeed be evident from his programme: alongside the more familiar repertoire of Robert Schumann, Raoul Steffani has chosen songs by Edvard Grieg, Jean Sibelius and Alban Berg. However diverse the composers may be, the thread of romantic melancholy runs intensely through the programme. This was also the intention of the baritone, who moreover has the talent to articulate his reasoning for the programme's composition and the choice of these composers interestingly in the booklet text. The title of the cd is not without reason "Deep in a dream".
The cd opens with Liederkreis (opus 24) by Schumann, that delightful cycle from his Song Year 1840. It is also the year in which he marries Clara Wieck, a great relief after the struggle waged with her father beforehand. The cycle ends with the wonderfully beautiful Mit Myrten und Rosen, which Schumann provided with the direction "innig" in the score. But by the time we reach that final song, we have already fallen in love with the singer's distinctive timbre: bright baritonal with a smooth transition to the high notes whereby he maintains the tone colour. In Ich wandelte unter den Bäumen there may be perhaps too little movement in the voice, whereby a touch of monotony threatens. But that is really detailed criticism that pales in comparison to the beautifully rendered ending of the song. And that he gives me goosebumps in Schöne Wiege meiner Leiden speaks for his artistic authenticity, for that does not happen so often when listening to songs on cd.
Stylistic fidelity
By Edvard Grieg he first performs the six songs of opus 48 with the well-known Ein Traum, and as a finale the popular Ich liebe dich (opus 5/3). For these songs I am more familiar with a female voice and for the two just-mentioned songs the original Norwegian is embedded in memory. But Raoul Steffani preferred the German version for the sake of unity with Schumann and Berg. It is a debatable choice, but the songs are sung excellently: lightly pathetic in accordance with the content, but well-balanced. The clarity of the voice comes into its own in the liveliness of Lauf der Welt, the resignation and sadness in Zur Rosenzeit. Though I miss Jeg elsker deg with Ich liebe dich, it is in any case sung movingly. The songs by Sibelius too – though in the original language – are performed with the right melancholy and emotionality. That the singer himself is responsible for the German translation in the text booklet speaks all the more for his insight and correct understanding of what he sings. The songs by Alban Berg at last are also sung with stylistic fidelity and with the right tendency towards Sprechgesang which nevertheless does not impede the lyricism.
That Gerold Huber (the regular pianist of now renowned song singers such as Christian Gerhaher) associates himself as pianist with the young singer can in any case already be regarded as a guarantee that we are dealing with a talent for the delicate song genre. To pay him a compliment as well: listen to the echo on "Tandaradei! Tandaradei!" in Grieg's Die verschwiegene Nachtigall. Do I need to convince anyone else that this is a cd that song lovers can treasure?
- WHAT: Deep in a dream – songs by Robert Schumann (1810-1856), Edvard Grieg (1843-1907), Jean Sibelius (1865-1957) and Alban Berg (1885-1935)
- WHO: Raoul Steffani (baritone) & Gerold Huber (piano)
- RELEASE: Challenge Classics CC 72785