For his third solo recital album German tenor
Daniel Behle sings
Schumann's Dichterliebe and eight
Schubert songs.
Behle has a sweet, light tenor ideal for Tamino (which he has recorded under
René Jacobs) but he can also soar with thrilling romantic urgency, as he demonstrates beautifully in the more dramatically arching songs like "Im wunderschönen Monat Mai." His Dichterliebe is, above all, poetic. He and pianist
Sveinung Bjelland bring a nuanced flexibility to the musical arc of each song and of the whole cycle.
Behle performs the songs with deep feeling and an appealing intelligence. The cycle as a whole lies just a tad low to be entirely comfortable for him, though; the lowest notes in "Ich grolle nicht" and "Und wüssten's die Blümen," for instance, don't have the necessary substance and oomph, and the lack of a solid low register is apparent to some degree in many of the songs. As impressive as
Behle is for the most part, the subtlety and expressive sensitivity of pianist
Bjelland's performance could be perceived as stealing the show; although the balance between the voice and piano is good, the ear is inexorably drawn most strongly to
Bjelland's spectacularly perceptive playing. His nuanced rhythmic flexibility and sense of pacing are superb. He excels in highlighting
Schumann's sometimes astonishing harmonic progressions, which to modern ears no longer have the novelty they did when they were first heard. The
Schubert songs have the same interpretive strengths and lower register difficulties as the
Schumann. The inclusion of two songs using additional forces -- a men's chorus in "Nachthelle," and clarinet, played glowingly by
Andy Miles, in "Der Hirt auf dem Felsen" -- is a treat. Capriccio's sound is clear, warm, and nicely ambient. This version of Dichterliebe won't displace the classic recorded performances, but
Bjelland's stellar playing makes it one fans of the cycle should hear.