With his Arnold Schwarzenegger physique, bass singer Günther Groissbock – himself an Austrian – has major stage presence, as Sarastro, Fafner, Hunding, Boris Godounov and many other of the huge roles for his voice. And he has been present on the stages of Berlin, Geneva, Vienna, Munich, Chicago, Bayreuth, Amsterdam, New York, Paris and much of the rest of the lyrical world. And yet, it's in the most intimate of repertoires that he is performing here alongside pianist Gerold Huber: the Four Serious Songs by Brahms (transposed into a much more sombre, almost scenic, tone, it's true); Mahler's Rückert-Lieder; Wolf's Michelangelo-Lieder; and the Wesendonck-Lieder by Wagner. It's a range in which his vast voice can retain immense reserves of breath so as to only provide just as much power as is needed (which is a lot!). The listener will surely get the feeling that they are rediscovering certain works, some of which are often voiced by a woman – or seen as the private preserve of certain mezzos – as if the composers had re-written them for Groissbock's benefit, after his May 2018 triumph at the Opéra Bastille, in Philippe Jordan's production of Parsifal. © SM/Qobuz