Finally, a happy record! It’s a simple recipe: take four experienced singers who know each other well, add two complicit pianists, then pick out some works that are bursting with happiness. It’s rare to find such happiness in Schumann and Brahms’ work. The two composers shared a tendency to lean towards melancholic music, a "Sehnsucht" style which is so characteristic of German romanticism.
Schumann wrote Spanisches Liederspiel Op. 74 in 1849. It’s a kind of love story, the first steps towards happiness. The work requires a theatrical and playful performance, which was perfectly accomplished here at this concert from the end of the 1974 Salzburg Festival, once the press had left the establishment. While there are few written traces that remain of this concert, the recording has preserved it for us. Here, Orfeo brings us this little miracle with four soloists at the top of their game, accompanied by two pianists who are well accustomed to the difficult task of supporting the singers. Shumann’s rare work is complemented by Brahms' famous eighteen vocal waltzes, given the collective title of Liebeslieder-Walzer Op. 52. An exceptional musical achievement. © François Hudry/Qobuz