ORFEO International – Reviews

Important Releases Briefly Introduced

November 2018

Schumann • Schubert • Reiter: Lieder

With Elisabeth Kulman through the history of the art song

The Schwarzenberg Schubertiade can look
C 956 181 Aback on more than forty years of music-making history, making it one of the oldest music festivals for the Lieder genre. In the true spirit of its co-founders Hermann Prey and Gerd Nachbauer, the music of Franz Schubert is the central focus of interest, and this is reflected in the frequent airing of works by composers who followed Schubert and continued his Lieder legacy.
One of the foremost composers of Lieder after Schubert was undoubtedly Robert Schumann, whom Elisabeth Kulman, possibly todayʼs best mezzo soprano, placed at the heart of her Schubertiade Lieder recital on August 26, 2017. Together with her outstanding accompanist Eduard Kutrowatz she performed a very personal selection of Schumann Lieder which included both the well known standard songs as well as rarities in the repertoire.
In the second half of her recital, Kulman contrasted some of the best known Schubert Lieder with songs by Herwig Reiters, who is currently deemed one of the leading composers of Lieder, thereby impressively illustrating how the tradition of the art song has developed from Schubertʼs time to the present day to produce some really brilliant repertoire for listeners to enjoy.