Hugo Wolf - The Complete Mörike-lieder - Rachel Vermont (soprano) & William Hancox (piano)

CRC1411-2 / 2 CD Extra Set

£17.50

These CDs both include a multimedia CD-ROM Extra program for Windows PCs containing extensive programme notes, photographs and full song texts in German and English.

Hugo Wolf’s Mörike-lieder mark the first effusive flowering of the talent of this master of late romantic song. Written in a fever of activity, sometimes three in one day, these songs, in their scope and variety, represent a pinnacle of achievement of music married to poetic verse. This ground-breaking recording by Rachel Vermont and William Hancox gives equal weight to voice and piano, as the composer demands, and remains faithful to his conviction that the poetry must be served by the music at all times.

Included on the CD-ROM Extra part of the discs are a completely original set of critical notes which illuminate each song within the whole and guide both the experienced listener and the newcomer to the glories of Wolf’s oeuvre.

Review from Classic FM Magazine - March 2006:
"Rachel Vermont’s explorations of Wolf’s Möricke-Lieder, all 53 of them, capture the collection’s remarkable blend of music and poetry. The soprano’s light yet characterful voice is distinctive in tone quality, clearly turned on by words and their meaning. This is refreshingly individual singing, sometimes rough, sometimes beautiful but never indifferent. William Hancox’s insightful, thoughtfully voiced accompaniments are also rich in detail, colour and imagination. Listen to their unrestrained reading of Der Feuerreiter, for example, full of drama and touchingly intense."

Track Listing:

CD1
[1] Der Genesene an die Hoffnung / A Convalescent Addressing Hope [2] Der Knabe und das Immlein / The Boy and the Bee [3] Ein Stündlein wohl vor Tag / An Hour Before the Day [4] Jägerlied / Song of a Hunter [5] Der Tambour / The Drummer-boy [6] Er ist’s / Spring’s here! [7] Das verlassene Mägdlein / The Forsaken Girl [8] Begegnung / Encounter [9] Nimmersatte Liebe / Never-sated Love [10] Fußreise / A Journey on Foot [11] An eine Äolsharfe / To an Aeolian Harp [12] Verborgenheit / Seclusion [13] Im Frühling / In the Spring [14] Agnes / Agnes [15] Auf einer Wanderung / On a Walk [16] Elfenlied / Elf Song [17] Der Gärtner / The Gardener [18] Zitronenfalter im April / The Brimstone Butterfly in April [19] Um Mitternacht / At Midnight [20] Auf eine Christblume I / On a Christmas Rose I [21] Auf eine Christblume II / On a Christmas Rose II [22] Seufzer / A Sigh [23] Auf ein altes Bild / On an Old Painting [24] In der Frühe / Early Morning [25] Schlafendes Jesuskind / Sleeping Christ Child [26] Karwoche / Holy Week 
Total playing time 66:25

CD2
[1] Zum neuen Jahr / Song for the New Year [2] Gebet / Prayer [3] An den Schlaf / To Sleep [4] Neue Liebe / New Love [5] Wo find’ ich Trost / Where Shall I Find Comfort? [6] An die Geliebte / To the Beloved [7] Peregrina I / Peregrina I [8] Peregrina II / Peregrina II [9] Frage und Antwort / Question and Answer [10] Lebe wohl / Farewell [11] Heimweh / Longing for Home [12] Lied vom Winde / Song of the Wind [13] Denk’ es o Seele / Just Think of This, O Soul [14] Der Jäger / The Hunter [15] Rat einer Alten / Old Woman’s Advice [16] Erstes Liebeslied eines Mädchens / A Girl’s First Love Song [17] Lied eines Verliebten / A Lover’s Song [18] Der Feuerreiter / The Fire-rider [19] Nixe Binsefuß / The Water-sprite Rushfoot [20] Gesang Weylas / Weyla’s Song [21] Die Geister am Mummelsee / The Ghosts on Lake Mummel [22] Storchenbotschaft / Stork-tidings [23] Zur Warnung / A Warning [24] Auftrag / Mission [25] Bei einer Trauung / At a Wedding [26] Selbstgeständnis / Self-confession [27] Abschied / A Farewell 
Total playing time 67:53