The Hugo Wolf Society - The Complete Edition 1931-1938 [Box set]

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
EMI's "society" subscription editions in the 1930s yielded a wealth of recordings long considered gramophone classics, such as the present collection of roughly half of Hugo Wolf's lieder output. Each song occupies its own specific world, due to Wolf's resourceful word setting and his avoidance of anything generic. In turn, the performers illuminate each song's felicities with effortless authority, and they avoid overpointing or enacting. Full texts and translations are included. Ernest Newman's penetrating annotations for the original 78 albums, reprinted in EMI's 1981 LP reissue, are absent. --Jed Distler

The Hugo Wolf Society - The Complete Edition 1931-1938, Music, Gerhard Hüsch, Herbert Janssen, Alexander Kipnis, Ludwig Weber, Hugo Wolf, Robert Heger, Elena Gerhardt, London Symphony Orchestra, Coenraad van Bos, Edwin Schneider, Ernst Victor Wolff, Gerald Moore, Hans Udo Muller, Michael Raucheisen, Alexandra Trianti, Elisabeth Rethberg, Marta Fuchs, Ria Ginster, Tiana Lemnitz, Helge Rosvaenge, John McCormack, Karl Erb, Box Sets (Audio Only), Classical, Classical Collections-Artist Desc., Classical Music, Classical Vocals, Miscellaneous Vocal Music, Romantic Music for Voice and Keyboard, Song Collection for Solo Voice and Piano, Vocal
The Hugo Wolf Society - The Complete Edition 1931-1938
Average customer rating: 5 out of 5 stars
  • The Hugo Wolf Society Recordings
  • "Even little things can delight us."
  • "Even little things can delight us."
  • Wolf sung by various Lieder singers
 The Hugo Wolf Society - The Complete Edition 1931-1938

Manufacturer: Angel Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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ASIN: B000009OQC
Release Date: 2002-11-05

Tracks:

  1. Moerike-Lieder: 8. Begegnung
  2. Moerike-Lieder: 38. Lied vom Winde
  3. Moerike-Lieder: 15. Auf einer Wanderung
  4. Moerike-Lieder: 41. Rat einer Alten
  5. Spanisches Liederbuch: 12. In dem Schatten meiner Locken
  6. Moerike-Lieder: 37. Heimweh (Anders wird die Welt)
  7. Spanisches Liederbuch: 4. Die ihr schwebet um diese Palmen
  8. Spanisches Liederbuch: 6. Ach, des Knaben Augen
  9. Spanisches Liederbuch: Nun wandre, Maria
  10. Moerike-Lieder: 46. Gesang Weylas
  11. Spanisches Liederbuch: 9. Herr, was traegt der Boden hier
  12. Italiensches Liederbuch: 1. Auch kleine Dinge
  13. Moerike-Lieder: 7. Das verlassene Maegdlein
  14. Eichendorff-Lieder: 4. Das Staendchen
  15. Spanisches Liederbuch: Wenn du zu den Blumen gehst
  16. Italiensches Liederbuch: 34. Und steht Ihr frueh am Morgen auf
  17. Italiensches Liederbuch: 16. Ihr jungen Leute
  18. Italiensches Liederbuch: 10. Du denkst mit einem Faedchen
  19. Italiensches Liederbuch: 12. Nein, junger Herr
  20. Goethe-Lieder: 1-3 Drei Harfenspieler: 1: Wer sich der Einsamkeit ergibt
  21. Goethe-Lieder: 1-3 Drei Harfenspieler: 2: An die Tueren will ich schleichen
  22. Goethe-Lieder: 1-3 Drei Harfenspieler: 3: Wer nie sein Brot
  23. Goethe-Lieder: 1-3 Drei Harfenspieler: 29. Anakreons Grab
  24. Goethe-Lieder: 1-3 Drei Harfenspieler: 15. Cophtisches Lied 2 (Geh! Gehorche)
  25. Goethe-Lieder: 1-3 Drei Harfenspieler: 21. Genialisch Treiben
  26. Goethe-Lieder: 1-3 Drei Harfenspieler: 11. Der Rattenfenger
  27. Goethe-Lieder: 1-3 Drei Harfenspieler: 19. Epiphanias
  28. Goethe-Lieder: 1-3 Drei Harfenspieler: 26. Die Sproede
  29. Goethe-Lieder: 1-3 Drei Harfenspieler: 27. Die Bekehrte
  30. Goethe-Lieder: 1-3 Drei Harfenspieler: 24. Blumengruss
  31. Goethe-Lieder: 1-3 Drei Harfenspieler: 25. Gleich und gleich
  32. Goethe-Lieder: 1-3 Drei Harfenspieler: 28. Fruehling uebers Jahr

Tracks:

  1. Goethe-Lieder: 49. Prometheus
  2. Goethe-Lieder: 50. Ganymed
  3. Goethe-Lieder: 18. Beherzigung
  4. 1-3 Drei Gedichte von Michelangelo: 1: Wohl denk' ich oft
  5. 1-3 Drei Gedichte von Michelangelo: 2: Alles endet, was entstehet
  6. 1-3 Drei Gedichte von Michelangelo: 3: Fuehlt meine Seele
  7. Moerike-Lieder: 19. Um Mitternacht
  8. Moerike-Lieder: 42. Erstes Liebeslied eines Maedchens
  9. Moerike-Lieder: 45. Nixe Binsefuss
  10. Spanisches Liederbuch: Moegen alle boesen Zungen
  11. Spanisches Liederbuch: 24. Koepfchen, Koepfchen, nicht gewimmert
  12. Spanisches Liederbuch: 11. Klinge, klinge, mein Pandero
  13. Spanisches Liederbuch: 26. Bitt ihn, o Mutter
  14. Italiensches Liederbuch: 6. Wer rief dich denn?
  15. Italiensches Liederbuch: 25. Mein Liebster hat zu Tische mich geladen
  16. Italiensches Liederbuch: 43. Schweig einmal still
  17. Italiensches Liederbuch: 35. Benedeit die sel'ge Mutter
  18. Italiensches Liederbuch: 7. Der Mond hat eine schwere Klag' erhoben
  19. Italiensches Liederbuch: 27. Schon streckt' ich aus im Bett die mueden Glieder
  20. Goethe-Lieder: 51. Grenzen der Menschheit
  21. Italiensches Liederbuch: 32. Was soll der Zorn, mein Schatz
  22. Italiensches Liederbuch: 24. Ich esse nun mein Brot nicht trocken mehr
  23. Italiensches Liederbuch: 31. Wie soll ich froehlich sein
  24. Italiensches Liederbuch: 11. Wie lange schon war immer mein Verlangen
  25. Italiensches Liederbuch: 28. Du sagst mir, dass ich keine Fuerstin sei
  26. Italiensches Liederbuch: 26. Ich liess mir sagen
  27. Italiensches Liederbuch: 29. Wohl kenn' ich Euren Stand
  28. Italiensches Liederbuch: 21. Man sagt mir, deine Mutter woll' es nicht
  29. Italiensches Liederbuch: 36. Wenn du, mein Liebster, steigst zum Himmel auf

Tracks:

  1. Italiensches Liederbuch: 20. Mein Liebster singt am Haus im Mondenscheine
  2. Italiensches Liederbuch: 40. O waer' dein Haus durchsichtig wie ein Glas
  3. Italiensches Liederbuch: 39. Gesegnet sei das Gruen
  4. Italiensches Liederbuch: 2. Mir ward gesagt, du reisest in die Ferne
  5. Italiensches Liederbuch: 15. Mein Liebster ist so klein
  6. Italiensches Liederbuch: 46. Ich hab' in Penna einen Liebster wohnen
  7. Italiensches Liederbuch: 4. Gesegnet sei, durch den die Welt entstund
  8. Italiensches Liederbuch: 3. Ihr seid die Allerschoenste
  9. Italiensches Liederbuch: 13. Hoffaertig seid Ihr, schoenes Kind
  10. Italiensches Liederbuch: 9. Dass doch gemalt all deine Reize waeren
  11. Italiensches Liederbuch: 17. Und willst du deinen Liebsten sterben sehen
  12. Italiensches Liederbuch: 38. Wenn du mich mit den Augen streifst
  13. Italiensches Liederbuch: 41. Heut Nacht erhob ich mich, um Mitternacht
  14. Italiensches Liederbuch: 22. Ein Staendchen Euch zu bringen
  15. Italiensches Liederbuch: 8. Nun lass uns Frieden schliessen
  16. Italiensches Liederbuch: 19. Wir haben beide lange Zeit geschwiegen
  17. Italiensches Liederbuch: 14. Geselle, woll'n wir uns in Kutten huellen
  18. Italiensches Liederbuch: 18. Heb auf dein blondes Haupt
  19. Italiensches Liederbuch: 33. Sterb' ich, so huellt in Blumen meine Glieder
  20. Italiensches Liederbuch: 37. Wie viele Zeit verlor ich
  21. Italiensches Liederbuch: 23. Was fuer ein Lied soll dir gesungen werden
  22. Spanisches Liederbuch: 7. Muehvoll komm' ich und beladen
  23. Spanisches Liederbuch: 15. Auf dem gruenen Balkon
  24. Spanisches Liederbuch: 14. Treibe nur mit Lieben Spott
  25. Spanisches Liederbuch: 29. Trau nicht der Liebe
  26. Spanisches Liederbuch: 38. Sie blasen zum Abmarsch
  27. Sechs Gedichte: 3. Biterolf (Im Lager von Akkon 1190)
  28. Moerike-Lieder: 22. Seufzer
  29. Moerike-Lieder: 28. Gebet
  30. Moerike-Lieder: 23. Auf ein altes Bild
  31. Moerike-Lieder: 32. An die Geliebte
  32. Moerike-Lieder: 12. Verborgenheit
  33. Moerike-Lieder: 39. Denk es, o Seele!
  34. Moerike-Lieder: 51. Bei einer Trauung
  35. 3. Ein Stuendlein wohl vor Tag
  36. Moerike-Lieder: 16. Elfenlied

Tracks:

  1. Sechs Alte Weisen: 6. Wie glaenzt der helle Mond
  2. Goethe-Lieder: 14. Cophtisches Lied 1
  3. Eichendorff-Lieder: 2. Der Musikant
  4. Eichendorff-Lieder: 5. Der Soldat
  5. Eichendorff-Lieder: 9. Der Schreckenberger
  6. Moerike-Lieder: 44. Der Feuerreiter
  7. Drei Gedichte von Robert Reinick: 1. Gesellenlied (Kein Meister faellt)
  8. Goethe-Lieder: 5. Mignon 1 (Heiss mich nicht reden)
  9. Goethe-Lieder: 7. Mignon 3 (So lasst mich scheinen)
  10. Moerike-Lieder: 29. An den Schlaf
  11. Moerike-Lieder: 36. Liebe wohl
  12. Spanisches Liederbuch: 30. Ach, im Maien war's
  13. Spanisches Liederbuch: 21. Herz, verzage nicht geschwind
  14. Moerike-Lieder: 30. Neue Liebe
  15. Moerike-Lieder: 48. Storchenbotschaft
  16. Spanisches Liederbuch: 32. Dereinst, dereinst, Gedanke mein
  17. Spanisches Liederbuch: 31. Alle gingen, Herz, zur Ruh
  18. Spanisches Liederbuch: 33. Tief im Herzen trag' ich Pein
  19. Sechs Gedichte: 6. Zur Ruh, zur Ruh
  20. Spanisches Liederbuch: 34. Komm, o Tod, von Nacht umgeben
  21. Sechs Lieder fuer eine Frauenstimme: 4. Wiegenlied (Im Sommer)
  22. Sechs Lieder fuer eine Frauenstimme: 5. Wiegenlied (Im Winter)
  23. Moerike-Lieder: 20. Auf eine Christblume I (Tochter des Walds)
  24. Moerike-Lieder: 24. In der Fruehe
  25. Moerike-Lieder: 25. Schlafendes Jesuskind

Tracks:

  1. Goethe-Lieder: 20. Sankt Nepomuks Vorabend
  2. Goethe-Lieder: 12. Ritter Kurts Brautfahrt
  3. Moerike-Lieder: 47. Die Geister am Mummelsee
  4. Moerike-Lieder: 10. Fussreise
  5. Moerike-Lieder: 43. Lied eines Verliebten
  6. Moerike-Lieder: 25. Schlafendes Jesuskind
  7. Moerike-Lieder: 4. Jaegerlied
  8. Moerike-Lieder: 17. Der Gaertner
  9. Moerike-Lieder: 50. Auftrag
  10. Moerike-Lieder: 9. Nimmersatte Liebe
  11. Spanisches Liederbuch: 44. Geh, Geliebter, geh jetzt!
  12. Goethe-Lieder: 10. Der Saenger
  13. Eichendorff-Lieder: 13. Der Scholar
  14. Eichendorff-Lieder: 14. Der verzweifelte Liebhaber
  15. Eichendorff-Lieder: 15. Unfall
  16. Vier Gedichte: 1. Wo wird einst (Heine)
  17. Vier Gedichte: 3. Sonne der Schlummerlosen
  18. Vier Gedichte: 4. Keine gleicht von allen Schoenen
  19. Eichendorff-Lieder: 1. Der Freund
  20. Eichendorff-Lieder: 2. Der Musikant
  21. Sechs Gedichte: 1. Waechterlied auf der Wartburg
  22. Moerike-Lieder: 40. Der Jaeger
  23. Goethe-Lieder: 32. Phaenomen
  24. Eichendorff-Lieder: 3. Verschwiegene Liebe
  25. Vier Gedichte: 1. Wo wird einst (Heine)
  26. Ueber Nacht (Sturm)

Amazon.com

EMI's "society" subscription editions in the 1930s yielded a wealth of recordings long considered gramophone classics, such as the present collection of roughly half of Hugo Wolf's lieder output. Each song occupies its own specific world, due to Wolf's resourceful word setting and his avoidance of anything generic. In turn, the performers illuminate each song's felicities with effortless authority, and they avoid overpointing or enacting. Full texts and translations are included. Ernest Newman's penetrating annotations for the original 78 albums, reprinted in EMI's 1981 LP reissue, are absent. --Jed Distler

Customer Reviews:

5 out of 5 stars The Hugo Wolf Society Recordings.......2005-12-28

The songs of Hugo Wolf (1860 -- 1903)combine great attention to textual detail with closely intertwined writing for the voice and the piano. In this small form, Wolf was a master and took song in a different direction from that of Schubert, Schumann and Brahms. He wrote most of his songs in bursts of activity in five large collections, devoted to the poetry of Morike, Eichendorff, Goethe, and to collections of Spanish and Italian texts. He also composed a number of songs in shorter sets.

In the early 1930s, a young Walter Legge began a project of recording Wolf songs on a subscribtion basis to be limited to 500 sets. The recording industry was relatively new, and Wolf, then as now, too little appreciated. The result was an extensive series of recordings of issued between 1931 and 1938 consisting of 145 songs, about one-half Wolf's output, performed by fourteen singers. The Hugo Wolf Society recordings remain a high moment in the recording of song. They were remastered on LPs and, in 1998, in this 5 CD collection which includes previously unreleased selections.

The Wolf Society collection offers an unparalleled opportunity to get to know Wolf's songs performed by artists of the past that might otherwise be unfamiliar to many listeners. The performers include mezzo-soprano Elena Gerhardt, who recorded the initial volume for the society, baritones Herbert Janssen, Gerhard Husch, tenors John McCormack, Karl Erb, and Helge Roswaenge, the basses Alexander Kipnis, Frederich Schorr, and Ludwig Weber, and sopranos Alexandra Trianti, Elizabeth Rethberg, Ria Ginster, Marta Fuchs, and Tiana Lemnitz. The pianists include Conrad Bos, Gerald Moore, Michael Raucheisen, Hans Udo Muller, and Ernest Victor Wolff.

The singers perform in a variety of styles from the highly operatic to the quietly lyrical. There is a Wagnerian performance of Goethe's "Prometheus" by Friedrich Schorr with the London Symphony Orchestra -- the only track using an orchestral accompaniment. The Irish tenor John McCormack shows a more lyrical approach in his renowned performance of Goethe's poem "Ganymed". The sopranos, Alexandra Trianti, Ria Ginster, and Tiana Lemitz have light, clear, bell-like voices. I find the singers on this compilation take a much more individualized, idiosyncratic, and romantic approach to song than do their modern counterparts, who sometimes seem restrained and chaste by comparison.

Each of Wolf's great collections of songs is well-represented. Elena Gerhardt performs songs from each of Wolf's five books, with the exception of the Goethe songs. The young Alexander Kipnis gives a powerful reading of Wolf's three songs from Michaelangelo. The third CD in this collection features many songs from the Italian songbook performed by soprano Ginster, baritone Husch, and bass Kipnis together with recordings from the Spanish songbook by sopranos Rethberg and Ginster and baritone Husch. There are lovely performances by soprano Tiana Lemnitz in the previously uncollected supplementary material, which also includes several Eichendorff songs and a performance of the Goethe-song "Phanomen" by Alexander Kipnis.

There is a great amount of material in this collection, with each of the 5 CDs including in excess of 70 minutes of music. Most of Wolf's songs are highly concentrated and intense. They may prove difficult to the listener coming to them knowing only the lyricism of Schubert. I would not recommend trying to rush through this set at one or two hearings. It is best to take this music in small sections and to listen with text in hand. The compilation includes texts and translations for each of the songs together with good notes about the Wolf Society recording project. There is little discussion about Wolf or about the songs themselves.

This is an essential collection for those who love song, historical recordings, and the music of Hugo Wolf.

Robin Friedman

5 out of 5 stars "Even little things can delight us.".......2003-06-02

If these six words give an approximate translation of the song "Auch kleine Dinge", then they might also describe a music lover's reaction as he makes a journey of exploration through the hundreds of little songs composed by Hugo Wolf.

Walter Legge, a very young EMI record producer in the 1930s, first made such a journey possible when he pioneered the Hugo Wolf Society and began releasing the volumes now reissued in this boxed set. Many singers were invited to participate. Legge's choice of singers was sometimes idiosyncratic. You might wonder how an Irish tenor, a Ukrainian bass and a Greek soprano were admitted to the roster. The results, however, especially in the case of the contributions of John McCormack and Alexander Kipnis, prove the sureness of his instincts.

About half Wolf's songs were made available in the original issue, between 1931 and 1938. With this reissue comes unused and hitherto unissued recordings, many by Tiana Lemnitz and Herbert Jannsen. So there is now more to discover and exploration is made easier for us in 2003 than it was in the 1930s. The remastering has improved the sound, Legge's widow Dame Elisabeth Schwarzkopf is able to provide a perceptive introduction in an accompanying booklet, and the texts of the songs are now provided in German and English.

5 out of 5 stars "Even little things can delight us.".......2003-06-02

If these six words give an approximate translation of the song titled "Auch kleine Dinge", then they might also describe a music lover's reaction as he makes a journey of exploration through the hundreds of little songs composed by Hugo Wolf.

Walter Legge, a very young EMI record producer in the 1930s, first made such a journey possible when he pioneered the Hugo Wolf Society and began releasing the volumes now reissued in this boxed set. Many singers were invited to participate. Legge's choice of singers was sometimes idiosyncratic. You might wonder how an Irish tenor, a Ukrainian bass and a Greek soprano were admitted to the roster. The results, however, especially in the case of the contributions of John McCormack and Alexander Kipnis, prove the sureness of his instincts.

About half Wolf's songs were made available in the original issue, between 1931 and 1938. With this reissue comes unused and hitherto unissued recordings, many by Tiana Lemnitz and Herbert Jannsen. So there is now more to discover and exploration is made easier for us in 2003 than it was in the 1930s. The remastering has improved the sound, Legge's widow Dame Elisabeth Schwarzkopf is able to provide a perceptive introduction in an accompanying booklet, and the texts of the songs are now provided in German and English.

5 out of 5 stars Wolf sung by various Lieder singers.......2000-08-15

This is an extraordinary collection of Wolf songs. It is frustrating that the project was not completed, as the quality of what was recorded is so extraordinarily revelatory. My personal favourites are the Michelangelo settings sung by the bass Alexander Kipnis, although he uncharacteristically makes some textual errors. The contributions of Hüsch are numerous and thoughtfully sung, and Karl Erb, Herbert Janssen, Ludwig Weber, Rita Ginster and Marta Fuchs are all caught on extraordinary form, with accompanists of admittedly variable quality, ranging from the sublime Gerald Moore to some very interesting contributions from some accompanists who did not really capture the true essence of Lieder accompanying, which surely cannot permit the piano to be subservient to the voice!

These precious recordings offer us so much. They are a document of a golden age of Lieder singing, and they are superb recitals, sung by a variety of voices, never allowing the listener to tire of listening to a single voice for too long. They are also, of course, examples of some of the most wonderful Lieder writing of any time. These 5 cds are a must for a Lieder specialist, and can open new doors to the novice. Buy them, and never regret having this treasure trove which will give you pleasure all your life.

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