Matthias Goerne - Arias

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
Possessor of one of today's most beautiful baritone voices, Matthias Goerne has been associated, on stage and disc, more with lieder than with opera. Listeners who were spellbound by the emotional impact of his performances of Schubert's great song cycles were amazed at the comic perfection of his Papageno in his Metropolitan Opera debut. This recording, on which he creates and impersonates nine vastly different characters from operas spanning three centuries, is an even bigger surprise. Using--but never abusing--an extraordinary range of vocal and expressive color and inflection, he captures Papageno's humor, Count Almaviva's malicious cunning, Don Giovanni's seductiveness, Wolfram von Eschenbach's inward, chaste devoutness, and Wozzek's yearning desperation and madness, with equally total involvement and conviction. Along the way there are also rarities: the Minstrel's heartbreaking lament from Humperdinck's Die Königskinder--unjustly neglected if the rest of the opera is indeed as beautiful as this aria--Harlekin's ironic ditty from Strauss's Ariadne; the Pierrot's sensuous dream-song from Korngold's Die tote Stadt; and the final, heroically dramatic section of Schumann's Scenes from Faust. Soprano Dorothea Röschmann, his partner in four duets, also takes on several greatly varied roles with admirable flexibility. A children's chorus and a women's chorus participate in one aria to lovely effect, and the orchestra is excellent. --Edith Eisler

Tracks:

Die Zauberflote: Der Vogelfanger bin ich ja
Die Zauberflote: Bei Mannern, welche Liebe fuhlen
Die Zauberflote: Ein Madchen oder Weibchen
Le nozze di Figaro: Hai gia vinta la causa !
Le nozze di Figaro: Crudel ! perche finora
Don Giovanni: Deh, vieni alla finestra
Tannhauser: Blick ich umher in diesem edlen Kreise
Tannhauser: Wie Todesahnung...O du mein holder Abendstern
Szenen aus Goethes Faust: Ein Sumpf zieht am Gebirge hin
Konigskinder: Verdorben! Gestorben!... Ihr Kindlein, sie sind gefunden
Ariadne auf Naxos: Harlekinlied
Die tote Stadt: Mein Sehnen, mein Wahnen
Wozzeck: Wir arme Leut!
Wozzeck: Dort links geht's in die Stadt...Du sollst da bleiben, Marie

Amazon.com

Possessor of one of today's most beautiful baritone voices, Matthias Goerne has been associated, on stage and disc, more with lieder than with opera. Listeners who were spellbound by the emotional impact of his performances of Schubert's great song cycles were amazed at the comic perfection of his Papageno in his Metropolitan Opera debut. This recording, on which he creates and impersonates nine vastly different characters from operas spanning three centuries, is an even bigger surprise. Using--but never abusing--an extraordinary range of vocal and expressive color and inflection, he captures Papageno's humor, Count Almaviva's malicious cunning, Don Giovanni's seductiveness, Wolfram von Eschenbach's inward, chaste devoutness, and Wozzek's yearning desperation and madness, with equally total involvement and conviction. Along the way there are also rarities: the Minstrel's heartbreaking lament from Humperdinck's Die Königskinder--unjustly neglected if the rest of the opera is indeed as beautiful as this aria--Harlekin's ironic ditty from Strauss's Ariadne; the Pierrot's sensuous dream-song from Korngold's Die tote Stadt; and the final, heroically dramatic section of Schumann's Scenes from Faust. Soprano Dorothea Röschmann, his partner in four duets, also takes on several greatly varied roles with admirable flexibility. A children's chorus and a women's chorus participate in one aria to lovely effect, and the orchestra is excellent. --Edith Eisler

Customer Reviews:

A captivating stage performer doesn't register as dramatically on disc.......2005-09-24

Georne's picture on the cover of this CD implies an edgy, even angst-ridden interpreter, but the singing one finds inside is good average baritone work. I hear no musical revelations here, and although Goern'es voice is instantly recognizable, his characterization is rather faceless. If you think Hermann Prey or Theo Adam is a great baritone, I guess you'll think Goerne is one, too. Compared to a similar baritone recital on Sony with Bo Skovhus, I'd give the edge to Skovhus. Thomas Hampson, Thomas Quasthoff, and Dmitri Hvorostovsky have nothing to fear; maybe even Nathan Gunn has nothing to fear. All in all, I expected more from a singer who reputation is flying high.

Goerne Excellent in Familiar and Unusual Repertory.......2003-10-10

Many baritones record Papegano's first aria ("Die Vogelfanger bin ich, ja"), Don Giovanni's serenade, and Wolfram's Evening Star Song. But when was the last time you saw Count Almaviva's aria ("Vedro, mentr'io sospiro") from LE NOZZE DI FIGARO, Wolfram's "Blick, ich umher," or the murder scene from WOZZECK excerpted on a recital disc? Matthias Goerne's "Arias" CD includes all of these items and more, all sung with beauty, feeling, and musicality by one of the most intelligent and charismatic male singers of today. Goerne is joined in three duets ("Bei Mannern" from DIE ZAUBERFLOTE, "Crudel, perche finora" from FIGARO, and the WOZZECK scene) by soprano Dorothea Roschmann, whose sound isn't quite to my taste (it's a bit lacking in warmth) but who is as musical and as sensitive as her partner. The conductor, Manfred Honeck, is also an ideal match both for Goerne and for the music. Matthias Goerne's "Arias" is an indispensable disc for admirers of German music, the baritone voice, or Goerne himself -- or for those who would just like to hear an interestingly programmed aria recital.