Mathias Hausmann - Complete Songs 2 - COMPACT DISCS [CD]

Peter Cornelius (1824-1874) is known to many listeners as the composer of the comic opera The Barber of Baghdad, but this disc (numbered Vol. 3 of his Complete Lieder) shows that he could also write utterly charming, light songs as well. Being music that abuts German pop music and operetta, it will certainly not provide you with a musical main course, but it is just chock full of frothy dessert treats. Song after song after song is tuneful, pretty but well written, catching an upbeat mood and sustaining it, and happily we have a quartet of singers and pianist who fully understand the idiom. In fact, kudos to pianist Veit for being the driving force of this disc. His playing is what continually catches the ear with it's verve, humor, and perfect touch. I was somewhat surprised, in reading his bio in the booklet, to discover that this pianist has also studied voice and attended master classes by famous singers as well as by famous pianists, but perhaps I shouldn't be. He certainly makes the piano lines sing.

Peter Cornelius thought of himself as a 'Poet-Musician' and almost all of his mature compositions were vocal. His early attachment to the New German school of Liszt and Wagner was strong but his songs, almost half of which were written in Weimar, retain a very personal quality. A gifted poet, he set a number of his own lyrics. With their colorful piano accompaniments, his songs possess economy, atmosphere and show an interest in cyclical writing. Whether mournful or, in the Rhenish Songs, exuberantly outgoing, they reveal his imaginative command of the medium. This is the first volume of Cornelius' complete Lieder.

A native of Ukraine, Alexey Shor now lives and works in New York. His music has received prestigious performances and recordings in collaboration with leading international musicians. Joining a long tradition of music inspired by literary sources, From My Bookshelf is a series of musical character portraits that range from the tortured soul of Quasimodo to the dashing D'Artagnan, with plenty of fantasy and romance in between. The engaging and virtuoso Flute Concerto No. 1 combines traditional Classical forms with unexpected harmonic language and intricate rhythmic vitality.