GMCD 7237 – Romantic Swiss Song – Music by Schoeck, Andreae and others
William Coleman – Baritone, Edward Rushton – Piano
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BBC Music Magazine August 2002
An offbeat collection of Lieder by Swiss-born or Swiss-domiciled composers whose idiom ranges from post-Schumann to post-Strauss. Most memorable are the six numbers by Paul Kletzki (more famous as a conductor), with their heavy-lidded chromaticism and hints of expressionist violence, and the virginally innocent songs of the young Othmar Schoeck. Elsewhere blandness and bombast can set in. Performances are acceptable, though the vibrant, expressive mezzo outshines her rather raw-toned male colleagues.
Richard Wigmore
*** Performance
**** Sound