I want to recommend 4 CDs that I'm pretty confident represent very good value and provide several hours of extremely good listening. They cover some of the best works of the lieder genre from the early/mid 19th C masters.
They are:
These three singers are the tops. The recordings are first class. Most of the material is by Schubert who is the undoubted king of lieder. There are two song cycles by Schubert, one by Schumann, 31 of Schubert's most famous individual lieder, and 5 Beethoven lieder. There is some duplication of lieder but not much. This is la-creme-de-la-creme in terms of material and singers. I have mentioned the first CD on one of the other threads. I must also say that my overall favourite is Fritz Wunderlich, who has the most fantastic voice, and in my opinion better than anyone around today. He died in 1966, age 36, following an accident.
What I did was to separate out each of the 3 song cycles, and to place all the Schubert individual lieder in a separate file, with the works set out increasing D number. I did the same for Beethoven lieder. The only caveat is that I wouldn't recommend any of this to anyone just starting out on classical music. Check it carefully beforehand as it may seem a bit odd to start with. It's nothing like opera. Lieder involves an equal weighting of voice and piano, and there is nothing very heavy about it. They are beautiful and moving songs. I find it the most gorgeous of material once you get used to it. It's much easier to listen to than opera, and makes a nice change from purely instrumental work. I find myself increasingly drawn to simpler classical works such as lieder and piano solo. It's all part of the normal learning curve for most people (big orchestral stuff to start with, simpler material later, but admittedly this is not the path for all).
Topaz
They are:
- Fritz Wunderlich: Schumann: Dichterliebe, Schubert, Beethoven Lieder (Deutsche Grammophon)
- Dietrich Fischer-Dieskeau: Schubert: Schwanengesang (EMI Classics)
- Dietrich Fischer-Dieskeau: Schubert: Winterreise (EMI Classics)
- Elisabeth Schwarzskopf: Schubert 24 Lieder (EMI Classics)
These three singers are the tops. The recordings are first class. Most of the material is by Schubert who is the undoubted king of lieder. There are two song cycles by Schubert, one by Schumann, 31 of Schubert's most famous individual lieder, and 5 Beethoven lieder. There is some duplication of lieder but not much. This is la-creme-de-la-creme in terms of material and singers. I have mentioned the first CD on one of the other threads. I must also say that my overall favourite is Fritz Wunderlich, who has the most fantastic voice, and in my opinion better than anyone around today. He died in 1966, age 36, following an accident.
What I did was to separate out each of the 3 song cycles, and to place all the Schubert individual lieder in a separate file, with the works set out increasing D number. I did the same for Beethoven lieder. The only caveat is that I wouldn't recommend any of this to anyone just starting out on classical music. Check it carefully beforehand as it may seem a bit odd to start with. It's nothing like opera. Lieder involves an equal weighting of voice and piano, and there is nothing very heavy about it. They are beautiful and moving songs. I find it the most gorgeous of material once you get used to it. It's much easier to listen to than opera, and makes a nice change from purely instrumental work. I find myself increasingly drawn to simpler classical works such as lieder and piano solo. It's all part of the normal learning curve for most people (big orchestral stuff to start with, simpler material later, but admittedly this is not the path for all).
Topaz
