Johann Wolfgang von Goethe was not only one of the greatest and most important of the German poets, but without doubt also the one whose...

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe was not only one of the greatest and most important of the German poets, but without doubt also the one whose lyrics were most frequently set to music. The album “Goethe Project” by the German soprano Ute Ziemer and pianist Hiroko Imai provides a lasting impression of the diversity of composers who used Goethe's works as the basis for songs. In addition to popular composers such as Schumann, Grieg, Schubert, Verdi, Strauss, Wolf or Wagner, there are also barely performed works by Amy Beach, Johann Xaver Sterkel, Fanny Hensel, Josephine Lang, Anton Webern or Alban Berg. Even to this day, Goethe continues to fascinate composers as a poet, as shown by the songs dedicated to Ute Ziemer by Enjott Schneider (*1950), Dorothea Hofmann (*1961) and Johannes Martin Kränzle (*1962), which were recorded for the first time for this album.