On her PENTATONE debut Reine de coeur, star soprano Hanna-Elisabeth Müller brings the German and French art song traditions together, focusing on song cycles by...

On her PENTATONE debut Reine de coeur, star soprano Hanna-Elisabeth Müller brings the German and French art song traditions together, focusing on song cycles by Robert Schumann, Alexander von Zemlinsky and Francis Poulenc, accompanied by pianist Juliane Ruf. The album presents a highly personal anthology of songs that address love and loss, and the heights and depths of the human soul. While Schumann’s Sechs Gesänge Op. 107 and Sechs Gedichte und Requiem Op. 90 offer the quintessence of the Romantic German Lied, Zemlinsky’s turn-of-the-century Walzer-Gesänge introduce the listener to a later and less well-known chapter in the genre’s history. Poulenc’s La courte paille and Fiançailles pour rire provide an atmospheric, at times humoristic complement to the Weltschmerz of the German songs. Hanna-Elisabeth Müller is among the most celebrated young sopranos of our times. Reine de coeur is the first album of her exclusive collaboration with PENTATONE. She works together with her regular accompanist, pianist Juliane Ruf.

-----

REVIEW:

Müller’s timber is well-suited to Poulenc’s whimsical harmonic and compositional idiom. Her French diction is clear and direct, allowing the listener not just to appreciate her musicality but also the poems upon which the songs are based.

The sound engineering is top notch: a nice balance is established between both artists. Where is it easy for the piano to be cast aside as mere accompaniment, this recording gives it considerable weight which allows hearing Ruf’s tone quality. Overall, “Reine de coeur” is a consistently enjoyable album.

– The Classical Review