Schumann: Romances And Ballads / De Smet, Aquarius
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SCHUMANN Romances and Ballads: i, op. 67; ii, op. 75; iii, op. 145; iv, op. 146. Romances: i, op. 69; ii, op. 91 • Marc...
SCHUMANN Romances and Ballads: i, op. 67; ii, op. 75; iii, op. 145; iv, op. 146. Romances: i, op. 69; ii, op. 91 • Marc Michael De Smet, cond; AQUARIUS • NAXOS 8.570456 (72:46)
All 32 of the pieces presented on this release date from 1849—one of the often-troubled composer’s most productive periods—and were composed for the Dresden choirs that Schumann took over from Hiller on the latter’s departure for Düsseldorf in 1847. A fair number of them appear individually in various compilations available on the current market; but this disc appears to be the first and only presentation of the entire corpus.
On the whole, the results are well up to the best current choral standards. The ensemble blends quite well and displays considerable agility in the jauntier pieces. The echo effects in “Im Walde” are especially well brought off, as are the solo-quartet sections featured in several numbers. The recording acoustic has a touch of satisfying reverberation, but far from so much as to spoil the ensemble’s excellent diction.
The programming order presents a touch of welcome imagination too. The mixed-choir works are organized into four sets, the women’s choir numbers into two; and the latter are interspersed among the former, creating a more varied listening experience than would be the case otherwise. As with some other recent Naxos releases, texts and translations are eschewed in favor of a reference to these materials on the label’s Web site. One (at least this one) would of course prefer to have them directly at hand; but Keith Anderson’s typically generous annotations do include brief summaries of each text.
FANFARE: James Carson
Product Description:
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Release Date: August 28, 2007
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UPC: 747313045679
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Catalog Number: 8570456
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Label: Naxos
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Number of Discs: 1
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Composer: Robert Schumann
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Conductor: Marc Michael De Smet
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Orchestra/Ensemble: Aquarius
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Performer: Marc Legros, Pieter Martens