Erik Charlston Sings Lieder

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Record Label:
Luja Classics

Tracklisting

  1. Dichterliebe, Op. 48, Im Wunderschönen Monat Mai
  2. Dichterliebe, Op. 48, Aus Meinen Tränen Sprießen
  3. Dichterliebe, Op. 48, Die Rose, Die Lilie, Die Taube, Die Sonne
  4. Dichterliebe, Op. 48, Wenn Ich in Deine Augen Seh'
  5. Dichterliebe, Op. 48, Ich Will Meine Seele Tauchen
  6. Dichterliebe., Op. 48, Im Rhein, Im Heiligen Strome
  7. Dichterliebe, Op. 48, Ich Grolle Nicht
  8. Dichterliebe., Op. 48, Und Wüßten's Die Blumen, Die Kleinen
  9. Dichterliebe, Op. 48, Das Ist Ein Flöten Und Geigen
  10. Dichterliebe, Op. 48, HÖR Ich Das Liedchen Klingen
  11. Dichterliebe, Op. 48, Ein Jüngling Liebt Ein Mädchen
  12. Dichterliebe, Op. 48, Am Leuchtenden Sommermorgen
  13. Dichterliebe, Op. 48, Ich Hab' Im Traum Geweinet
  14. Dichterliebe, Op. 48, Allnächtlich Im Traume
  15. Dichterliebe, Op. 48, Aus Alten Märchen Winkt Es
  16. Dichterliebe, Op. 48, Die Alten Bösen Lieder
  17. 3 Lieder, Op. 29: I. Traum Durch Die Dämmerung
  18. Schlichte Weisen, Op. 21: I. All Mein Gedanken
  19. 8 Gedichte Aus "Letzte Bläter," Op. 10: III. Die Nacht
  20. 4 Lieder, Op. 27: II. Cäcilie
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About This Album

Learn more about this album at Erik’s Other Bag!

Luja Classics released the CD recording Erik Charlston Sings Lieder featuring Erik Charlston, baritone, accompanied by Virginia Perry Lamb on piano.

The recording is available on Spotify, Apple Music and Amazon.  Produced and engineered by Grammy Award winner Adam Abeshouse.The recording features Schumann’s Dichterliebe and songs by Strauss.  Dichterliebe, or “The Poet’s Love,” is the best known song cycle by Robert Schumann and includes the text from Lyrisches Intermezzo by Heinrich Heine.  The four songs by Strauss,  “Traum durch die Dämmerung,” “All mein Gedanken,” “Die Nacht,” and “Cäcilie,” set texts by Bierbaum, Dahn, von Gilm and Hart.  Both collections show the composers’ genius for expression in this idiom.

From Erik:This potent combination of music and poetry cast a spell on me many years ago.  It finds its way directly into your soul.  Schumann’s setting of Heine’s text in the “Dichterliebe” is a journey from the pure joy of early love to the utter despair of rejection.  With stunning emotional clarity, the songs communicate this progression via lush imagery of the wonders of the natural world. Our hero first comes to us in a springtime forest, whose budding growth mirrors the initial love bursting in his heart.  He conveys his ultimate fall through a desire for a dramatic burial at sea.  Listen to this music, read the text, and come on this journey!

While not as deep psychologically, the four gorgeous songs by Strauss are, in order of appearance, sexy, joyful, dark, and romantically impassioned.  They set some very expressive poetry to music with crazy beautiful melodies and harmonies.  Four songs, so much feeling!

What’s not to love about this music?

ABOUT THE ARTISTS

Equally at home in vocal and instrumental repertoire, Virginia Perry Lamb has appeared as a collaborative pianist with both singers and instrumentalists in concerts in the United States and abroad.  She has recorded with numerous members of the New York Philharmonic and has performed as a guest artist at Avery Fisher Hall and at Merkin Hall on the Philharmonic’s chamber music series.  Ms. Lamb taught “The Art of Accompanying” at the Manhattan School of Music for over twenty years and now maintains an active teaching studio at home along with her performing career.

MUSIC

Aus Meinen Tränen Spriessen:

Here is one more song—from a recital a long time ago— by the great American composer, Charles Ives, called “My Native Land.” The wonderful pianist is Joe Adams.
“My Native Land” by Charles Ives:

Reviews

Ecsingsliedercover

Erik Charlston and Virginia Perry Lamb: “Erik Charlston Sings Lieder”

Source: Opera News
Author: JOANNE SYDNEY LESSNER

There is no shortage of recordings of Schumann’s Dichterliebe, but this may be the only one by a well-regarded percussionist for whom singing is a sideline. Erik Charlston’s bio lists all manner of impressive instrumental credits including Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, stints with Sting and Elton John, and numerous Broadway orchestras, but no professional singing credits.

What a delightful surprise, then, to discover that Charlston is a fine, sensitive singer, with a pleasingly open, direct baritone, free of the distracting mannerisms that can sometimes hinder lieder performances. His Dichterliebe is quite persuasive, and he approaches each song with a fresh, differentiated point of view. He doesn’t take a single note or word for granted; every phrase is well thought out and effectively communicated. Charlston knows his vocal limits; he wisely avoids the high note in “Ich grolle nicht” and doesn’t force more sound than he’s capable of in “Im Rhein, im heiligen Strome.” His diction is precise and clear, and he allows the sense of the words to modulate his phrasing. Charlston is particularly attuned to shifts in harmony, inflecting moments like “Doch wenn du sprichst: ich liebe dich” with overtones of meaning. He’s vibrant and present in lively songs like “Ein Jüngling liebt ein Mädchen” and “Aus alten Märchen,” and earnestly hopeful in “Aus meinen Tränen spriessen” and “Ich will meine Seele tauchen.” “All mein Gedanken” is the strongest entry among four Strauss songs, but here Charlston’s voice proves a little light. Still, his musical intelligence carries them.

Pianist Virginia Perry Lamb supports Charlston well, but doesn’t manage the magic of the postlude to “Am leuchtenden Sommermorgen” or the explosive effusion of “Cäcilie.”

– JOANNE SYDNEY LESSNER

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