Lieder

Luckily, the current profusion of mezzo-sopranos doesn't leave one jaded to talented newcomers such as Angelika Kirchschalger. Besides looking like a fashion model, this young Austrian singer has a voice of such lustrous perfection that she would be as boring as Olga Borodina sometimes is were there not such an interesting musical intelligence at work. The program is all rarities and far less daunting than it appears. The Mahler songs are early, folk influenced pieces; though they have their dark edges, they aren't nearly as neurotic as some of his later work. Songs by his wife, Alma Maria Schindler-Mahler, reflect a highly adventurous musical spirit who had yet to find her individual voice. The Op. 38 Korngold songs remind us of the complex harmonic language toward which both composers were headed. Kirchschlager is close to ideal, and her German is flawless. More surprising, so is her English in the premiere recording of Korngold's disarmingly straightforward Songs of the Clown inspired by Shakespeare's Twelfth Night. Kirchschlager sings alternately with soaring rapture and hearty good humor. --David Patrick Stearns