Schubert's empathy with women is evident in his body of songs, which include songs to, by, about and for women. Devised by Carolyn Sampson and Joseph Middleton, the present recital brings us each of those possibilities and more. The playwright Helmina von ChÃ©zy wrote the text to the tender Romanze, intending it for the play Rosamunde, Princess of Cyprus to which Schubert composed incidental music. Another female author, Marianne von Willemer, wrote the two Suleika poems for Goethe, who included them (under his own name) in the collection West-ostlicher Divan. And no less than seven of the other songs on the album are also associated with Goethe, and his characters Mignon (from Wilhelm Meisters Lehrjahre) and Gretchen (from Faust). Schubert was for a while almost obsessed with the mysterious and waif-like Mignon, making several settings of the poems associated with her. Less of an enigma but equally moving, Schubert's Gretchen sings of awakening desire (Gretchen am Spinnrade) and laments her coming disgrace (Gretchens Bitte). Carolyn Sampson and Joseph Middleton have collaborated on several acclaimed projects for BIS, most recently with the counter-tenor Iestyn Davies as their companion. Here they close their Soprano's Schubertiade with three settings of poems by Walter Scott, albeit in German translations. The three 'Ellen Songs' are from the verse-romance The Lady of the Lake from 1810, with the last one, 'Schubert's Ave Maria', being one of the composer's best-known and most loved compositions.

Tracklist:

Suleika I, Op. 14 No. 1, D. 720 "Was Bedeutet Die Bewegung"
Suleika II, Op. 31, D. 717 "Ach Um Deine Feuchten Schwingen"
Rosamunde, D. 797: No. 3b. Der Vollmond Strahlt Auf Bergeshöhn "Romanze"
Blondel Zu Marien, D. 626
Gesänge Aus Wilhelm Meister, Op. 62, D. 877: No. 2, Lied Der Mignon "Heiss Mich Nicht Reden"
Gesänge Aus Wilhelm Meister, Op. 62, D. 877: No. 4, Lied Der Mignon "Nur Wer Die Sehnsucht Kennt"
Gesänge Aus Wilhelm Meister, Op. 62, D. 877: No. 3, Lied Der Mignon "So Laßt Mich Scheinen"
Mignon, D. 321 "Kennst Du Das Land?"
Gretchen Am Spinnrade, Op. 2, D. 118
Gretchen Im Zwinger, D. 564 "Gretchens Bitte" (Completed By B. Britten)
Der König In Thule, Op. 5 No. 5, D. 367
Viola, Op. 123, D. 786
Ellens Gesang I, Op. 52 No. 1, D. 837 "Raste, Krieger"
Ellens Gesang II, Op. 52 No. 2, D. 838 "Jäger, Ruhe Von Der Jagd!"
Ellens Gesang III, Op. 52 No. 6, D. 839 "Ave Maria - Hymne An Die Jungfrau"

UPC: 7318599923437
Label: Bis
Release Date: 5.11.18
Format: CD

Schubert / Sampson / Middleton - Soprano's Schubertiade (CD)