Schumann: Dichterliebe, Op. 48; Brahms: Four Ballades, Op. 10; Brahms: Songs After Poems by Heine; Brahms: Lieder und Gesänge, Op. 32 / Matthias Goerne, baritone; Evgeny Kissin, piano. Roy Thomson Hall, April 21, 2024.
To the song recital cognoscenti, Matthias Goerne is well known and well loved. We in Toronto have been fortunate to have him grace our recital stages on several occasions, including a memorable recital at the Toronto Summer Music Festival in July 2010. He was in town for nearly a week, performing as well as mentoring, including an interesting masterclass at the UofT Faculty of Music.
Ten years later, Goerne was slated to give a Liederabend at Koerner Hall, collaborating with Canadian pianist Jan Lisiecki. Sadly, this April 2020 date didn’t happen due to COVID-19. His appearance this past Sunday was a belated return. It was part of his current NA tour with big-name Russian pianist Evgeny Kissin. They just performed a few days earlier in Cleveland’s Severance Hall, and the tour concludes later this week at Carnegie Hall.
Given that the acoustically friendly Koerner Hall wasn’t available due to a recital by another big-name artist in the person of Richard Goode, Goerne’s return took place in the cavernous 2,630 Roy Thomson Hall. Thankfully, the top level was closed, with the orchestra and mezzanine levels well filled by an enthusiastic and appreciative audience. Incidentally, it was nice to see so many younger faces in the audience.
The recital opened with the tried and true: Schumann’s Dichterliebe, one of the most beloved of song cycles. The moment Goerne started softly with “Im wonderschönen Monat Mai,” I was instantly drawn in. The tone was familiar and warmly attractive, albeit with some unsteadiness, which lessened after he warmed up, but didn’t entirely disappear. It’s understandable, given that Goerne debuted in 1990, an eternity in a singer’s career.
To be sure, nobody can turn back the clock. While Goerne can still sing beautifully, his voice has darkened quite a lot, and it can occasionally turn woolly. I couldn’t help but notice that he omitted the high note in “Ich grolle nicht.” That said, interpretively Goerne remains at the top of his game, offering a moving Dichterliebe, with great attention to textual nuances. There were zero pauses between songs, which contributed to the intensity of his delivery.
After the break, we got to hear the famed Russian pianist in the Brahms Four Ballades Op.10. These are early Brahms, composed when he was in his early twenties, but already foreshadowing the mature Brahms. Not particularly showy, and Kissin’s playing reflected that: solid, unflashy, a bit too emphatic and heavy on the pedalling. I confess I was a bit disappointed, as I was expecting a more powerhouse pianistic display from him.
The final two groups involved the singer, in the four Heine songs, followed immediately without pause, the nine songs from Opus 32. To my ears, Goerne was at his best with a truly lovely rendition of “Sommerabend.” Also very beautiful was “Mondenschein.” With some of these lyrical songs that requires soft singing, the piano unfortunately occasionally covered the singer. The very last song, “Wie bist du, meine Königin,” was arguably the most beautiful of the cycle, and Goerne made it memorable indeed.
Let’s hope that we won’t have to wait another 14 years to hear Matthias Goerne in Toronto again. New Yorkers, catch him on April 25th!
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