Schubert: Schwanengesang, D. 957 – Beethoven: An die ferne Geliebte, Op. 98 Roderick Williams & Iain Burnside

• Ludwig van Beethoven (1770 - 1827): An die ferne Geliebte, Op. 98:
• 1An die ferne Geliebte, Op. 98: No. 1, Auf dem Hügel sitz’ ich, spähend02:42
• 2An die ferne Geliebte, Op. 98: No. 2, Wo die Berge so blau01:41
• 3An die ferne Geliebte, Op. 98: No. 3, Leichte Segler in den Höhen01:35
• 4An die ferne Geliebte, Op. 98: No. 4, Diese Wolken in den Höhen00:56
• 5An die ferne Geliebte, Op. 98: No. 5, Es kehret der Maien, es blühet die Au02:39
• 6An die ferne Geliebte, Op. 98: No. 6, Nimm sie hin denn, diese Lieder04:08
• Franz Schubert (1797 - 1828): Schwanengesang, D. 957:
• 7Schwanengesang, D. 957: No. 1, Liebesbotschaft03:06
• 8Schwanengesang, D. 957: No. 2, Kriegers Ahnung05:06
• 9Schwanengesang, D. 957: No. 3, Frühlingssehnsucht03:43
• 10Schwanengesang, D. 957: No. 4, Ständchen04:00
• 11Schwanengesang, D. 957: No. 5, Aufenthalt02:55
• 12Schwanengesang, D. 957: No. 6, In der Ferne06:06
• 13Schwanengesang, D. 957: No. 7, Abschied04:43
• 14Schwanengesang, D. 957: No. 8, Der Atlas02:26
• 15Schwanengesang, D. 957: No. 9, Ihr Bild02:33
• 16Schwanengesang, D. 957: No. 10, Das Fischermädchen02:05
• 17Schwanengesang, D. 957: No. 11, Die Stadt02:45
• 18Schwanengesang, D. 957: No. 12, Am Meer04:02
• 19Schwanengesang, D. 957: No. 13, Der Doppelgänger03:37
• 20Schwanengesang, D. 957: No. 14, Die Taubenpost04:08
• Total Runtime01:04:56

Info for Schubert: Schwanengesang, D. 957 – Beethoven: An die ferne Geliebte, Op. 98

Roderick Williams writes: “Although only twelve years separate the composition of Beethoven’s An die ferne Geliebte and Schubert’s Schwanengesang, the ethos and sound world of the two works are markedly different. Pairing them on the concert platform seemed an obvious choice on one hand, but I was reminded not to try to perform Beethoven in the way I perform Schubert. For one thing, the former still has the ring of the late classical, while the latter explores the darkness of the early romantic. For this reason, we decided to record the two works in slightly different soundscapes. In An die ferne Geliebte, the inventiveness of Beethoven is best expressed in the piano writing, while the vocal part is deliberately simple, strophic (the music is repeated for each stanza), and folk-like. ...the sixth song states that these songs are offered ‘ohne Kunstgepräng’. And so we have set the voice slightly more distantly in the balance, giving the piano due prominence; the effect is almost as if I were singing over Iain’s shoulder. Schwanengesang is recorded more traditionally: in these most extraordinary and progressive songs the vocal line is supported by the piano, in equal partnership."

Roderick Williams, baritone
Iain Burnside, piano

Roderick Williams
encompasses a wide repertoire, from baroque to contemporary music, in the opera house, on the concert platform and in recital. He enjoys relationships with all the major UK opera houses and is particularly associated with the baritone roles of Mozart. He has also sung world premières of operas by, among others, David Sawer, Sally Beamish, Michael van der Aa, Robert Saxton and Alexander Knaifel.

Roderick Williams sings concert repertoire with all the BBC orchestras, and many other ensembles including the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, the Philharmonia, London Sinfonietta, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, the Hallé, Britten Sinfonia, Bournemouth Symphony, Scottish Chamber Orchestra and Orchestra of the Age of the Enlightenment. He has worked with the Berlin Philharmonic, Deutsches Symphonie- Orchester Berlin, Russian National Orchestra, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Ensemble Orchestral de Paris, Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome and Bach Collegium Japan, Tonkünstler Orchester, Cincinnati Symphony, Music of the Baroque Chicago, Virginia Arts Festival, San Francisco Symphony, Utah Symphony, amongst others. His many festival appearances include the BBC Proms (including the Last Night in 2014), Edinburgh, Cheltenham, Aldeburgh and Melbourne.

He is an accomplished recital artist who can be heard at venues and festivals including Wigmore Hall, Kings Place, LSO St Luke’s, the Perth Concert Hall, Oxford Lieder Festival, London Song Festival and the Musikverein, Vienna.

Roderick Williams is also a composer and has had works premièred at the Wigmore and Barbican Halls, the Purcell Room and live on national radio. In April 2016 he was Artistic Director of Leeds Lieder and in May 2016 won the RPS Singer award. His numerous recordings include two of Albion Records’ earlier albums: ALB001 The Sky shall be our Roof and ALBCD002 Kissing her Hair.

Iain Burnside
is an acclaimed vocal accompanist. Artists with whom he has collaborated include Dame Margaret Price, Susan Chilcott, Galina Gorchakova, Ailish Tynan, Susan Bickley, Ann Murray, John Mark Ainsley, Roderick Williams and Bryn Terfel. His recordings straddle an exuberantly eclectic repertoire ranging from Beethoven to Judith Weir with a special place reserved for the highways and byways of English Song, as much praised CDs of Britten, Finzi, Ireland, Butterworth, Gurney, Parry and Vaughan Williams have all proved. Delphian has just released Burnside’s complete Rachmaninov songs with seven outstanding Russian artists. He also enjoys a close association with Rosenblatt Recitals, both on stage and in the studio, in collaboration with Opus Arte.

He is a Sony Award-winning broadcaster and a master programmer, curating various festivals and recital series. In association with London’s Guildhall School of Music and Drama, Burnside has written a number of highly individual theatre pieces, performed at the Barbican Centre, Milton Court and the Cheltenham Festival. A Soldier and a Maker, based on the life of Ivor Gurney, has been commissioned as a radio play as part of the BBC’s World War One season. In demand as teacher and animateur, Burnside also works at the Royal Opera House and the National Opera Studio. He is International Visiting Artist at the Royal Irish Academy of Music, Dublin.

Booklet for Schubert: Schwanengesang, D. 957 – Beethoven: An die ferne Geliebte, Op. 98