It comes as little surprise that this disc of Strauss Lieder sung by the German soprano Anne Schwanewilms is so magnificent. She gave a poised and accomplished performance as the Primadonna in the same composer's Ariadne auf Naxos at Covent Garden in 2004 (though the event was overshadowed by the news that Schwanewilms had been brought in to replace Deborah Voigt) and her poignant and dignified interpretation of the role of the Marschallin in a partial concert performance of Der Rosenkavalier last year was amongst the highlights of the entire season for me.
This new recording finds the singer on just as stunning form. The Hyperion label's edition of the complete Strauss songs is being divided between a number of singers, each of whom is given a disc's worth of Lieder to suit his or her particular voice. We've already had a brilliant contribution from Christine Brewer in Volume 1, but Schwanewilms is even more intelligent and idiomatic in this repertoire.
What impresses the most is the range of moods and styles that she inhabits with equal easiness. She gives a sumptuous vocal performance in 'Geduld' ('Impatience'), for instance, rising above the piano's dense chords in the tortured central section, but the ensuing song, 'Mein Herz ist stumm' ('My heart is silent'), inspires her to produce glorious half-tones and an almost hollow sound to illustrate the heartbreak of the Lied's title. Different again is 'All' mein Gedanken' ('All my thoughts'), whose simple declaration of love is matched by gentleness and an apt lightness of tone.
One of the most intriguing tracks on the CD is 'Du meines Herzens Krönelein' ('You, my heart's coronet'). Both Schwanewilms and her accompanist, the ever-insightful Roger Vignoles, make much of the sections of sharply contrasting tonality and mood; her long, suspended high notes are sustained with apparent ease. Similarly impressive is 'Ruhe, meine Seele!', one of Strauss' most complex songs, whose sombre character is acutely portrayed by Schwanewilms' committed attack and Vignoles' lucid rendition of the dark accompaniment part.
Two sets of three songs provide the highlights of the recording. Strauss' Op. 29, three settings of poems by Otto Julius Bierbaum, bring out the best in Schwanewilms. She captures the dreamlike warmth of 'Traum durch die Dämmerung' ('Dream into dusk') , revelling in the passage when the bassline of the piano part doubles the vocal line, and evokes a tickling chuckle in 'Schlagende Herzen' ('Beating hearts'), bringing out the wit of the song superbly, especially in the leaping figure at the beginning.
Meanwhile, the 'Drei Lieder der Ophelia' ('Three Ophelia songs') are revealed as one of Strauss' most extraordinary and ambitious creations. In three short Lieder, the composer depicts the insanity of this most complex of Shakespearean creations; Schwanewilms rises virtuosically to these descriptions of Ophelia's empty stare in the first song, her demented rendering of a bawdy song in the second and her mad hallucinations of waltzing in the third (Vignoles excelling in the latter). Both childlike and world-weary, this magnificent performance caps a truly exceptional CD - and one which deserves wider attention.