Summarize this content to 2000 words in 6 paragraphs in Arabic Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.Over half a century Wigmore Hall has hosted the leading German song recitalists of each decade. From Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, impossibly mannered but gripping in her final years, to the simpler artistry of Olaf Bär and the Austrian Wolfgang Holzmair, every style of singing has been on show.All have been rewarding but none has surpassed Christian Gerhaher, now in his mid 50s and still close to his peak. From his earliest appearances Gerhaher’s ability to create a sense of intimacy was special — he seemed to draw the listener into a private conversation.His recitals at Wigmore Hall this season focus on Schumann, a composer to whom Gerhaher evidently feels close (he has recorded all 300 or so of his songs). Each programme has one of the major cycles at its core, in this case the Liederkreis, Op.39.Around this were other groups of songs, performed in their published collections, as Gerhaher believes they gain in meaning if heard together. The songs of Op.40, mostly settings of poems by Hans Christian Andersen, do not often turn up individually, but they felt important here for their potent sense of dark, almost gothic romanticism. Gerhaher subtly underlined the threat the raven poses to the baby in “Muttertraum” and the emotional heartbreak of the fiddler at his loved one’s wedding in “Der Spielmann”.In the first half these insights were offset by a sense that the voice was feeling its way, often lacking a core to the sound, with stronger moments sounding over-loud and disconnected from the rest. Perhaps Gerhaher’s warm, expressive baritone takes longer to warm up than it used to.After the interval those uncertainties were left behind. Here was singing of German Lieder that could not be surpassed, the voice clean, clear and quick to respond, the interplay between Gerhaher and his longtime accompanist Gerold Huber showing the benefits of years of collaboration.The second half included a wide range of songs. The longer, narrative songs like “Blondels Lied” and “Der arme Peter” were compellingly related, though Gerhaher unusually was reading from the scores. Most cherishable of all were the softest songs, where Gerhaher’s detail with the words was matched by Huber’s subtlety of colours and impeccable timing at the piano. Could any of those former masters of the German Lied have matched these performances of the tender “Meine Rose” or haunting “Loreley”? It seems unlikely.★★★★☆wigmore-hall.org.uk
