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Dorian Sono Luminus

DSL-90702

FRANZ SCHUBERT
DIE SHÖNE MÜLLERIN

JOHN ELWES, TENOR
KENNETH SLOWIK, FORTEPIANO

DSL-90702 Cover

THE MUSIC
Kenneth Slowik and John Elwes deliver an exciting rendition of Franz Schubert's first song cycle using the Gottschalk piano for which the work was originally intended.  Recorded at the Hall of Musical Instruments, National Museum of American History, Behring Center, Smithsonian Institution, the cycle and story follow the growth of a young man from adolescence to manhood, in its full extent of its mythic dimensions.

This story of blighted youth is especially rich; it tells what happens when idealistic immature notions of love taken from fiction are blasted by the grittier realities of life.   Die schöne Müllerin is a sequence of individual songs, which are linked in various ways, by a narrative, by a unifying poetic theme, by a single poet, by musical means, or some combination of these elements.

Filled with nuances, such as the athleticism of the first vocal phrase to convey the youth's energy and freshness of purpose, Schubert breaks open the music in startling rupture with any and all classical notions of song form.

This song cycle is a masterpiece of Shakespearean depth and complexity …

THE PERFORMERS
John Elwes, tenor
Tenor John Elwes began his musical career at Westminster Cathedral in London where he was Head Chorister.   As a boy soloist he had considerable success: from BBC broadcasts and recordings to concerts with conductors such as Benjamin Britten, who dedicated his Corpus Christi Carol to him.   Elwes is particularly well known for his sensitive and musical performances.   His repertoire is extensive ranging from Monteverdi, Rameau, Bach and Handel to Mozart, Schubert, Schumann, Fauré and Britten.   His solo recitals encompass Elizabethan song with renaissance lute; music of the 17th century with baroque harp; Lieder and chansons with piano and contemporary music with guitar.   He has a busy concert and operatic life, and has participated in more than one hundred recordings with the main recording companies.

Kenneth Slowik, fortepiano
Artistic director of the Smithsonian Chamber Music Society, Kenneth Slowik first established his international reputation as a cellist and viola da gamba player with the Smithsonian Chamber Players, the Castle Trio, the Smithson and Axelrod String Quartet, and Anner Bylsma's L'Archibudelli.   Formerly conductor of the Santa Fe Pro Musica Chamber Orchestra, he now devotes increasing amounts of time to conducting modern and period-instrument performances of orchestral, oratorio and operatic repertoire on both sides of the Atlantic, his performances in this capacity have delighted audiences and critics alike.   Slowik's discography comprises over seventy recordings on a number of major labels.   Of these, many have won prestigious international awards featuring him as a conductor, cellist, gambist, and keyboard player for music ranging from the Baroque (Marias, Couperin, Bach) through the Classical, (Haydn, Boccherini,Beethoven, Schubert) and Romantic (Mendelssohn, Spohr, Dvorak) to the early twentieth century (Mahler, Barber, Richard Strauss).   Slowik serves on the faculty of the University of Maryland and is Artistic Director of the Baroque Performance Institute at the Oberlin College Conservatory.

PROGRAM LISTING
  1. Das Wandern / Wandering     2:22
  2. Wohin? / Where to?     2:20
  3. Halt / Stop     1:31
  4. Danksagung an den Bach / Song of thanks to the brook     2:21
  5. Am Feierabend / When the day's work is done     2:35
  6. Der Neugierige / The inquisitive one     3:41
  7. Ungeduld / Impatience     2:38
  8. Morgengruß / Morning greeting     3:55
  9. Des Müllers Blumen / The miller's flowers     3:28
10. Tränenregen / Shower of tears     3:49
11. Mein! / Mine!     2:22
12. Pause / Pause     4:15
13. Mit dem grünen Lautenbande / With a green lute ribbon     2:11
14. Der Jäger / The hunter     1:14
15. Eifersucht und Stolz / Jealousy and pride     1:37
16. Die Liebe Farbe / The beloved color     4:21
17. Die böse Farbe / The evil color     2:05
18. Trock'ne Blumen / Withered flowers     3:32
19. Der Müller und der Bach / The miller and the brook     3:39
20. Des Baches Wiegenlied / The brook's lullaby     6:23


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