Robert Schumann: Waldesgespräch (Conversation in the wood)

"Great are the deceit and cunning of men"

On a late, cold evening a man rides through the woods. He meets a beautiful woman who tells him to leave. When he recognizes her as the Lorelei, she condemns him to remain lost in the woods forever. The last strains of the song return to the horn-call motive of the man, but he does not sing; his voice has been silenced.

• Streaming recordings
  • Audio (Elly Ameling) – last.fm
  • Audio (Lotte Lehmann) – last.fm
  • Video (Hermann Prey) – YouTube
  • Video (Brigitte Heuser) – YouTube
• Text (Josef Karl Benedikt von Eichendorff) – recmusic.org
• Score – artsongcentral.com
• Article on the Lorelei – wikipedia

Robert Schumann: Widmung (Dedication)

"Mein guter Geist, mein bess'res ich"

I initially wanted to post the lesser-known Widmung by Robert Franz, a lovely piece in its own right. But the Jessye Norman video of the Schumann song by the same title — the old “chestnut —  captured me so completely, I had to post it. If I can find a recording of the Franz, I’ll post that at a later date.

• Video (Jessye Norman) – YouTube (unfortunately, the intro & coda have been cut)
• Video (Elly Ameling) – YouTube
• Text (Friedrich Rückert) – recmusic.org
• Score – artsongcentral.com