Rating: * * * *
Fated to be relegated to the margins of the lieder singer's repertoire, Liszt is a massively under-rated composer in this field. True, his songs are picked up by the likes of Kathleen Battle and Kiri Te Kanawa, but many prefer the lighter settings of
French and Italian poems to the sterner demands that come with German texts.
Ruth Ziesak, working with pianist Gerold Huber, now offers a collection of 21 songs, all in German, covering 37 years of Liszt's career. Ziesak sang Mozart with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment at the Wellington International Arts Festival two years ago and some will know her lively contributions to the Naxos Schubert Lieder project. What she lacks in vocal weight, she more than makes up for with shrewd characterisation.
First up is Liszt giving us a portrait of Nikolaus Lenau's three carefree Gypsies, finding philosophical solace in music and tobacco. For Ziesak and Huber it has the fire and zing of a Hungarian Rhapsody with words; Huber dispenses the glitter while Ziesak deftly sketches the characters.
Heine's Du bist wie eine Blume may be better known in Schumann's version, although Liszt's lilting ballad is delivered with a winning freshness.
Goethe's Mignons Lied attracted the attention of composers from Beethoven to Wolf, but none catch the variety of moods Liszt finds in the poem, perfectly caught by Ziesak and Huber.
However exquisite the performances - and these two musicians know how to make Lieder spring to life in the studio - the star remains the ever-unpredictable Liszt.
William Dart
