Nussbaum Cohen takes a risk by putting the least-known songs (Korngold’s Abschiedslieder) at the top of this program. It pays off; the listener hears both music and performer with open ears. As for the lieder standards, the countertenor’s generous tone and instinct for phrasing are an ideal match for Brahms. And pianist John Churchwell is both a forceful and sensitive collaborator.
Oliver CamachoMusic Director
Chicago audiences have had a chance to experience Aryeh Nussbaum Cohen’s artistry, with the countertenor having made debuts with the Newberry Consort, Music of the Baroque, and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.
Uncharted ventures outside typical countertenor territory into 19th and 20th century lieder. Austro-Germanic lieder was the countertenor’s first musical love and on Uncharted, he indulges in music by Erich Wolfgang Korngold, Clara and Robert Schumann, and Johannes Brahms – music that resonates profoundly with Nussbaum Cohen’s family’s German and Jewish heritage. The moving program is heightened by the sensitive playing of pianist John Churchwell, Head of Music for San Francisco Opera.
Tracklist
Erich Wolfgang Korngold: Abschiedslieder (Songs of Farewell), Op. 14
Johannes Brahms: Mein wundes Herz verlangt, Op, 59, No. 7
Clara Schumann: Ich stand in dunkeln Träumen, Op. 13, No. 1
Johannes Brahms: Dein blaues Auge, (No. 8 from Acht Lieder und Gesänge, Op. 59)
Clara Schumann: Sie liebten sich beide, Op. 13, No. 2
Johannes Brahms: In meiner Nächte Sehnen (No. 5 from Acht Lieder und Gesänge, Op. 57)
Clara Schumann: Lieder (6), Op. 13
Johannes Brahms: Unbewegte laue Luft (No. 8 from Acht Lieder und Gesänge, Op. 57)
Robert Schumann: Liederkreis, Op. 39
Robert Schumann: Der Nussbaum, Op. 25, No. 3
