The mystery of the ballad comes from the way it is told.’ (Goethe). Epic to the point of hallucination, this genre calls for skill in narrative, word-painting, evocation. And it is as a peerless storyteller that Stéphane Degout tackles this repertory which the German Romantics raised to unequalled heights. Who would have believed, before listening to this disc, that a French baritone could pay such eloquent tribute to the language of Goethe?
FRANZ SCHUBERT [1797-1828] · Der Zwerg, D. 771 (5'54) CARL LOEWE [1796-1869] · Edward, op. 1 no. 1 (5'46) ROBERT SCHUMANN [1810-1856] · Belsatzar, op. 57 (5'25) JOHANNES BRAHMS [1833-1897] · Edward, op. 75 no. 1 (4'47) · Die Nonne und der Ritter, op. 28 no. 1 (4'29) ROBERT SCHUMANN [1810-1856] · Die beiden Grenadiere, op. 49 no. 1 (3'48) FRANZ LISZT [1811-1886] · Die drei Zigeuner, S. 320 (6'05) · Es war ein König in Thule, S. 278/2 (3'26) HUGO WOLF [1860-1903] · Der Feuerreiter (5'39) FRANZ LISZT [1811-1886] 3 Sonetti di Petrarca, S. 270/1 · Benedetto sia 'l giorno (Sonnet No. 47) (5'22) · Pace non trovo (Sonnet No. 104) (6'21) · I' vidi in terra angelici costumi (Sonnet No. 123) (6'07)
