Liszt: Freudvoll und Leidvoll (CD) – Jonas Kaufmann

Composer: Franz Liszt
Artists: Jonas Kaufmann, Helmut Deutsch
Number of Discs: 1
Label: Sony Masterworks
CD Release Date: June 29, 2021

Jonas Kaufmann joins forces with pianist Helmut Deutsch on his new album Freudvoll und leidvoll (“joyful and sorrowful”) to perform a program of songs by a largely neglected lieder composer, Franz Liszt. In the wake of their album Selige Stunde, Kaufmann and Deutsch used the pandemic lockdown to make a further series of recordings. The process of studying lesser-known “jewels” such as Goethe’s eponymous “Freudvoll und leidvoll,” two versions of which are heard here, has been a period of intense discovery, during which time Kaufmann has learned to appreciate these songs more than ever. 

“Thanks to these jewels, Liszt deserves to occupy a leading place in the history of the art song, and yet even today he is denied this status. Jonas Kaufmann has been singing Liszt’s Petrarch settings for many years. During that time he has added futher Liszt songs to his repertory. It is a source of tremendous pleasure for me that I have been able to share my enthusiasm with him and persuade him to record an entire album with me.” (Helmut Deutsch)

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