5 June 2010, 9.30am BBC Radio 3 “Building a Library”: Hilary Finch and Richard Wigmore review the best recordings of Schumann’s Dichterliebe including Julius with Gerald Finley and Julius with Ian Bostridge. Available to listen again on the BBC iPlayer, and as a podcast. Click below for CD details…
Dichterliebe recordings on CD review; Hilary Finch and Richard Wigmore came across as well aware that they were discussing personal preferences from a very short short-list, which was made even shorter by deletions. They were not attempting the impossible task of selecting “the best”.
I stand corrected for writing a sloppy posting! I didn’t mean to imply that Building a Library is an absolute science – it is all very subjective – and of course often the recordings are chosen to illustrate particular points or contrasts and are drawn of necessity from a shortlist. The updates on the 3 dot.info websites are also brief of necessity.
The Finley/Drake Dichterliebe has been long my favourite version of the song cycle (from live performances as well as on their CD) and remains the best as far as I’m concerned – hey, I’ve never claimed to be impartial.