Franz Schubert: Abendlied der Furstin D 495

Mayrhofer's poem deals with an anonymous princess describing a peaceful
evening setting which is ravaged by a sudden storm. This rude
interruption makes the princess meditate the fickle nature of the world:
`thus every pleasure turns to grief and distress. If this sounds
artificial you're on the right track: the poem is weak, everything is
repertoire and staffage, romantic stereotype without real blood in it.
But Mayrhofer was Schubert's friend and we all can feel very lucky that
he wasn't MY friend so he had no chance to be so extraordinary polite of
setting MY weak verse to music. Anyway, Schubert found a pleasant and
noble melody enough for the poem which is a pleasure to listen to: there
is the evening mood in it which Mayrhofer failed to really capture in
his lines. Strange and weak is Schubert's way of treating the
thunderstorm and its aftermath: the storm is very very short, the hisses
of lightning sound unintentionally funny and particularly wondrous is
that Schubert fails to show the effect of the bad weather, the
princess's melancholy. He simply returns to the original melody.
Schubert on a not so brillant day.
I own two recordings of this Lied: Sarah Walker with Graham Johnson
(1989, hyperion, 2:24) and Christiane Iven with Burkhard Kehring (2002,
Naxos, 2:19). I prefer Walker but only by a hair's breadth. Both mezzos
sing fine, both pianists do a good job. Naxos even has the brighter
sound. But Walker sounds nobler than Iven (maybe because she was older)
and her recording has a somewhat more dreamlike effect which supports
the damn romantic message the words and the music transport. But if you
are into a younger and more lively princess (and a better sound) go for
Naxos. Their Schubert series comes for a bargain price and is really
worth investing your money in.

Have a Schubert day,
Robert