Mark Padmore (tenor), Kristian Bezuidenhout (fortepiano) Harmonia Mundi HMU 907521****

The first few songs of the Op 24 Liederkreis make perfectly clear what's special about this disc of Heine settings. Mark Padmore is in the lightest of voice, more apt to turn inward for a special revelation than raise the volume to seek attention. Bezuidenhout plays a light-toned Erard of 1837, and both singer and pianist are prepared to show a hair-trigger responsiveness to the volatility of now-excited, now-despairing thoughts of love. The shift into almost other-worldly reflectiveness in the third song, Ich wandelte unter den Bäumen (I wandered under the trees), is remarkable. The reserve in the manner is not as persuasive in the more powerful moments of Dichterliebe, but the approach is always interesting. Five rarely heard songs from Lachner's Sängerfahrtseparate the two Schumann cycles. See url.ie/ 55ay