Gustav Mahler (1860-1911): Revelge {from Des Knaben Wunderhorn}
Engelbert Humperdinck (1854-1921): Verdorben! Gestorben! (Fiddler's aria) {from Königskinder, Act III, Finale}
Erich Wolfgang Korngold (1897-1957): Mein Sehnen, mein Wähnen (Pierrot's Tanzlied) {from Die tote Stadt}
Gustav Mahler (1860-1911): Um Mitternacht {from Rückert-Lieder}
Hans Pfitzner (1869-1949): Herr Oluf, Op.12
Gustav Mahler (1860-1911): Urlicht {from Des Knaben Wunderhorn}
Alexander von Zemlinsky (1871-1942): Der alte Garten {from Zwei Gesänge}
Walter Braunfels (1882-1954): Auf ein Soldatengrab, Op.26
Alban Berg (1885-1935): Dort links geht's in die Stadt (Wozzeck and Marie's duo) {from Wozzeck, Act III, Scene 2}
Gustav Mahler (1860-1911): Ich bin der Welt abhanden gekommen {from Rückert-Lieder}

Recent newcomer to the opera stage, German baritone Samuel Hasselhorn is rapidly garnering attention from opera buffs as well as positive reviews from the press. Following his First Prize win at the 2018 Queen Elisabeth Competition, he has been in high demand across the globe providing his rich baritone voice to everything from Bach's St. Matthew Passion to Britten's War Requiem. With this new recording, he deftly steps into repertoire usually associated with names like Matthias Goerne, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Gerald Finley, etc ... a world where poetry, art song and lieder coalesce to create a profoundly intimate and expressive art form.

I don't know about you, but I believe we are all familiar with Gustav Mahler's concept and outlook on death and beyond, so of particular interest here are the less uncharted works in the genre by other composers. For example, the masterful orchestration and perspicacious harmonic structure of Auf ein Soldatengrab (At a Soldier's Grave) by Walter Braunfels, inspired by his own active duty during the First World War and set to a poem by Hermann Hesse, sounds like a perfect blend of Wagner and Richard Strauss in vision and scope, despite its short four minute duration. Or what about something with such an enthrallingly beautiful melody as Mein Sehnen, mein Wähnen (My Yearning, My Illusion) from the opera Die tote Stadt by Erich Wolfgang Korngold. With this aria alone, the beautifully graceful voice of Samuel Hasselhorn could easily melt the heart of a yeti.

Therein lies the appeal of this collection. Whatever the text or music call for, be it sadness, stillness or anger, Hasselhorn's voice which can at any given moment sound like a heldentenor, or a downtrodden spirit the next, is quite impressive. I always believed that the Ich bin der Welt abhanden gekommen (I have become lost to the world) from Gustav Mahler's Rückert-Lieder could only come across effectively when sung by a female voice. Well, I've been proven wrong!