Where can we find beauty, truth and goodness – even in the face of death? That’s the question Gudrun Sidonie Otto, soprano, and Andreas Liebig, cathedral ornanist in Basel, are facing on their second CD. Dvořák’s Biblical Songs and Brahms’ chorale preludes are works of longing – for home, for a loved one and for redemption. Brahms’ chorale preludes are his “swan song”. He composed the first five when he learnt of Clara Schumann’s stroke, and the remaining six after returning from her funeral – and presumably also in anticipation of his own death. Dvorak, the deeply religious Catholic, was suffering from homesickness and knew about his father’s serious illness and his approaching end – and he found refuge and consolation in the Psalms, in their abundance and richness one of the most important books of the Bible. As an eloquent testimony to an extraordinary musical friendship, both cycles sing of the longing of two great souls for the beautiful, the true and the good: NOSTALGIA …
Album title: „de Profundis“
Artists: Gudrun Sidonie Otto, Andreas Liebig
Catalogue number: ARC25051
UPC/EAN: 4260412810512
Available here:
jpc.de
amazon.de
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