Angelika Kirchschlager is regarded as one of the most distinguished mezzo-sopranos of her generation, and in particular is recognised internationally for her interpretations of Richard Strauss. She gives regular solo recitals, balancing her operatic career with lieder performances. Eminent piano accompanist and leading authority on the song repertoire, Roger Vignoles, is her long-standing musical partner. 

On this live recoding Kirchschlager and Vignoles collaborate to perform nine Strauss songs as well as Wolf’s lieder to texts by Eduard Mörike and Gottfried Keller. 

Wolf set 43 of Mörike’s poems to music during a period of intense creativity in which he developed a heady new musical language. Kirchschlager delights in the opportunity to convey this with glorious colouring of phrases which are fittingly matched by the piano. 

“Certainly, the all-Wolf first half […] was a success on its own terms, with crystal clear diction and an idiomatic relish for the German texts that was a pleasure to hear in itself” Opera Brittania (on the concert). 

The recording provides encores of music from each composer, including Strauss’s triumphant ‘Nichts,’ a fitting end to a compelling programme.