Die Schone Magelone: Pregardien(T)staier(Fp)

This selection was recorded at German Radio Studios, Cologne, Germany
and CTS Studios, Wembley, England.
One of the seminal early figures in German Romanticism, the poet Ludwig Tieck adapted his 'Story of the Love between the Fair Magelone and Count Peter of Provence' (published in 1797) from a French medieval chivalric tale of an unvanquishable knight and his secret courtship with a lovely maiden. With a touch of whimsy, Tieck interpolated eighteen song texts into his story. Years later, Brahms set fifteen of these texts as his Romances, Op. 33. Although Brahms knew Tieck's story well, few others did by the year 1865 when the acclaimed baritone Julius Stockhausen gave these Romances their first performance. Stockhausen's performance was met with wide praise, but audiences complained about not being able to follow the story told in the songs. Hence, Stockhausen took it upon himself to have a narrator fill in the story between the songs.
Teldec has wisely followed Stockhausen's lead by calling on the great actress Vanessa Redgrave to assume this narrator's role. The powerhouse lieder duo of tenor Christoph Pregardien and pianist Andreas Staier give tour-de-force performances of the songs. Graced with an attractive baritone sound, Pregardien's beautifully flexible voice produces a wide range of vibrant vocal colors that perfectly suit these earthy songs.