Johannes Brahms: 49 German Folksongs for Soprano / Baritone & Guitar [CD]

Brahms' folk-song settings rank among the most poetic miniatures of his oeuvre. Poised between artful simplicity and Romantic inwardness, they preserve the inflection and narrative candour of oral tradition while elevating it into the realm of Kunstlied. By replacing the piano with guitar, this recording moves the songs closer to their vernacular roots: the texture becomes transparent, the timbre warmer, the expressive gesture more immediate. Sopranist Theresa Pilsl and baritone Jonas Muller approach these songs with idiomatic diction, stylistic acuity and compelling narrative presence - tender and lyrical, playfully dialogic and disarmingly direct. Leonard Becker shapes the guitar part with a refined ear for color and resonance. His playing unites rhythmic precision with cantabile phrasing, creating a breathing acoustic space in which the voices unfold naturally.