SUSAN DUNN

• Hugo Wolf: Morike-Lieder

"These 53 songs are exquisite examples of pregnant creativity found in small packages; Wolf’s lieder are never long, but contain a world of emotion in few notes that are highly concentrated and perfectly suited to the text at hand. Susan Dunn, one of the great Verdi sopranos of the last 30 years and now in charge of the opera department at Duke University, has long wanted to record this with one of her early mentors, pianist John Wustman, and that the opportunity was afforded is all to our benefit as she sings with great affection and marvelous expression. Baritone Thomas Potter, no slouch himself, takes the reins when a male perspective is called for. All in all this is a wonderful set that does great honor to Wolf and gives us much pleasure from first to last. Brava!"

Steve Ritter, Audiophile Audition - December 2011 [ 5/5 Stars ]

"That these recordings are treasurable should come as no surprise to Atlantans who remember Ms. Dunn’s terrific performances in our city and her Telarc recordings... Her voice has been described as a spinto soprano, one who combines the limpidity and high notes of a lyric soprano with the power of a dramatic soprano to push on to a dramatic climax without undue strain. These qualities, plus an intelligence that divines the heart of a song and builds up to it unerringly, make her an ideal Wolf interpreter." In the late 1970s, John Wustman came to Indiana University as a guest faculty member. He chose the Mörike-Lieder as the focus of his first semester. After several classes, I worked up the courage to sing Schlafendes Jesuskind for him. His comment as I finished was, “I think we can make something of this.” Thus began our relationship as mentor/accompanist and singer. As my career began and John and I appeared in concert together, I began to dream of recording the Mörike-Lieder with him. From that dream was born a concert presenting all fifty-three songs in two evenings at Duke University. Thomas Potter, my friend and a fellow student of Mr. Wustman, served as our baritone voice for the songs that required the masculine perspective.

The Mörike-Lieder, composed in less than nine months of white-hot inspiration, provide the singer with an incredible array of color, character and vocal challenges. As the singer manages technical and interpretive complexities, the accompanist navigates an arduous path of pianistic virtuosity. At first I was drawn to the eight religiously themed songs, but I have come to embrace the naughty Erstes Liebeslied eines Mädchens, the gently humorous Rat einer Alten, the tragic An Eine Äolsharfe, and the moody Die Geister am Mummelsee. Moerike’s poetry is by turns sensual, humorous, mournful, and eerie, but always evocative. Wolf, using a harmonic language akin to that of Wagner, but without the long-windedness, manages to capture the heart of each poem, often distilling the essence into a few measures — a couple of intense pages. After years of studying the Mörike-Lieder together and separately, John, Thomas and I offer this recording. Our hope is that the listener will fall in love with them just as we have. 



MSR Classics