Beethoven, Berg, Haydn, Schoenberg: Ferne Geliebte – review

The great baritone Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau set the standard for German lieder singing over a generation. With his recent death, the mantle surely passes to the equally accomplished Christian Gerhaher – but what a contrast of styles. Rather than a purely beautiful voice, Gerhaher's approach is intently text-focused, making the consonants sound as strongly as the vowels, responsive to every twist and turn of the poetry. He feels a deep affinity with Schoenberg's Book of the Hanging Gardens , and this wonderfully programmed sequence of the first and second Viennese schools takes in Haydn and Berg before ending with Beethoven's aching Adelaide, perfectly sung.