Duet
Cornelius, Mendelssohn, Schumann
Lucy Crowe & William Berger, with Iain Burnside (piano)
Delphian. DCD34167. 60’23.

Cornelius: Duette, Op. 16,  Frühling im Sommer, Zweistimmige Lieder,  Zu den Bergen hebt sich ein Augenpaar;
Mendelssohn: Lieder-Duette, Altdeutsches Frühlingslied ‘Der trübe Winter ist vorbei’;
Schumann: Dein Angesicht, Familien-Gemälde, Das Glück, Ich bin dein Baum, Aufträge, Wiegenlied.

This rather unusual CD reflects one of the glories of 19^th century domestic music-making (itself reaching its zenith in that period), the repertoire for two voices and piano, in this case represented by Cornelius, Mendelssohn, and Schumann, three of the finest masters of the genre. Generally overlooked nowadays in favour of larger scale performances, this CD reflects a now almost completely forgotten aspect of earlier home life: music making centred on the domestic piano. However, in this case, the venue is more likely to be a saloon, given the recording acoustic of a church and the rather unauthentic use of a modern concert grand piano (given its own billing in the programme note as a Steinway model D, serial number 589064) rather than a period piano – or, indeed, the more likely upright to be found in most 19^th century homes. Continue reading →