Was Willst Du Fragen?

Mezzo-soprano Christina Baader, known for her work in opera and concert performances, and the sensitive Viennese pianist Ingrid Marsoner present an unusual program: in addition to Robert Schumann's famous song cycle 'Frauenliebe und -leben,' (Woman's Love and Life) the program features songs based on texts by the same poet (Adelbert von Chamisso) set to music by the legendary friend of Brahms, his estate administrator and editor-Eusebius Mandyczewski. A line from the sixth song reads 'What do you want to ask?' and, for Christina Baader, forms the heart of her program: the women and young female characters in the songs on this recording have much to tell. Also featured are two further song cycles by the outstanding Croatian composer Dora Pejacevic-long forgotten after her early death and now rediscovered-one of which is set to poems by Rainer Maria Rilke, whom she met in Vienna in 1916. Pejacevic was deeply rooted in and well-known within the cultural life and musical circles of Central Europe, allowing her to witness numerous performances of her works. Schumann's 'Frauenliebe und -leben' was composed in 1840, the year he was finally able to marry Clara Wieck and composed no fewer than 140 songs. This is the carefree backdrop for the song cycle, which spans the arc from early love to the man's death. It is a thoroughly self-assured and strong woman who narrates the story; at the same time, gender roles here remain within the framework of the 19th-century bourgeois milieu.