Benjamin Appl’s latest CD is a selection of Schubert Lieder arranged for orchestra. Most of the arrangeents are by Max Reger or Anton Webern but there are a few surprising ones like an arrangement of “Ständchen” by Jaques Offenbach. The songs themselves are a mix of the very familiar; “Die Forelle”, “An die Musik”, and the less well known such as “Gruppe aus dem Tartarus” but, to be honest, it’s mostly Schubert’s Greatest Hits.
The performance is about what one wold expect. Appl is a really excellent Lieder singer and he’s very much on home ground here. It’s nuanced, precise, beautiful artsong singing with sensitive accompaniment by the Münchner Rundfunkorchester conducted by Oscar Jockel. It’s a studio recording made in Munich in 2022 and it’s nicely balanced and clear. It’s available as a physical CD, MP3 and CD quality and 96kHz/24 bit FLAC. I listened to the hi-res version.
There’s a good booklet that contains, among other things, Appl’s justification for performing these orchestral versions. I think they work pretty well.
Catalogue number: BR Klassik 900346
Forbidden Fruit is a CD by baritone Benjamin Appl and Pianist James Baillieu due for release on June 23rd. It’s a sort of themed recital dealing with the Garden of Eden and the Fall. It starts with the English traditional song “I Will Give My Love an Apple” and finishes with “Urlicht” from Mahler’s setting of text from Das Knaben Wunderhorn. In between there are about 25 songs, some solo piano and quotes from the Bible which take us on a journey from all kinds of temptation, through consequences, to (maybe) some kind of redemption. In all there’s 69 minutes of music. 
operaramblings 