Yvonne Friedli; Contantin Alex - Hindemith: Das Marienleben, Op. 27

The greatest song cycle ever written - Glenn Gould is very unequivocal in his judgement of Paul Hindemith's Das Marienleben, based on a collection of poems by Rainer Maria Rilke. The notorious bourgeois terror, then only 27 years old, shows a very different, internalised side here. There is something in these songs that forces and fascinates the listener beyond all habits of conventional song manner, wrote a reviewer in 1923, and to this day there is nothing to add. Yvonne Friedli and Constantin Alex make it palpable in their sensitive interpretation.

Swiss soprano Yvonne Friedli shows herself equal to Hindemith's demands [�]. There's a focus and concentration to her reading that is rewarding, and Constantin Alex is a fine, sensitive partner [�]. The final three songs, describing Maria's death, [achieve] tragic intensity as they should and must. � Gramophone