Ms Woods provided a rich, honey-hued mezzo of expressive warmth and wide range. The two women blend beautifully in the duet portions and are superb in their solos. David Jackson offers a lyric tenor with a fine mezza-voce that blends perfectly with his colleagues. Juan Jose Ibarra displays his rich baritone throughout a wide range in his solos and is capable of lightening its texture without loss of quality in ensemble singing. Both tenor and baritone should be commended for their articulation in their duet, “O die Frauen”. Indeed, the projection of the words is outstanding throughout the work.

The excellent piano duo provides an almost orchestral voice with its range of colors and rhythms, immediately establishing the mood of each song. The magic of Brahms’ working in 3 quarter and/or 3 eighth time and creating the musical spectrum of moods inspired by these eclectic love poems, is faithfully reflected in the performance by the singers and the two pianists who succeed in sounding as one. I have read that Brahms was an avid admirer of Johann Strauss and these works were homage to the “Waltz King”. The poems are from a collection of short (4 lines) love poems, mostly from Eastern European countries and translated to German by Georg Daumer. They tell of the many facets of love; passion, rapture, joy, depression, obsession and anger. Brahms faithfully captures the mood, spirit and soul of each in these 33 miniature musical masterpieces. The average length of each is just over one minute.

Maurice Zucker