Brahms' Liebeslieder Waltzes were truly love songs in waltz time, on the one hand to Clara Schumann (or so it is thought), on the other to his predecessor Franz Schubert, who composed similar works.These perennially popular pieces were in some ways folk inspired, both in their Ländler rhythms and in the choice of texts, most of which come from Georg Friedrich Daumer's Polydora collection of folk songs and love poems.
The waltzes were published in two collections, the Liebeslieder Waltzer, Op. 52, and the Neue Liebeslieder Waltzer, Op. 65, issued following the success of the first set.
The two groups are often performed together as they are on this fine LP, and usually by four solo voices and piano duo, although they are also heard in choral versions, and there is an Op. 52a for duo pianists alone.
The current set dates from 1958, and features one of the finest piano duos of the time, Vitya Vronsky and Victor Babin, together with four superior soloists.
Vronsky and Babin were both born in Russia but resident in the US from 1937. They began recording for Victor soon after arriving in America, including several Rachmaninoff pieces, but also Milhaud, Strauss, Weinberger, Bach, Brahms, Rimsky-Korsakov and other composers, including Babin himself. Postwar they switched to Columbia, which issued a notable version of Rachmaninoff's Suite No. 1, among other works.
The duo made several records for HMV in the 1950s, including this LP. The vocalists on the 1958 sessions were notable as well - soprano Elsie Morison, contralto Marjorie Thomas, tenor Richard Lewis, and bass Donald Bell, all then resident in the UK. (Morison was Australian, Bell Canadian.) They were among the leading singers in Britain at the time.
The recordings come from EMI's fabled Abbey Road Studio No. 1, and are striking in their clarity and truthfulness, although the presentation could have used a little more depth. While the US Capitol cover is shown above, my transfer comes from a later stereo Seraphim issue.
The critics were pleased with the album. Paul Affelder wrote in High Fidelity, "Whether singing solos, duets, trios or quartets, the four vocalists do a superior job, as does the fine duo-piano team." In the American Record Guide, Irving Kolodin found that "Vronsky and Babin achieve wonderful rapport, and their playing itself is a delight to hear."
The download includes texts, translations and cover scans for both the Seraphim and Capitol releases, the latter of which is autographed by Babin and Vronsky.
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| Ad in High Fidelity, 1953 |
