Critic’s Choice
Song recitals by star singers matched with star piano soloists are not always the happiest occasions. But baritone Matthias Goerne—whose recital collaborators have included Alfred Brendel, Christoph Eschenbach, and Leif Ove Andsnes—seems almost to prefer a big name playing the big instrument behind him. And piano names don’t come much bigger right now than the young virtuoso Daniil Trifonov. The Goerne-Trifonov duo dates back at least to their 2016 recital in London’s Wigmore Hall, which excited much comment for its breadth of expression.
The two artists bring that Wigmore program—featuring Schumann’s Dichterliebe, Berg’s Four Songs, Op. 2, and works by Wolf, Shostakovich, and Brahms–to Carnegie Hall’s main stage Tuesday. It’s a big space for intimate music, but if any performers can project emotion in it, these two can.
Goerne performed the Brahms item, Vier ernste Gesänge, Op. 121, on his New York debut recital in 1996, and brought it back for recitals in 2002 and 2007. Hearing it on each occasion has been like opening another bottle of that 1996 Château Margaux you’ve stashed away, and discovering how it has developed and deepened with time.
Baritone Matthias Goerne and pianist Daniil Trifonov perform songs of Berg, Schumann, Wolf, Shostakovich and Brahms, 8 p.m. Tuesday at Carnegie Hall. carnegiehall.org; 212-247-7800.
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