Mahler: Rückert-Lieder

New transcriptions by Christian Favre, pianist of the Quatuor Schumann: "I love singing with these marvellous musicians and I am so grateful to have had the chance to sing Isolde's Liebestod: I can't imagine that it would have happened otherwise! And I love the Wesendonck Lieder which I hadn't sung since my student days: I think they work very well in Christian Favre's arrangement."

“Her performance of the Leibestod is an object lesson in engagement with the text, sensuality and controlled power.” Gramophone Magazine, July 2008

“The sheer spiritual power, the sheer heartfelt sincerity and warmth of feeling in her every utterance is overwhelmingly moving” The Telegraph

“Here, she is heard in Mahler's Five Ruckert Lieder, the voice unfailingly beautiful, the words evocative, and in the valedictory Ich bin der Welt abhanden gekommen (I am lost to the world), serenely resigned and sadly prophetic. A glowing memento of a glorious artist” Sunday Times

“This mezzo-soprano had a profound musical bond with Mahler, for example, and this is her only extant recording of the Ruckert Lieder. It's a marvel … Roger Vignoles deserves praise, too, for his playing matches Hunt Lieberson in its emotional concentration and directness … "Unbewegte laue Luft" ends the recital on an ecstatic note that surely sent the audience out on a cloud. Indispensable” Gramophone Magazine

“This recital presents a remarkable singer still at the height of her powers some eight years before her untimely death … All in all, this is a cherishable memento of a very special artist” International Record Review

“It is difficult to get through this recital without a lump in your throat … Her performance of Mahler's Ruckert Lieder, one of the finest on disc, avoids the usual morbidity and contains flashes of divine revelation ... Essential listening” The Guardian

“what a perceptive and versatile recitalist Ann Murray is … to each group of songs Murray brought a perfectly judged sense of style and delivery. Just as on the operatic stage, she knows exactly how to communicate with an audience and what to tell them.” – The Guardian