Schumann: Zwielicht
Matthias Goerne & Markus Hinterhäuser
Matthias Goerne and Markus Hinterhäuser’s Schumann: Zwielicht is a 2026 recital of Robert Schumann Lieder, released by Deutsche Grammophon on July 24. The album places German baritone Goerne—one of the foremost contemporary interpreters of art song—alongside Austrian pianist Hinterhäuser in music concerned with solitude, longing, memory, foreboding, and spiritual uncertainty. At its center is Schumann’s Liederkreis, Op. 39, a 12-song cycle from the composer’s celebrated 1840 “year of song,” setting poems by Joseph von Eichendorff. The title Zwielicht (“Twilight”) points to the cycle’s darker, ambiguous emotional realm, where landscapes, forests, night, and travel become reflections of unstable inner life.
The 41-minute program extends beyond Liederkreis with three Gesänge des Harfners from Wilhelm Meister, Op. 98a, whose texts by Goethe give voice to isolation and suffering, and Schumann’s five late Gedichte der Königin Maria Stuart, Op. 135. The latter are intimate dramatic monologues surrounding Mary, Queen of Scots, including “Abschied von Frankreich,” “An die Königin Elisabeth,” “Abschied von der Welt,” and “Gebet.” Goerne’s dark, textured baritone and Hinterhäuser’s alert, color-conscious piano emphasize the vocal and instrumental partnership at the heart of Lieder performance; rather than treating the piano as accompaniment, the recording makes it an equal psychological presence. Together, the chosen works create a concentrated journey from Romantic nature imagery toward resignation, prayer, and mortality.
Schumann: Zwielicht
Matthias Goerne & Markus Hinterhäuser
Matthias Goerne and Markus Hinterhäuser’s Schumann: Zwielicht is a 2026 recital of Robert Schumann Lieder, released by Deutsche Grammophon on July 24. The album places German baritone Goerne—one of the foremost contemporary interpreters of art song—alongside Austrian pianist Hinterhäuser in music concerned with solitude, longing, memory, foreboding, and spiritual uncertainty. At its center is Schumann’s Liederkreis, Op. 39, a 12-song cycle from the composer’s celebrated 1840 “year of song,” setting poems by Joseph von Eichendorff. The title Zwielicht (“Twilight”) points to the cycle’s darker, ambiguous emotional realm, where landscapes, forests, night, and travel become reflections of unstable inner life.
The 41-minute program extends beyond Liederkreis with three Gesänge des Harfners from Wilhelm Meister, Op. 98a, whose texts by Goethe give voice to isolation and suffering, and Schumann’s five late Gedichte der Königin Maria Stuart, Op. 135. The latter are intimate dramatic monologues surrounding Mary, Queen of Scots, including “Abschied von Frankreich,” “An die Königin Elisabeth,” “Abschied von der Welt,” and “Gebet.” Goerne’s dark, textured baritone and Hinterhäuser’s alert, color-conscious piano emphasize the vocal and instrumental partnership at the heart of Lieder performance; rather than treating the piano as accompaniment, the recording makes it an equal psychological presence. Together, the chosen works create a concentrated journey from Romantic nature imagery toward resignation, prayer, and mortality.