Ian Partridge 85th Birthday Tribute - Stimme Der

SOMM RECORDINGS is delighted to pay tribute to the British tenor Ian Partridge on his 85th birthday on June 12 with Stimme der Liebe (The Voice of Love), a collection of iconic songs by Schubert, on which he is joined by his pianist-sister Jennifer Partridge and pianist Ernest Lush. The great German lyric baritone Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau hailed Partridge's Schubert interpretations as "a pure joy", an accolade that these 20 performances of Lieder, taken from BBC Radio broadcasts between 1968 and 1972 - and available now for the first time on disc - readily illustrate. They reveal Partridge's unique, insightful affinity with the complexity and nuance of Schubert's response to matters of the heart, a quality Fischer Dieskau described - in a facsimile letter to the singer included in the booklet - as his "respect and love for the music". Among familiar works such as 'I'm Frühling', 'Das Fischermädchen' and 'An den Mond', are relative rarities such as 'Vor meiner Wiege', which Partridge describes in his booklet interview with Jon Tolansky exploring his "life-long love affair" with Schubert's Lieder, as one of the composer's "most inspired creations". With a repertoire ranging from Monteverdi and Elizabethan lute songs to Schoenberg and Britten, Ian Partridge is one of the most acclaimed lyric tenors of his generation. He is especially known for his success with songs and Lieder and regarded as one of the great modern Schubert interpreters. His hugely successful partnership with his pianist-sister, Jennifer, saw the duo giving more than 430 recitals and making numerous recordings over their 52-year-long partnership. The booklet also includes informative notes, texts and translations by Richard Stokes, Professor of Lieder at London's Royal Academy of Music, and author of The Book of Lieder (Faber, 2005). Restoration of the original recordings has been undertaken by audio expert and long-time SOMM collaborator, Lani Spahr.