Kateryna Kasper - O wüßt ich doch den Weg zurück (2019)

The CD starts abruptly with a piece by Modest Mussorkskij in Russian. The selected pieces of her come from a song recital, which was recorded in Villa Wahnfried to Richard Wagner Steinway of 1876 in Bayreuth. The second piece is also by Mussorkskij. Are they lamentations or sound images equal to the yearning transcription on the CD cover? "Oh, if I knew the way back ..." Songs from children's and fairytale countries. What may be behind the headline? Fleeting banter and more, song singing in Russian turns out to be a childish way of life with a colon and an exclamation mark.

With her debut album, soprano Kateryna Kasper, a singer of many tones, takes the listener back to the world of childhood. Together with Hilko Dumno, who accompanies her on the piano. It is in the first song to Njanuschka, who should tell the tale of Butzemann. I understand only "Chupschu", but also the second song is about the good nursery. From the third song, the text becomes clearer, is in German: "The Sandman" by Robert Schumann sounds with feverishly clear voice. "A bedtime song" by Paula Dehmel in the setting of Walter Gieseking therefore clinks. Almost Christmas, which rejoices in high notes, as the "lullaby" after Richard Dehmel in the setting of Richard Strauss. The tail tugs on a little dance. It beeps and freaks just like that and it wonders whose soul is that who can produce that and so stringently? Narrated from distant lands or based much more on the basis of romance.

A text passage from James Joyce: "Nuvoletta from Finnegans Wake" conveys a prosaic plot in a song. Kateryna Kasper really strives for stylistic versatility and authenticity. When Heinrich Heine's "Aus alten Märchen beckons it" in the setting of Robert Schumann Op.48, No.15 as if from the ether but quietly climbs from the background of the heights of the voice. Likewise, the fine poem "Lorelei" is present, set to music by Clara Schumann.

It's an up and down, a labor of the voice to the highest notes. The piano by Hilko Dumno instrumentalizes the singing. As an accomplished song pianist, he regularly plays with singers such as H. Fassbender, C. Pregardien and J.M Kränzle, from which the extensive discography derives, in addition to his teaching at the Musikhochschule Frankfurt. He appeared at the relevant festivals u.a. in Schwarzenberg, Graz and Gstaad. Kateryna Kasper plays equally on opera stages (including at her home in Frankfurt, in Los Angeles, Edinburgh and Bergen) and performs at home on concert stages such as the Paris Philharmonic and the Moscow Philharmonic. She is a laureate of major competitions, most recently the Mirjam-Helin Singing Competition.