Sophie Rennert, Graham Johnson - Brahms: The Complete Songs, Vol. 10 (2020)

The Hyperion label's complete cycle of Brahms songs appearing in the late 2010s and early 2020s concludes with this, its tenth volume. The cycle has a unique concept: the albums all have the same accompanist, Graham Johnson, but different singers. The programs are chosen by Johnson, presumably matching the singer to the songs involved, and his booklet notes are well worth the listener's time. Each individual album offers a nearly chronological set of songs, with the effect that Brahms' output is seen through a new lens each time. This has been an exceptionally intelligent way to approach the songs of Brahms, who stated that he didn't want to hear more than three of his songs at a time. Plowing through each opus grouping is usually contraindicated, but Johnson rightly identifies the points where it makes sense: the Zigeunerlieder, Op. 103, work well as a group. The featured vocalist this time around, Sophie Rennert, ends the set on a strong note. The program here emphasizes two types of songs, those about the natural world and the semi-popular Zigeunerlieder, or Gypsy Songs. (There is also, as with other volumes, a selection of the 49 Deutsche Volkslieder, WoO 33, at the end.) Rennert, a 2014 graduate of Vienna's Universität für Musik und darstellende Kunst, does both types well, with a good rhythmic sense in the Zigeunerlieder and fine lyricism in the likes of Sommerabend, Op. 84, No. 1. An added attraction of this series has been the opportunity to sample a group of singers on their way up careerwise, and in that respect, it ends on an unusually satisfying note.