Gerald Finley and Julius Drake return to Schumann, following a magisterially intense Dichterliebe which won them a third Gramophone award. Here they focus on the two contrasting Liederkreis (song-circle) cycles based upon texts by Heine and Eichendorff. Heine's poetry in Schumann's Op.24 contains extremes of elation and despair that call all of Finley's considerable dramatic powers into play. Eichendorff's seductive, crepuscular 'night-songs' of Op.39 require the velvety tone for which this singer is equally revered. Separating these two great works are the Sechs Gedichte aus dem Liederbuch eines Malers, which find Schumann in more homespun, folksong-influenced vein.
