Review CD “Dennoch”

“The “Sieben frühe Lieder” by Alban Berg receive attention mainly in their orchestral version made by Berg himself, while their original version as a piano song cycle is neglected. Yet this piano version – and this is vividly demonstrated by the present recording – is the melodically more insistent, more differentiated and also more appropriate. And it certainly has a more intimate and atmospheric effect when it is interpreted just as simply but not reservedly, just as sensitively but not over-explicitly, as Anne Schwanewilms and Manuel Lange are able to do.

In the same way, they take on the piano song cycle “Dennoch” (Nevertheless), based on seven rhymeless poems by Hilde Domin, composed by Stefan Heucke for Anne Schwanewilms in 2018. (…) Schwanewilms’ bright, evenly timbrated soprano merges, as it were, with the gesture of Heucke’s melodicism, which can emerge all the more forcefully because Manuel Lange gives the piano part harmonically complementary contours. (…) The four Domin poems recited by Wolf-Dieter Rammler very sensibly complement the coherent program and refresh the attention.«

FONO FORUM, Giselher Schubert, May 2023

Concert with the National Theater Orchestra Mannheim conducted by Alexander Soddy, 2nd Symphony by Gustav Mahler, 13 June 2022.

“Luminously, the nobly timbrated soprano of Anne Schwanewilms rises from the sound layers…”

IOCO Culture Magazine, Uschi Reifenberg, 20 June 2022

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“In addition, the soprano Anne Schwanewilms contributed the ideal brilliant angelic sound.”

Onlinemerker, Dirk Schauß, 15 June 2022

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‚“(…) belongs just as much to the further highlights of this evening as the pure and at times almost vibrato-free soprano of Anne Schwanewilms in the final movement (…)”.

Mannheimer Morgen, Stefan M. Dettlinger, 15 June 2022

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“The hope of not having lived in vain is given quivering certainty by Anne Schwanewilms in her soprano solo”

Die Rheinpfalz, Uwe Rauschelbach, 15 June 2022

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“This transcendence was built on more and more in the final movement by the opera choir (rehearsed by Dani Juris) and soprano Anne Schwanewilms: with cultivated vocalization that let humility and reverence speak from the verses to the “Resurrection.””

Rhein-Neckar-Zeitung, Simon Scherer, 14 June 2022

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“Like a ray of light full of promise, Anne Schwanewilms’ wonderfully timbrated soprano voice, sure of the high notes, rose in the mighty chorale of the excellently formed NTM Choir-Extrachor (Dani Juris) additionally assisted by members of div. choirs in Mannheim. In splendid harmony, the two beautiful voices merged in the scherzo.”

Online Merker, Gerhard Hoffmann, 13 June 2022

Konzert mit der Neuen Philharmonie Westfalen und Rasmus Baumann, Gelsenkirchen, 21 March 2022

„Anne Schwanewilms proved herself to be a first-class soprano, combining impressive technical expertise with the talent to breathe life into the sentiments of the poem texts wrapped in words – playfully in the ‚Villanelle‘, with the necessary gravity in the lament ‚Sur les lagunes‘, then again equally tender, powerful and full of longing in ‚Au cimetière (Claire de lune)‘. As one of the most renowned artists for Lied programs, she was able to tell stories with her voice like hardly any other, with her almost unbelievable vocal control, and once again lived up to her reputation as a ‚sound paintress‘”.

Rheinische Post, Katrin Schelter, 22 March 2022

Concert with the Neue Philharmonie Westfalen »Lyrik«, Berlioz and Dukas, 16 March 2022

“Highly concentrated, unbelievably flexible in the change of mood, the orchestra accompanies Anne Schwanewilms’ luminous, in the lyrical part amazingly voluminous splendid soprano in Hector Berlioz’ early “Nuits d’été”. (…) Praised as a leading Strauss interpreter, the native of Gelsenkirchen hits the plainly folksong-like at the beginning. With ravishing shades, she masters the legato of great lines with a perfect swinging change of register in the death dream of the “Spectre de la rose” as well as the pausing, the renouncing longing with a slightly excited vibrato or the inspiring barcarole magic in the last of these first orchestral songs in music history. Admirable how she meets the enormous demand of differentiated shaping of the much too seldom performed work.«

Recklinghäuser Zeitung, Bernd Aulich, 19 March 2022

Concert Richard Strauss „Vier letzte Lieder“, 7 March 2022

“As in the following songs, in which the orchestra has not only an accompanying function, but rather the singing voice is another instrument, Schwanewilms displays with her soprano lavish colorfulness and tonal opulence. It may sound contradictory, but at the same time her interpretation sounds vocally rich in soul and intimate.An epic breath pervades it all.«

Reutlinger Generalanzeiger, Christoph B. Ströhle, 9 March 2022

Concert with Konrad Suttmeyer (Organ) in Gladbeck, Wolf, Mahler, Straussm, 8 January 2022

“Schwanewilm’s voice seemed to float in from much farther away than the organ stage on which she stood. Her brilliant highs were enveloped in an inexplicable aura that takes one’s breath away, the depth was of magical substance. (…) Everything seems as if Hugo Wolf had written these songs for her. (…) Unanimous bowing to a great voice and a magnificent program”.

WAZ, Barbara Seppi, 9 January 2022