Liederabend | Queen’s Hall, Edinburgh | August 2012

“The star of Anne Schwanewilms has been on a continual rise recently, and this morning proved that the reputation is justified…Hers is a very special voice, a remarkably complete soprano. The tone is rich and full, with a beautifully ripe top…I found it a thrilling voice to listen to; sumptuous and opulent with a quality of luxury…The breathless (or sometimes breathy) excitement to Schwanewilms’ use of words distinguished her as a true sound painter, using tone and diction to inhabit the world of the songs. This was a well planned, beautifully realised recital from two artists who came together as complementary halves to make a wonderful morning of song.”
www.seenandheard-international.com/2012/08/26/eif-17

“…beautifully delivered…characterising Debussy’s luscious Proses lyriques vividly with a sweetness of tone that could suddenly evaporate into a breathy nothingness, and a warm, narrow vibrato…And in conveying the meaning and emotion of her often dramatic songs, her voice was everything…spellbinding. She turned Richard Strauss’s Ach, was Kummer, Qual und Schmerzen, with its humming interjections concealing a spurned love, into a compelling opera scena, and her three closing fairytale songs by Wolf were thrilling.”
The Scotsman, August 27, 2012

“German lyric soprano Anne Schwanewilms…a consummate Straussian – her portrait of the Marschallin is the most stirring I’ve seen…She blossomed in songs by Hugo Wolf. She made Verborgenheit and effortlessly tender lullaby, Im Fruhling a lilting, loving ballad, and later sang Das Verlassene Magdlein with a heart-rending simplicity. She was at her most relaxed in coquettish mode in the silly ‘hm, hms’ of Strauss’s Ach, was Kummer and the three final playful numbers.”
The Herald, August 27, 2012