Benjamin Appl: Forbidden Fruit
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Label: Alpha
Cat No: ALPHA912
Format: CD
Number of Discs: 1
Genre: Vocal/Choral
Release Date: 23rd June 2023
Contents
Works
I will give my love an appleKann denn Liebe Sunde sein
Schoner Gigolo, armer Gigolo
Chansons de Bilitis (3)
» no.2 La Chevelure
Balladenbuch, op.18 » no.2 Die Ballade zum Paragraphen 218
Requiem, op.48 » In paradisum (arr. James Baillieu)
To a Devil, EG154The Apple Orchard
A Chloris
Eve-Song (8)
» no.5 Snake
Symphony no.2 in C minor 'Resurrection' » IV Urlicht. Sehr feierlich, aber schlicht (arr. James Baillieu)
Die NonneChansons gaillardes (8), FP42
» no.5 Couplets bachiques
» no.6 L'offrande
Le Bestiaire (ou Cortege d'Orphee), FP15b » no.1 Le Serpent
Songs (3), op.3 » no.2 Now sleeps the Crimson Petal
Brettl-Lieder (8) (Cabaret Songs) » no.8 Langsamer Walzer (from Schikaneder's Mirror of Arcadia)
Gretchen am Spinnrade, op.2 D118Heidenroslein, op.3 no.3 D257
Lieder und Gesange aus 'Wilhelm Meister', op.98a
» no.4 Wie nie sein Brot mit Tranen ass
Romanzen und Balladen vol.1, op.45 » no.2 Fruhlingsfahrt
Romanzen und Balladen vol.3 (3), op.53 » no.2 Loreley
Lieder (4), op.36 » no.1 Das Rosenband
YoukaliGoethe-Lieder
» no.50 Ganymed 'Wie im Morgenglanze'
Italienisches Liederbuch (Italian Songbook) » no.17 Und willst du deinen Liebsten sterben sehen
Morike-Lieder » no.32 An die Geliebte
Artists
Benjamin Appl (baritone)James Baillieu (piano)
Works
I will give my love an appleKann denn Liebe Sunde sein
Schoner Gigolo, armer Gigolo
Chansons de Bilitis (3)
» no.2 La Chevelure
Balladenbuch, op.18 » no.2 Die Ballade zum Paragraphen 218
Requiem, op.48 » In paradisum (arr. James Baillieu)
To a Devil, EG154The Apple Orchard
A Chloris
Eve-Song (8)
» no.5 Snake
Symphony no.2 in C minor 'Resurrection' » IV Urlicht. Sehr feierlich, aber schlicht (arr. James Baillieu)
Die NonneChansons gaillardes (8), FP42
» no.5 Couplets bachiques
» no.6 L'offrande
Le Bestiaire (ou Cortege d'Orphee), FP15b » no.1 Le Serpent
Songs (3), op.3 » no.2 Now sleeps the Crimson Petal
Brettl-Lieder (8) (Cabaret Songs) » no.8 Langsamer Walzer (from Schikaneder's Mirror of Arcadia)
Gretchen am Spinnrade, op.2 D118Heidenroslein, op.3 no.3 D257
Lieder und Gesange aus 'Wilhelm Meister', op.98a
» no.4 Wie nie sein Brot mit Tranen ass
Romanzen und Balladen vol.1, op.45 » no.2 Fruhlingsfahrt
Romanzen und Balladen vol.3 (3), op.53 » no.2 Loreley
Lieder (4), op.36 » no.1 Das Rosenband
YoukaliGoethe-Lieder
» no.50 Ganymed 'Wie im Morgenglanze'
Italienisches Liederbuch (Italian Songbook) » no.17 Und willst du deinen Liebsten sterben sehen
Morike-Lieder » no.32 An die Geliebte
Artists
Benjamin Appl (baritone)James Baillieu (piano)
About
Temptation, prohibition, good, evil... ‘how relevant are these in today's world?’ asks Benjamin Appl. With the complicity of pianist James Baillieu, we are taken on a musical arc from simple folk songs through to the great song composers such as Schubert, Schumann and Wolf, along the way visiting the Impressionists Debussy and Poulenc, exploring ‘new objectivity’ with Weill and Eisler and enjoying compositions by Casucci, Heggie and others. The metaphor of forbidden fruit gives Benjamin and James a wide range of possible interpretations. Whilst some of the song settings centre on sensuality, others focus on socially immoral topics such as incest or sensitive subjects such as abortion. The German baritone embodies each of these stories with a passion and dramatic sense that makes this album a kaleidoscopic and astonishing journey through time and space.
Sound/Video
Paused
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1Anon.: I will give my love an apple
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2Fauré: Requiem, op.48: 7. In paradisum (arr. James Baillieu for piano)
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3Gurney: The Apple Orchard
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4Wolf: Goethe-Lieder: 50. Ganymed
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5Weill: Youkali
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6Poulenc: Chansons gaillardes, FP42: 6. L’Offrande
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7Hahn: À Chloris
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8Strauss, R: 4 Lieder, op.36: 1. Das Rosenband
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9Wolf: Mörike-Lieder: 32. An die Geliebte
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10Quilter: 3 Songs, op.3: 2. Now sleeps the crimson petal
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11Wolf: Italienisches Liederbuch: 17. Und willst du deinen Liebsten sterben sehen
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12Debussy: 3 Chansons de Bilitis, L90: 2. La Chevelure
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13Poulenc: Chansons gaillardes, FP42: 5. Couplets bachiques
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14Schoenberg: Brettllieder: Arie aus dem Spiegel von Arcadien ‘Seit ich so viele Weiber sah’
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15Grieg: To a Devil, EG154
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16Poulenc: Le Bestiaire, FP15: 1. Le Serpent
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17Schumann: Romanzen und Balladen III, op.53: 2. Lorelei
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18Schumann: Romanzen und Balladen I, op.45; 2. Frühlingsfahrt
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19Hensel: 12 Lieder, op.9: 7. Die Nonne
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20Heggie: Snake
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21Schubert: Heidenröslein, D257
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22Schubert: Gretchen am Spinnrade, D118
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23Eisler: Balladenbuch, op.18: 2. Die Ballade vom Paragraphen 218
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24Schumann: Lieder und Gesänge aus ‘Wilhelm Meister’, op.98a: 4. Wer nie sein Brot mit Tränen aß
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25Fauré: Requiem, op.48: 7. In paradisum [II] (arr. James Baillieu for piano)
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26Mahler: Symphony No.2: 4. Urlicht (arr. James Baillieu)
Europadisc Review
You don’t need to subscribe to baritone Benjamin Appl’s view of contemporary society as ‘a world that is generally becoming more and more liberal’ (in recent years, this position has run into some particular challenges) to appreciate the underlying premise of his new album, ‘Forbidden Fruit’. In it, he considers the attractions, as well as the drawbacks and penalties, of those things from which we are restricted (by society, politics and religion). Perhaps punning on his own surname, Appl – whose previous release on the Alpha label, Schubert’s Winterreise, was a critical and commercial success – weaves a concept album around the biblical narrative of the Fall of Man from the Book of Genesis. Spoken lines from Genesis punctuate the recital programme, with the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve, the Serpent and the apple from the Tree of Knowledge all mentioned.
Yet the overriding theme never feels forced or overdone. The disc opens with a folksong (‘I will give my love an apple’) and ends with Mahler’s ‘Urlicht’, but the rest of the programme is framed by pianist James Baillieu’s own solo arrangement of ‘In paradisum’ from Fauré’s Requiem, suggesting Paradise as both the point of departure and eventual repose. The recital is a wide-ranging one, with songs in English, German and French, encompassing Lieder by Schubert and Schumann as well as 20th-century cabaret songs and Snake by Jake Heggie.
The first part of the programme suggests the earthly delights that are synonymous with the biblical Garden of Eden, evoked in different ways by Gurney’s ‘The Apple Orchard’, Wolf’s ‘Ganymed’ and Weill’s celebrated ‘Youkali’, as well as Poulenc’s dreamy ‘L’Offrande’ from his Chansons gaillardes, Hahn’s rapt À Chloris and Wolf’s ‘An die Geliebte’. To all these, Appl brings a vocal suppleness and a keen understanding of every nuance of the texts, beautifully supported by Baillieu’s expert piano playing, which is given plenty of space to bloom by the recorded acoustic.
It is in the middle section of the programme, however, that Appl really proves his worth, slipping with ease from the impressionistic sensuality of Debussy’s ‘La Chevelure’ from the Chansons de Bilitis to the unfettered high spirits of another of Poulenc’s Chansons gaillardes, ‘Couplets bachiques’, not to mention the cabaret-infused humour of Schoenberg’s Brettl-Lied ‘Arie aus dem Spiegel von Arcadien’. Leonello Casucci’s 1929 hit ‘Just a Gigolo’ (with its nod to post-World War I social decline in Austria) fits surprisingly well into this context, as does Grieg’s engaging, English-texted To a Devil.
After Poulenc’s ‘Le Serpent’ from Le Bestiaire, the programme enters its final, more hard-hitting phase, and yet again Appl is at his best. Schumann’s ‘Lorelei’ and ‘Frühlingsfahrt’ precede a particularly moving account of Fanny Mendelssohn’s ‘Die Nonne’, with its ballad-like unfolding of conflicting emotions providing an expressive highpoint. Lothar Brühne’s Kann denn Liebe Sünde sein and Heggie’s Snake are at least on the surface lighter in tone, but a pair of Schubert classics keep the focus on more earnest tracks, and Hanns Eisler’s setting of ‘Die Ballade vom Paragraphen 218’ (referencing the 1920s anti-abortion laws in Germany) has all the detached force one associates with the New Objectivity.
As you can no doubt infer, it’s quite a journey (both musically and emotionally), and the closing account of Mahler’s ‘Urlicht’ – exquisitely poised – feels like both a relief and a final benediction. Throughout the disc, Appl’s wonderfully wide-ranging vocal technique, his alertness to meaning, and his frequent twinkles of knowing humour, are constant joys, and he is partnered superbly by Baillieu: together, they make a formidable team. Alpha have a track record of producing absorbing, convincing classical concept albums in recent years, and this is one you can’t afford to miss!
Reviews
What a strange selection this is – a sequence of songs concerned with temptation and its consequences.
Forbidden Fruit is chronologically all over the place, which
keeps you on your toes and points to the tussel between base desires and
romantic ideals. The German baritone Benjamin Appl navigates between
Schubert, Weill, Debussy, Hahn, Fanny Mendelssohn
and more with ease, while the pianist James Baillieu has a crystal
clear and light of touch. The album opens with
I Will Give My Love an Apple.The Sunday Times 9 July 2023
A few jackknife mood-changes make sense in context: Schubert’s Heidenröslein, which can seem sweet but harmless, becomes more meaningful coming after the bluesy snarl of Heggie’s song Snake – prick your finger on this rose and it won’t easily heal. ... Yet it’s the gentler, airier numbers that show Appl at his considerable best, sustaining intensity even when spinning the tiniest thread of sound, his voice all velvet smoothness. Erica JealThe Guardian 23 June 2023
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