Concert in Röthis

“On the soil of home”

Expressive: the mezzo-soprano Corinna Scheurle

(Bild: Privat)

Corinna Scheurle and Hanna Bachmann, two internationally renowned artists who have their roots in the Ländle region, performed at Schlössle Röthis on Saturday.

The beautiful hall in the Schlössle in Röthis was almost too small for this remarkable event. Not only because it was full, but also because mezzo-soprano Corinna Scheurle's voice is usually heard on a much larger scale, for example at the Bavarian State Opera in Munich, in leading roles at the Nuremberg State Opera and currently at the State Opera in Berlin. The same applies to pianist Hanna Bachmann from Röthis, whose name can also be found in international concert programs. The two artists with roots in Vorarlberg recently won third prize in the renowned Hugo Wolf Song Competition in Stuttgart: How wonderful to now experience them "on home soil" (as the final line of their encore, Schubert's "Wanderer to the Moon").

Anyone who heard Corinna Scheurle just a few years ago was amazed at how far this singer has come. If, as mentioned, she almost bursts this small space with her splendor of sound, she nevertheless knows how to rein it in, has a wealth of expressive colors to offer and is exemplary in her clarity of text. But what makes her performance so fascinating from the first to the last note is that she lives with what she sings. None of the content, be it the lightness of Schubert's "Des Fischer Liebensglück", the deep melancholy of Béla Bartók's songs or the drama of other songs - nothing seems the least bit artificial here, but everything is felt with body and soul. Because yes, the singer also uses her facial expressions, gestures and body language, but just in the right measure.

Hanna Bachmann knows how to match Corinna Scheurle's magnificent interpretation with her piano playing. She also plays with a very differentiated expression, as far as the rather simple grand piano in the hall allows. It is far too late to describe the diversity of the program: Schubert was at the beginning and at the end. Two remarkable compositions by Rebecca Clarke (1886 to 1979) followed, before Corinna Scheurle traced her Hungarian roots on the side of her mother, the pianist Anna Adamik, with songs by Bártok.

Maurice Ravel followed after the interval - like Bártok, a particularly rewarding task for Hanna Bachmann at the piano - and then Schubert again. All in the original languages and sung from memory. This wonderful song duo can be heard again soon: on June 9 in Feldkirch, there with Hugo Wolf and also Schubert.